From the Office of DeKalb County Sheriff Nick Welden:

FORT PAYNE, Ala. - On November 15, 2023, the DeKalb County Sheriff's Office Investigations Unit was successful in retrieving $25,000 sent by a DeKalb County victim to a person claiming to be from Publisher's Clearing House. In October, investigators were made aware that the victim had been contacted by a male claiming that they had won millions of dollars through Publisher's Clearing House and in order to receive the money, the victim needed to pay the taxes on the winnings. Investigators spent many hours tracing the money through multiple banks and were finally able to locate where the scammers had moved the money. The money was then returned to the victim. Unfortunately, this is not always the case, scams of this nature generally originate overseas and the money is transferred to multiple banks before being sent overseas. Once that happens, it is nearly impossible to retrieve the money.

DeKalb County Sheriff Nick Welden said of the incident: "Scammers are constantly creating new ways to lure people into their traps. One of the biggest signs something is a scam is that you will be asked to pay money to receive money. Please talk with your friends and family to remind them of the ways to spot a scam and to remember to never give out personal information over the phone. I am thankful that our investigators were able to return the money to this victim."

"God Bless!" Concluded Sheriff Welden.