We scooped $316m Powerball jackpot but the law forced us to go public with our win – scammers tried to steal millions

TEXT message scammers have been swindling their victims by pretending to be high-profile lottery winners.

Crooks are now weaving a bit of truth into their lies in an effort to make these schemes more believable.

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In one fraudulent text obtained by WGAL, a scammer claimed to be Tammy and Cliff Webster, two Wisconsin residents who won more than $316million last year playing Powerball.

Anyone who looks up the Websters can find dozens of bona fide articles about their lucky break.

The fraudulent message said the couple is donating $120,000 to random 50 people, including the recipient of the text.

Potential victims are them instructed to call a number included in the text to collect their money.

Those who followed through with the instructions have reported losing thousands in “processing fees.”

Others reportedly ended up revealing personal information like a driver’s license or social security number.

Text scams like this are not new, so it’s a good idea to stay vigilant any time there’s a high-profile lottery winner.

The Websters live in Oneida, an unincorporated community outside of Green Bay, WISN reported.

They split the more than $630million jackpot with another winner in California.

After taxes, the couple walked away with almost $154million.

They found out about their win while watching the news as Tammy got ready for work at 4.30am.

“We’re hugging and yelling and it was one of the happiest moments of my life,” Cliff said in a video provided by Wisconsin Lottery.

The couple did not do any interviews with the media after their win.

Both Tammy and Cliff are members of the Oneida Nation, an American Indian tribe with branches in Wisconsin, New York and Canada.

“We are very happy about this and I want to thank grandfather, to Creator God, for giving us this great gift,” Tammy said.

“Anybody could win. Just be thankful for what you have and be happy and maybe good things will come because it came for us.”