Posted: Thursday, September 27, 2012 --- 1:50 p.m.

On Wednesday, September 26th, a Dane County Sheriff’s deputy responded to a residence in the town of Sun Prairie for a fraud complaint.

The citizen had been contacted via email and telephone by a man stating that she had won $25,000. He went on to tell her that he was a Sheriff’s deputy and even went as far as giving her a badge number. He then made arrangements to deliver the woman’s winnings in person, but informed her she would need to give him $250 before he would hand over the winnings.

Telephone and email scams are an ongoing issue that the Sheriff’s Office cautions citizens about, however, this particular case raises additional concerns. Not only does the caller claim to be a law enforcement officer, he makes arrangements to come to the victim’s home in person. Thankfully this victim called authorities and did not comply with the scammer’s requests.

These criminals like to prey on the elderly, as they are often more vulnerable to their false claims and threats. Oftentimes these cases are difficult to pursue because the calls come from an overseas telephone number, however, the Sheriff’s Office urges anyone who receives email or telephone scams such as this to report them to authorities immediately.