Vancouver police says a total of four local people, including three South Asians – Nazifa Raza, Saheem M. Raza and Fared M. Raza, all of Vancouver, have been charged after an investigation into lottery scams against seniors that tracks to the U.S and back to Vancouver and Richmond.
VANCOUVER – Vancouver police says a total of four local people, including three South Asians, have been charged after an investigation into lottery scams against seniors that tracks to the U.S and back to Vancouver and Richmond.
In a release Friday, VPD says five reported cases — involving losses in the tens of thousands of dollars — compared to two at the same time last year have set off alarm bells, reported the Province newspaper.
Charged with fraud and forgery are Nazifa Raza, 27, of Vancouver, Saheem M. Raza, 30, of Vancouver, and Fared M. Raza, 38, of Vancouver. Also charged with mail fraud is Richard Williams, 30, of Surrey.
One particular case in March was traced to Hillsborough, Calif., in which an 89-year-old woman was duped into wiring $70,000 from her savings to an account in Vancouver. An investigation led to a local business, F&A Accounting and Tax Consultants on Kingsway.
In another scam a month ago, an elderly Pittsburgh man was duped out of thousands of dollars in a Publisher’s Clearing House scam that was traced to a residential address on Kingsway.
The VPD says they continue to investigate three other cases involving elderly victims living in the U.S.
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