Another person has fallen prey to a common scam that is popular for criminals in other countries to perpetrate and hard for police to trace.

A Ponder woman told a Denton County sheriff’s deputy on Monday that she recently received a letter notifying her that she was a lottery winner and would receive $100,000.

Sheriff’s Detective Sgt. Roger Griggs said a check for $3,174.49 accompanied the notification letter. The woman called the telephone number provided and was told that the place of origin, British Columbia, Canada, required taxes on the money and that the taxes could not be paid from the accounts of winners. The woman learned she should deposit the check and wire the money back to the address to expedite her winnings.

The woman did as she was instructed and then learned the original check was a forgery, meaning that her account was docked the money.

The wire probably did not even go to the address in British Columbia, Griggs said. A person with the identification number can pick up the money at any wire service location and there is no trail for police to follow. And the criminals often are in places such as Nigeria.

The woman learned a costly lesson, Griggs said.

“If you didn’t enter a lottery, you didn’t win it,” he said.

Other reports

2600 block of Coffey Street — A man reported Monday that a couple of months ago someone apparently entered his garage and took his weed cutter. He didn’t think it was worth reporting at the time, he said, but now realizes the burglar also took his golf clubs.

Roundup

From 7 a.m. Monday to 7 a.m. Tuesday:

• Denton police handled 239 service and officer-initiated calls, including eight thefts, seven reports of criminal mischief, one forgery, one report of harassment, four vehicle burglaries, three frauds, two burglaries, one credit card abuse, two deceased persons, two assaults and one case of possession of a dangerous drug.

• Denton County sheriff’s dispatchers handled 221 service and officer-initiated calls for the agencies they serve. Twenty-seven people were booked into county jail. Deputies took reports of one missing person, one fraud, one theft, one criminal mischief and one assault.

• Denton firefighters responded to 21 medical calls, one electrical malfunction, two requests to assist an invalid, two false alarms, one gas leak, two traffic accidents, one grassfire and one deceased person.

Argyle firefighters responded to one medical call and one alarm.

Lake Cities firefighters responded to one traffic accident, two vehicle fires and one request to transfer a patient.

Krum firefighters responded to one medical call and one request for mutual aid.

Sanger firefighters responded to one request for mutual aid, one request to assist a citizen and two medical calls.

Aubrey firefighters responded to one grassfire, one medical call and one traffic accident.

Pilot Point firefighters responded to one request for mutual aid, one odor investigation, one medical call and one illegal burn.

DONNA FIELDER can be reached at 940-566-6885. Her e-mail address is dfielder@dentonrc.com .

Denton County Crime Stoppers will pay a reward of up to $1,000 for information leading to an arrest in these or other crimes. Callers will remain anonymous. Call 1-800-388-TIPS (8477). To receive crime alerts in your area, visit CrimeWeb.net.