News Release



For further information please contact:

Sgt. Jason Clark

573-522-0980

DDCC08-23

August 23, 2005



EMPHASIS: Local Mail Scams





Captain Ronald K. Replogle, Director of the Division of Drug and Crime Control (DDCC), would like to inform the citizens of the State of Missouri, about a recent series of illegal non-U.S. Lottery notification announcements. Only state-run lotteries are legal in the State of Missouri, and any lottery announcements you receive by mail that are identified outside of the United States should be considered scams.



Evidence of these scams have been recently located in Central Missouri and generated from Australia and British Columbia, Canada. Those targeted by these mailings appear to be the elderly. The Missouri State Highway Patrol would like to inform anyone who might recieve or have received these fraudulent lottery documents to avoid any correspondence with the solicitor and dispose of the letter immediately.