Three-year scam

A federal grand jury has indicted two Maryland brothers for their involvement in a lottery scam that tricked victims into believing they had won the lottery.

Dwayne Henry, 32, and Wayne Henry, 34, both of Landover Hills, Maryland, had been running the scheme for three years. Over that time, they defrauded victims of more than $3.5m.

charged with conspiracy to commit mail fraud

The two men were charged with conspiracy to commit mail fraud. If convicted, the pair face 20 years in federal prison.

What happened?

The lottery scheme took place between October 2020 and December 2023. The Henry brothers and co-conspirators targeted victims by mail and by phone, convincing them they had won millions of dollars in a lottery.

To receive their winnings, the victims had to make an advance payment through gift cards, wire transfers, or cash. The scam worked, as many people failed to heed the blaring alarm bells.

made to believe they had won $5.5m in the lottery

Using a fake name – Anthony Henry – and a fake address, the pair sent packages and suitcases, allegedly containing the victims’ winnings. In one instance, a victim, J.P., was made to believe they had won $5.5m in the lottery. J.P. was sent a metal suitcase, purportedly holding the winnings, but to open the locked suitcase, J.P. had to send the “required taxes and fees” to obtain the code.

Attempting to open the suitcase before receiving the code would result in an exploding ink pack destroying the money inside, the victim was told.

Never received winnings

Over the three years, the Henry brothers allegedly tracked the packages sent to and from the victims. Wayne reportedly received several packages containing victims’ funds to obtain their winnings, each addressed to Anthony Henry.

Needing to put the money somewhere, Wayne opened two bank accounts to receive both peer-to-peer transfers and cash deposits. The brothers are believed to have sent money to each other using a digital payment network.

Thinking themselves unstoppable, the pair pulled out all the stops when scamming their victims.

packages that the victim believed contained checks amounting to $150m

In another instance of fraud, the duo sent packages that the victim believed contained checks amounting to $150m. To receive the money, the victim, J.S., was asked in a note to contact the writer upon which the Henrys requested the person contact them on a telephone number ending in 9391. The instructions were “to get in touch . . . about paying you the 150 million dollars.”

Needless to say, the victim never received anything.