Chesterton Police have taken the report of a resident defrauded of more than $4,000.

According to police, on April 5 the resident received a letter informing him that he had won $500,000 in prize money, with a check enclosed in the amount of $4,559 for “applicable processing fees.” He was instructed to deposit that check in his account and then wire that amount, in the name of Catherine Meadows, to an unspecified location. He did and was told by a George Pennington by telephone to wait for the patrol to come to his home on Friday.

The prize patrol did not come to his home.

The resident subsequently attempted to cancel the wire transaction but was informed that the money had already been picked up on the other end.

The resident advised police that he originally believed the prize money to be legitimate as he had previously entered a Reader’s Digest/Publisher’s Clearinghouse contest.

Posted 4/14/2008