73-year-old Aurora man loses $80,000 in lottery scam

A 73-year-old Aurora man is homeless after losing around $80,000 in a fake lottery scam.

According to a news release by the Better Business Bureau, Lee Williams, who is retired, received calls for years from scammers telling him he'd won millions of dollars in a foreign lottery.

"I kept giving them more money and they kept telling me that they still need more in order to get me my prize winnings," Williams said. "I have asked questions, I've asked for proof - they always have some kind of answer but no money for me."

According to the Better Business Bureau, fake sweepstakes and lottery scams have been duping people for years but there are many ways people can avoid becoming victims. Here are some telltale signs:

• You win a contest you never entered. You need to buy a ticket or complete an application to participate in a contest or lottery.

• You are offered "too-good-to-be-true" prizes. Scammers attempt to make it sound easy to claim your prize. The reality is it is very unlikely that someone will give away large sums of money with no strings attached.

• You have to give personal information. Anytime someone tries to get your bank account number, Social Security Number or other sensitive information, that should be an automatic red flag.

• You have to pay to win. It's illegal to ask you to pay or buy something to enter or increase your odds of winning.

• You have to wire money or use prepaid debit cards. It's difficult to track these types of transactions, so you will have little to no way of getting your money back.

Williams said he knows he likely won't get back any of the money he lost.

"I just want to warn other people," he said.