A victim of a scam who lost around $1,500 is warning people of the dangers of getting wrapped up in so-called international lottery scams.

Donald Morrison, 70, came to West Shore RCMP within the past month telling them of the scam.

About one year ago, Morrison received a letter from Winning International claiming he had won a lottery. He then received a phone call telling him that he had to send money in order to claim his winnings.

Morrison said he had entered a lottery in Spain he had read about in a newspaper two years before. It’s unclear whether that lottery is related to the scam that victimized him.

Morrison suspected a scam but, in need of money, he agreed to send cash on the off chance his win was legitimate. Numerous transactions over the next six months left Morrison short the money and stuck with a $700 cell phone bill from all the long distance calls he was receiving.

Morrison did receive some money from the scammers, but only about $500 for the $2,000 he spent.

As recently as Monday, July 23, Morrison was still in contact with the scammers, attempting to meet them in person and still hoping to get the money promised to him.

“The message is don’t get into any of those scams, those foreign lotteries,” Morrison said. “That’s it.”

Fossum said to never send anyone money in order to claim supposed wins.

“That’s the message I want to give to everybody out there. If it’s too good to be true, it’s not true,” Fossum said. “They’re sweet talkers. They know how to push your buttons. … It’s an art.”

West Shore RCMP will be looking into Morrison’s case and passing his information on to scam investigators.