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May 20, 2005, 10:57 am (5 comments)
Ever heard the cliche you don’t get something for nothing?
A few months ago Rebecca Jones received a piece of paper in the mail inviting her to enter a free lottery drawing. All Jones had to do was fill out her name, phone number and address, then send it back, she said.
A few weeks later she received a letter announcing she had won $1.2 million, but would have to pay about $3,700 in taxes and surcharges, she said.
Jones said she received a $3,900 check in the mail with instructions to cash it and wire the money to someone else so they could take care of the fees associated with the windfall.
Jones said she cashed the check and wired the money to another location where it was collected. Not long after that, the bank notified her the check was counterfeit, and she is now liable for the $3,900.
Grand Junction Sentinel
People got to know that this is a scam. Whenever you have to pay money for a prize it is not legitimate. I work at a bank and there has been many people in the last couple weeks getting stuck with thousands of dollars worth of overdrafts because the check they deposited was fraudulent. The bank recieved the "official letter" from the customer and I dont understand how anyone can fall for it. They give you this check that is drawn off of some company that isn't even related to the so called "lottery" and they ask you to cash it and then wire a large amount to them by Western Union. People need to start looking out for themselves.
Brad
A similar scam is used by some banks in my area. They offer their customers $50 just to check out some insurance plan they offer and send them a check for $50 which contains a notice in small print that when the check is cashed they are signing up for a year at $50 per month, so that free $50 cost the person $600. They only send those letters out to old folks who maintain a checking account of $600 or more. I always put a check for free money in the shearer.
RJOh
Interesting to see that the scammers are getting smarter. Now they make the person think that they actually entered a lottery game.
these people doing this should get serious jail time.preying on the elderly isn't nice....