Paralegal quoted on identity theft

"A 90-year-old Manchester woman is out $10,000 cash after falling victim to a Canadian lottery scam.

"Another area woman selling a motorcycle on eBay was lured into wiring $2,000 to British Columbia as part of a phony transaction.

"New Hampshire Assistant Attorney General Richard Head recently got a fraudulent e-mail claiming to be from Paypal, but was really sent from an identity thief.

“’It’s a crime that’s affecting everybody,’ said Michael Blanchard, a U.S. postal inspector who investigates identity theft crimes in New Hampshire. ‘If you’re on the Internet, you’re affected by this.’

"Blanchard joined representatives from the New Hampshire office of the Attorney General and the Consumer Credit Counseling Service of New Hampshire & Vermont on Tuesday to talk to a dozen small business owners about how to protect their business and customers from scams mail.

"But foreign lotteries are illegal in the United States, so there is no such thing as winning an Internet lottery, said Denise Costello, a paralegal with the attorney general’s office.

"So if you’ve won something, you shouldn’t have to pay anything, she added."