The worst part of all is she called and told her four kids she had just won $275,000.

Or at least it became the worst part when she found out the next day, Thursday, that it was a scam and she had to call them all back and break the news - the bad news.

Barbara Maddox, 59, got a phone call about 4 p.m. Wednesday from a person saying she represented the "Publishers Clearing House," and Maddox had won second place.

The representative, with a strong foreign accent, was relieved to finally have reached Maddox.

The caller said "Publishers" had been working to track Maddox down since June of last year.

Maddox said it sounded possible, if not likely, because she had just moved to Hayden in June from Arizona.

To help paint the picture of big winnings in Maddox's mind, the caller asked her if she wanted the big win to be celebrated in private or have it televised.

"Oh, private is fine," Maddox remembered replying.

The representative had her birth date, address and phone number.

Next question: Would she like the money placed in her checking or savings account?

"I'll do that myself when I get the check," Maddox replied.

Having been shot down on getting some bank account numbers, the caller switched to plan B.

First, though, she kept painting the picture, sprinkling in the juicy fantasy details.

She told Maddox someone would be there at her home between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. Thursday to take some pictures of her accepting her check. Would that be OK? That also "sounded fine." Such specific times made it seem more real. These people have a schedule.

The conversation lasted about 25 minutes.

She was given phone numbers and names, helping Maddox feel more secure. They had her info, and now she had some of their info (or so she thought).

"Call this number tomorrow when you get the check," the caller told Maddox. Maddox thought this was sort of strange since the person delivering the check tomorrow would know she had gotten the check.

"So why would I have to call, too?" she thought.

But she swept the inconsistency from her mind in the excitement of the big win. It was time to call the kids. She promised $5,000 to each. She fell asleep feeling like a big winner.

Then her phone rang at 6 a.m. Thursday.

There was a lot of noise in the background. Somebody was calling from a Miami airport.

The man, who identified himself as "Juan Rivera," gave Maddox an 800 number to reach the Publishers Clearing House "financial department." He told her to ask them to pay 1 percent of her winnings to customs agents to allow the release of her winning check.

She reached the "financial department," and was told, "no." They had already taken care of the taxes on the money, the fee was her responsibility.

She called "Rivera" back, who was disappointed to hear the news from the financial department.

Now she was told she needed to come up with 1 percent.

For her convenience, she could just pay it over the phone with a credit or debit card, or with a bank account number.

She said she would pay after she cashed the check.

The response from Rivera: "Oh no, no, no, no!"

She began to get a bad feeling about things when Rivera kept getting her winning amount wrong. She didn't correct him, as the number was a bit larger, and the amount wasn't that different.

To the caller she blurted out something like, "I really need this money, I hope I really did win it."

She could smell the scam.

Soon the caller was connecting her to somebody who was supposedly the "president of the Puerto Rican embassy."

She could talk to him, and maybe he'll be able to resolve the problem.

The president said she'd need to speak with "a U.S. ambassador."

Then the whole thing unraveled. It was a scam.

She called her sister, Donna Hardin, of Coeur d'Alene.

"She said it sounded fake," Maddox said.

Hardin recommended Maddox call the Better Business Bureau. She did.

Hardin also recommend Maddox use some of the phone numbers the "Publishers" representatives gave her and give them an earful.

"I haven't cussed in a long time, but I'm gonna," Maddox recalled saying.

She called the numbers she was given, but she couldn't reach the scammers. The area codes (305 and 516) were from southern Florida, and New York state.

She felt like a fool when she called her three daughters and son to tell them: "I found out it was a scam. It wasn't real."

But she really needed the money, she said. "I deserve it."

She's physically disabled, with shoulder problems and nerve damage in her hands.

Hardin came over to visit Maddox Thursday to console her after the letdown.