Georgia family warns after 81-year-old loses more than $10,000 in lottery scam

An Albany, Georgia family is warning others after scammers convinced an 81-year-old woman she had won $8.5 million and a 2026 Mercedes G-Wagon through a Mega Millions sweepstakes, then stripped her of gift cards and more than $10,000 in jewelry.

"'I have to tell you a secret. You cannot tell anyone. I am a millionaire now,'" is how her daughter, Albany city commissioner Colette Jenkins, says her mother broke the news.

Her mother had never played the lottery. Jenkins believes the scammers may have linked their story to Publishers Clearing House sweepstakes her mother entered years ago, and possibly found her through a social media post celebrating her 81st birthday. Over more than a month of WhatsApp calls and texts, they sent documents dressed up with fake IRS letterhead, Mega Millions logos and Publishers Clearing House branding, and demanded a $7,000 processing fee to release the winnings. They had her photograph Amazon gift card numbers and mail them her jewelry, then denied receiving it when she asked for it back.

The scammers warned her that people would harm her if they learned about the money, so she avoided her friends and changed her daily routine. When police arrived, they told her, "No, no, they just don't want you to get this money."

"I was so hurt that my mom had been holding this, supposedly 'secret,' and been talking to these thieves for over a month and trusting them as people that she could trust," Jenkins said. The family is alerting banks and blocking the numbers, and the Albany Police Department issued a public warning on August 6.

Lottery and sweepstakes scams took $136 million from Americans in 2025 by the FTC's count, and older adults are more likely than anyone else to lose money to them. The tells are always the same: real lotteries never call winners, never know you won before you do, and never charge a fee, a tax prepayment or a gift card to release a prize. Jenkins put it in one line: "If you get a call saying you've won the lottery, you did not win the lottery."

Sources

WALB: Albany family warns of lottery scam after 81-year-old loses $10K in jewelry to fraudsters

Federal Trade Commission: fake prize, sweepstakes, and lottery scams