American Cash Awards
Prize call demanded Green Dot fees and phone stopped working

December 21, the day the world was supposed to end, I got a phone call from a man who introduced himself as Mark Pryce from American Cash Awards (1-876-830-2738). He said, "Congratulations, you've been selected from a sweepstakes held by Walmart, you've won $250,000." Of course, I was immediately skeptical, as I haven't visited a Walmart since my time in the military.

The guy asked me if I wanted it to be public or private information. I said private, of course. He then asked which method of delivery, USPS or FedEx. I asked for FedEx, and he stated that the amount would be sent to my address in Hawaii. That's where things got familiar, and I had to tell him that I had since moved and was now living in Los Angeles. The guy told me that in order to process the delivery fee, I needed to purchase a Green Dot MoneyPak card for $75 from the nearest Walmart, CVS Pharmacy or Kmart.

At this time things got seriously strange. My phone stopped working normally. What I mean is that I could receive calls, but I couldn't make any calls or receive texts, and the only call I could receive was from this company, specifically this person.

Anyway, the next day I got the card and, under false pretenses, gave him the numbers on the back. He called me back with the security information for the delivery, including a check number, security code, briefcase combination code and a Western Union tracking number. That made me really think this was all legitimate. He constantly told me not to be skeptical, that he was just doing his job and wasn't trying to screw me over, all the things that should calm people down in this situation, but I was still highly agitated.

The next day, Sunday, I got a call from Mark. He told me there was an additional fee of $150 required to handle transportation. At this point I was livid. He never said anything about additional fees, and I'm not financially secure enough to pay it. He negotiated with me about how much I could pay. I told him maybe half, and he agreed to pay the other half from his own pocket, which was nice of him, right? I picked up another card and gave him the numbers. He called me back and told me the delivery would happen the next morning and that I should stay close to my phone and be ready for the delivery.

On Christmas Eve at 11 am, I got a call from Mark asking which bank I would prefer the transfer to take place at. I said Wells Fargo, and he said okay, be by the phone and wait for a call. The whole day went by. At 5:30 pm I got a call from Mark asking how the transfer was coming along. I ripped his head off: "What transfer? No one has called me. You said the delivery was going to happen this morning. You've been scamming me the entire time." He swore that it was all for real, that he was just as confused as I was that no one had contacted me, and he even gave me the number for Western Union to check on the money transfer, a lot of good that did with a broken phone. He told me to stay by the phone and he would call me back in an hour.

That was last night. This morning I went with a friend and got a new phone and number. I called Western Union and gave them the transfer number I had received, and they just told me that the number exists but that no amount of money was attached to it. I was being scammed.

These people are the lowest forms of human beings I have ever come across, and I've fought terrorists. I'm happy that they didn't get any more money from me, but still sad that there are people in this world who will do this to good people, around the holidays no less, with no consequences.

Company: American Cash Awards
Country: USA
State: Colorado
City: Kittredge
ZIP: 80457
Address: PO Box 1030
Phone: 8888889025

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