PORT ST. LUCIE — An 81-year-old man reported he was scammed out of $12,000 after he received a call that he had won $5.5 million.

The Port St. Lucie resident told police he had recently received a call from a Las Vegas stock and mortgage broker company notifying him of his winnings.

The caller said the man would have to prepay for state taxes and for hotel and flight reservations before collecting the money, according to a police report.

So from March 17 to April 7, the man went to a Winn Dixie and made 26 wire transfers totaling $12,000, he told officers. The money was wired to different places in Jamaica, Arizona, Florida and Nevada, he said.

The man said he became suspicious after he didn’t receive the winnings and he called police.