Victim warns of Clearinghouse scam

A Rocklin man became the victim of a scam using Publishers Clearinghouse's name in an elaborate scheme to wire money overseas. Now police are investigating and admit there is little they can do to help. "My advice; don't be stupid," said Virgil Wayrynen of Rocklin who lost $840 to the alleged thieves using a web of phone calls. Wayrynen said it all started May 27, by a caller who identified himself as David Washington. He told him he won $2 million from Publishers Clearinghouse and in order to get the check, he needed to wire $840 to an account in Jamaica. "I asked him why Jamaica and he said it was for tax purposes," Wayrynen said. "Apparently they were the overseas broker for the sweepstakes."The phone calls continued with other individuals pushing him to wire the money. "They had three different people call," Wayrynen said. "A lady from Bank of America and another guy from UPS who said until I paid the money he wouldn't release the $2 million check for delivery."The victim said he went down to Western Union and the local clerk even tried to talk him out of it. That's where he made the next mistake, according to Rocklin Police Lt. Lon Milka. "Use your common sense," Milka said. "If it sounds too good to be true, it usually is. Never send money with the promise of getting money back. It's not going to happen." Wooed by the promise of a big jackpot, Wayrynen was still curious so he wired a dollar to see what would happen. "They called me from another number and said I made an error and would get the check by noon if I complete the transfer," Wayrynen said. That's when he relented and wired the rest of the money. The next call he got convinced him it was a scam. "He said the fee was actually $250 more," Wayrynen said.Lt. Milka said there is little they can do to stop these bold international criminals with offshore locations who all use the phone to get victims to send them money. "This is the exact same scam as the Nigerian Scam except they send e-mails generally," Milka said. "Nobody has jurisdiction to stop these guys. It's terrible." He also recommends searching their number on the Internet, sometimes they'll be a scam notice posted on the Internet from other victims. "They always called from different numbers," Wayrenen said. "All overseas numbers with the prefix 876 or 877." Wayrenen said he knows he'll never get the money back, but hopes others won't be lured into the same trap. "My advice is just hang-up on them," he said.