Two Women Charged In Del City Lottery Scam

Two metro women are charged with two counts each of exploiting the elderly after Del City police busted a lottery scam.

Del City Police arrested Bretney Ware and Sharon Ogles December 2, 2013, for allegedly preying on the elderly.

They said they found the women at an Ace Cash Express located in the 4000 block of S.E. 15th with checks from at least two victims.

"Oh yes, the scammers are out there in full force," said Sheryl Presley with Oklahoma City Police's TRIAD program.

TRIAD is a coalition for elderly crime prevention made up of Oklahoma City Police, the Oklahoma Sheriff's Office and senior citizens.

OCPD did not assist in this arrest, but said the lottery scam is something they see often.

"With the lottery scams, they're calling, they'll say they're with the Oklahoma lottery or they'll just act like they've won lots of money," Presley explained.

Court documents show Ware and Ogles told their victims they had to pay at least $500 as collateral for their lottery winnings.

"When people are asking you for funding up front after they tell you you've won money or any type of prize, that is a red flag," Presley said.

Del City Police said an elderly person from San Diego and another from Maryland fell for the scam and sent the women checks.

According to investigators, Ware and Ogles were trying to cash six checks totaling $3,000, but the Ace Cash Express manager got suspicious and called police.

A spokesperson for Ace Cash Express said scammers are so clever and so hard to catch that all the employees are specially trained to pick up on certain warning signs.

The spokesperson said the company makes it their business to know what criminals are up to in order to protect their customers.

Investigators said this case certainly will not be the last time someone targets seniors with a scam.

"The scammers try to use them to be a go-between so that way it's really hard for us in law enforcement to try to find a paper trail on these people," Presley said.

Del City Police said Ware and Ogles may have more victims.