Sweepstakes scam

[ridgerunnerinwv]

My wife recieved a a letter in the mail with a check. This company sent her the letter is supposedly in Canada saying they are affiliated with publishers clearing house.They enclosed a check of $2932.78 to use for clearance processing fees . Here is the kicker,this check is issued from a bank in Texas ,Chase Bank and it has a logo of a company in Texas that has nothing to do with sweepstakes,but is a maker of industrial equipment. The check is so real looking,with watermarks etc the works.I am going to contact the state attorney generals office and let the have it.

 

[PitbullMidwest]

A friend at work received a letter (very official looking) that said he had won $50,000 in the British lottery and even had a phone number to call to verify. He called the number and was told his entry was from a web site he had visited and was asked for his SSN so that the taxes could be paid to the IRS from his winnings. When he refused to give out his number the lady very politely said she understood his concerns about identity theft and said that he could pay the taxes himself. But because it was an international lottery he would need to pay them before they issued a winnings check. He was told they could debit his checking or savings account if he would provide the account and routing number. No deal. As a last attempt, they asked him to mail them a check for $1200 and when he refused she called him a profane name that I once had washed out of my mouth by my mother and hung up. He has sent the information on to our State Attorney General.

Scammers are becoming more and more bold every day.

 

[Bird]

This is such a common scam that it's been mentioned twice in the past week in our local paper. People do fall for it.

 

[RedRocker]

My Momma always said you don't get sumpthin for nuthin, she was right.