Police warn of lottery, check scams

MONTROSE — Hoping to retire to Easy Street, thanks to that fat Canadian lottery check a stranger’s promised you?

Don’t quit your day job.

The Montrose Police recently received at least six complaints concerning variations of the “El Gordo,” Canadian and Australian lottery scams. They are also alerting the public to a fresh rash of the “Nigerian,” or advance-fee fraud scam.

Montrose Police Sgt. Paul Eller said he’s not aware of anyone actually falling for the scams, but has been fielding complaints.

“We’re just starting to see the tip of this next go-around,” he said.

In the lottery scam, people receive letters or calls informing them they’ve won money in these foreign lotteries. The problem, Eller said, is such lotteries are not legal in the United States — and the ones being touted aren’t real anyway.