Costa Rica Call-Center Worker Corinne Dziesiuta, Who Posed as 'Lisa Conti,' Sentenced to 5 Years for $4.1 Million Sweepstakes Scam on Elderly Palatine Man

Case from 2017 (U.S. Attorney's Office release: Dec. 7, 2017). Published on Scammers.com Oct. 16, 2026; case status is current as of that date.

Corinne Dziesiuta, who worked for a call center in Costa Rica, was sentenced on Dec. 5, 2017, to five years in federal prison for helping cheat an elderly man in Palatine, Illinois, out of more than $4.1 million through a phony sweepstakes, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Illinois announced [1].

How the scheme worked

According to prosecutors [1]:

1. The "win": The man was told by phone and letter that he had won millions of dollars in a sweepstakes.
2. Fees and taxes: To collect, he was told he first had to pay various fees and taxes.
3. Pressure: Dziesiuta and her co-schemers "tricked and bullied" him into sending large sums to accounts they controlled. Dziesiuta knew he had not won anything.
4. A fake name: Using the name "Lisa Conti," she communicated with him from 2010 to 2016. He made 37 payments ranging from $23,751 to $210,000.
5. The sting: In 2016 the man began cooperating with law enforcement and told her he would only hand over more money in person. She agreed to travel to New York to collect it and was arrested on arrival at LaGuardia Airport.

The person sentenced

Corinne Dziesiuta, 39 at sentencing, originally from New Jersey [1]

• Arrest: 2016, at LaGuardia Airport.
• Plea (August 2017): pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud.
• Sentence (Dec. 5, 2017): 60 months in prison, imposed by U.S. District Judge Thomas M. Durkin.
• Investigation: FBI Chicago.

Red flags

• You "won" a contest you never entered.
• You must pay fees, taxes or charges before collecting a prize. Legitimate sweepstakes don't require this.
• Repeated calls that grow more insistent or threatening with every payment.

What to do if you're targeted

1. Never pay to collect a prize. Hang up and stop responding.
2. Watch for older relatives making large, repeated wire transfers and talk with them about prize calls.
3. Report sweepstakes scams to the FTC at reportfraud.ftc.gov and, for older victims, the National Elder Fraud Hotline at 1-833-372-8311.

Case status (as of Oct. 16, 2026)

Defendant	Court	Status as of Oct. 16, 2026	Source
Corinne Dziesiuta	N.D. Ill. (Judge Durkin)	Arrested 2016; pleaded guilty to wire fraud August 2017; sentenced Dec. 5, 2017, to 60 months	[1]

The sentence was imposed in 2017; we have not found a source on any later proceedings. The release did not name her co-schemers.

Sources

1. U.S. Attorney's Office, Northern District of Illinois, "Woman Sentenced to Five Years in Federal Prison for Bilking Elderly Man out of $4.1 Million," Dec. 7, 2017. https://www.justice.gov/usao-ndil/pr/woman-sentenced-five-years-federal-prison-bilking-elderly-man-out-41-million

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