The voice on the phone was shaky and unsure.

“I'm 76 years old, live in Leitchfield, and I don't want my name used,” she said, “but I do want people to be warned about what's happening to them so they don't get into the mess I'm in.”

She told her story in bits and pieces, pausing often to think through the next sentence. She apparently wasn't accustomed to this much anger nor to saying negative things about others.

The phone call telling her she had won $150,000 in a Canadian sweepstakes came on Sept. 18.

But, the caller, a woman calling herself Susan McDaniels, said there would have to be $2,000 wired to a Canadian address by 2 p.m.

“She told me the money was for ‘insurance' on the $150,000,” she said.

She was told to withdraw the $2,000, go to Wal-Mart and buy a money-gram, then send that to an Ontario, Canada address.

She was told that a Brinks courier would deliver her large check to Leitchfield, and as the money-gram made its way north, she got another call, this time from “Michael Moore,” who asked her to send more via credit card, but she was becoming suspicious and refused.

“This is so typical of sweepstakes scams,” said Reanna D. Smith of the Better Business Bureau. “This woman is now out $2,000, but she's lucky she didn't use her credit card and be out even more.”

Also, Smith said, her name and address are “out there, and she'll probably get a lot more offers in the mail and by phone, so she needs to be warned to throw them out and hang up!”

“We get calls like this every day here at the BBB,” Smith said. “And this one is typical, but others send you counterfeit checks (that look very legitimate) to deposit into your bank account, then you are supposed to wire that money to the scam artist.”

“It's later you find out that the check bounced, and you owe your bank the money,” she said.

Legitimate sweepstakes companies do not require you to pay taxes, customs fees, shipping or handling or any other fee before awarding your winnings, Smith said.

“And, they are prohibited by U.S. law from requiring that you buy something to enter a sweepstakes contest or to receive sweepstakes mailings,” she added.

If someone gets sweepstakes offers in the mail, don't be deceived by seals, official-sounding names or terms that imply affiliation with or endorsement by government, she warned.

“If you have truly won a prize, there should be no redemption fees, postage fees, delivery fees,” Smith said.

The bottom line rule, Smith said, is simple: “Don't let dollar signs obstruct your common sense. If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.”