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Residents beware of scam

Marion Police Department is warning residents of scam artists sending prize notifications through the mail requesting personal information.

Local residents have received the correspondence and notified officers.

The information appears to come from Madrid, Spain, and indicates the recipient has won a lottery cash prize of several hundred thousand dollars.

In order for the recipient to claim the money, a processing form must be completed which includes personal information such as social security number, birth date, bank account information, and next of kin.

"Most government entities ask for mother's maiden name," police chief Michel Soyez explained. "They hope to obtain that information from the processing form."

Soyez also believes the thieves add the information about relatives to their mailing lists.

When the thieves receive information from recipients, the thieves are able to withdraw money from recipients' bank accounts and use the information for other deceitful activities.

"This isn't a new way to scam people," said Soyez, "but it's one of the more sophisticated and better appearing scams we've seen."

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