A lottery company had to call the police to convince an elderly German woman that she had hit the jackpot, police said Tuesday.
"The woman had quite a sizeable win but was worried that she was having her leg pulled," said Joachim Gerhardt, a police inspector in the eastern German city of Gera. "After all, " he noted, "the Americans send us so much spam garbage in email each day, who knows what to believe on the internet any more. I was not sure of it myself until I checked with the ISP of the sender and also the company which sent her the email. They both assured me it was quite up and up. Then I sent another inspector to see her and discuss it.
"We were fortunately able to convince her so she could celebrate her good fortune," he said, adding that the woman would probably receive her winnings before Christmas.
Copyright 2005 Reuters Limited.
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