Fake Publishers Clearing House Calls and a Transport Company Account: Sweepstakes Scammer Gets 46 Months

The charges

On April 1, 2025, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Connecticut, part of the Department of Justice (DOJ), and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service (USPIS) announced an indictment against Jimmy Smith, 30, a citizen of Jamaica living in Hinesville, Georgia. Smith was arrested in Florida on March 17, 2025.

The indictment charged one count of conspiracy to commit mail fraud and wire fraud, and one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering and illegal monetary transactions.

A co-conspirator, Keshelski Bates, 30, also of Hinesville, had already waived indictment and pleaded guilty on January 21, 2025, to conspiracy to commit mail fraud and wire fraud.

How the scheme worked

According to court documents described by DOJ:

• Scam participants called victims and falsely told them they'd won large sums of money.
• Victims were told they had to pay fees or taxes first, by mail to addresses the scammers controlled or by wire to bank accounts.
• Smith and others defrauded at least four victims in Connecticut, New York, Texas and California, telling them they'd won a Publishers Clearing House sweepstakes.
• Smith recruited people to let their bank accounts receive the money victims mailed. Those people withdrew cash and gave it to Smith or sent it through bank transfer apps.

One example: in July 2022, a Connecticut victim got a call saying she'd won a $2.5 million prize and needed to pay taxes. In August 2022, she mailed a $75,000 check payable to "Keshelski & K Transport" to an address in Brooklyn. It was deposited into an account for Keshelski&K Transports LLC, controlled by Bates.

Smith was also part of a separate scheme in which an Arkansas resident thought he was paying for farm equipment. Victims lost more than $2.6 million across these schemes.

The sentence

On June 24, 2026, DOJ announced that U.S. District Judge Sarala V. Nagala in Hartford sentenced Smith to 46 months in prison. Smith pleaded guilty to a conspiracy charge of mail fraud and wire fraud on November 18, 2025. In addition, he was ordered to report for imprisonment on August 24. Bates was still awaiting sentencing.

USPIS investigated with help from Army CID, the Hinesville Police Department and the Orlando Police Department.

Why it matters

Borrowing a famous sweepstakes brand name is an old trick, and it still worked here. The sweepstakes victims in this case were first reached by phone.

What to take from it:

1. A caller who says you won but have to pay taxes or fees first is running exactly the script DOJ described here.
2. Business accounts make the payments look normal. The payee here was a company called "Keshelski & K Transport."
3. Mailed checks leave a trail. The U.S. Postal Inspection Service led this investigation.

If you're running outbound calls, make sure nobody in your chain is using a brand name they have no right to use. That's it.