JOHNSON COUNTY, Ind. -- What seemed at first like a holiday miracle turned into a nightmare for a Johnson County resident.
Last week, Patricia Young received a call from someone claiming to represent Publishers Clearing House telling her she'd won one million dollars. But her attempts to claim the prize unraveled when a Walgreens clerk refused to sell her a Green Dot card.
Young was told she'd won the cash prize along with a new, 2016 Mercedes. The call came just after her 75th birthday.
"It would have been nice to have that money," she said.
The caller told her to go to her bank and withdraw nearly $1,000 to pay taxes on her prize up front. Once she had the cash, the caller sent her from one store to the next to get a Western Union form and a card to put the money in so she could transfer it to him.
Sheriff Doug Cox said the steps she was put through smack of a scam.
"These scammers are very convincing," Cox said. "The longer they spend on the phone, especially with the aging community, the better the chances are that they're going to success in getting money out of them."
Fortunately for Young, when she got to Walgreens, the clerk refused to sell her a card and called out the scam – as well as 911.
Cox says investigators look into cases like Young's, but oftentimes are brash because they know they can't be penalized, due to operating outside local jurisdiction.
"Some of them will even admit that they're scamming folks out of their life savings, and proud of it," Cox said.
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