Middletown - When Tirzah McKoy received a letter in the mail last month telling her she won $498,750 from Powerball America 2008, she thought it was the end of her financial woes.
She is disabled and can’t work. Her husband, Abdul, was recently laid off from a construction job. They have a six-year-old autistic son, Justice.
The family lives in a modest Middletown city apartment.
The letter to Mrs. McKoy included a business style check for $3,980.
She called the number listed for Olympia, WA company and a man identifying himself as William Chambers told her to deposit the check in her bank account and get money-grams from Walmart - $2,995 for insurance fees and $995 for processing fees. She sent him both and was told she would receive the check with her winnings on July 7. The overnight express carrier service never showed up and when she called Chambers back, she left messages and he has not returned her calls.
"I spent some money plus I was in debt so I thought this would do something. Now I don’t have enough to do the rent and my light bill is outrageous and I thought maybe I could pay my light bill," she said. "Right now I might have to move to Georgia to my husband’s sister because things are really hard right now. Everything is about to get shut off."
Orange County Consumer Affairs Commissioner Charles Mitchell said he would do whatever he could to help.
"We’re sorry to hear when this kind of thing happens. We will get in touch with the bank and see if there is anything we can do to help the situation there, maybe if there are any fees involved," he said. The McKoys’ misfortune proves the point that if it seems too good to be true, it probably is, Mitchell said.
Mrs. McKoy reported the incident to the state Attorney General’s Office. The bank told her she would be liable for the money.
We called the Attorney General’s press office, the bank marketing manager and William Chambers from Powerball America 2008 and received no return calls.
Pictured above: Tirzah McCoy with scam letter.
