Pay for a Big Prize? Woman Commits Mail Sweepstakes Scam, Rips Off More Than $10 Million

In June, an American woman was charged with mail fraud and conspiracy to commit direct-mail sweepstakes fraud. She is said to have swindled more than $10 million from the elderly and other vulnerable individuals through her fraudulent activities.

The 47-year-old woman is Megan E. Shine. She used Rhode Island businesses Lucky Dog LLC (Premium Ops & Incentives) and Destiny Merchandise LLC to send emails to seniors and other vulnerable people claiming that they had won cash or other valuable prizes and asking for payment with amounts ranging from $20 to $30.

According to the victims, many of them received the emails multiple times and sent multiple payments. In the end, the scammers sent only a booklet containing the publicly available sweepstakes rules or a small, inexpensive piece of jewelry.

According to the U.S. Department of Justice's announcement, the documents Shine sent to her victims were carefully designed from words, font, stamp, to typeset and appeared to be an official notice sent to award winners. In fact, all victims received identical mailings except for the recipient's name and address.

“Preying on the hopes of elderly and vulnerable victims for profit, and using fraudulent mailings to persuade them to part with their hard-earned money takes a terrible toll- financially and mentally,” said U.S. Attorney Zachary A. Cunha for the District of Rhode Island.

If convicted, Shine faces up to 20 years in prison.