It was such a bonus!
I got a letter in the mail today from a
company in Canada. (I don't want to give out the name because this
matter is under investigation with State, Federal and Canadian
Authorities.)
Imagine my surprise when I opened it up and found a check made out to me for $3,860.00!
Apparently,
I was the winner of a sweepstakes and this was a partial payout for
winnings that totaled $55,250.00. Within the letter were instructions
to call a number, ask for a certain agent and be prepared to have my
claim number available. Immediately, I became suspicious because I
never enter sweepstakes, but I kept staring at the check wondering...hey
what if!
After re-reading the letter several times I decided to
take the check to my bank to see if it was indeed a "legitimate" . They
verified that it was by appearance, but told me that this probably was
some kind of Scam. The bank said that if I deposited it, they would
hold it for 10 business days before releasing the funds. I of course
did not want to deposit it. But because I love to uncover a good Scam,
I decided to do something about it!
Before I placed a call to
these lovely folks that wanted to give me $55,250 I went to the Internet
and researched the addresses that were referenced in the letter. The
letter came from Canada, but the check was from an American Company in
New Jersey. Curiously enough the address for the Trust Company in
Canada was actually an Automotive Garage. The address on the check was
truly from an existing business in New Jersey. OK...I was ready to
place my call.
My agent wasn't available, but I spoke with a
rather peppy woman who said that on June 10, 2007 I had filled out a
sweepstakes entry for a Readers Digest Contest. Didn't I remember
filling it out, she asked? I assured her that I must have other wise I
wouldn't have won, right? And you know what, in the background, I
could hear clanging and before she could put me on hold several times, I
could also hear the sound of power tools! Hey, was this a Financial
Trust/Guaranty Company or an Automotive Garage?
Now, what she told
me next, was so appalling that I made it my mission to get the word
out there about this Check Cashing --Wire Fraud Scam!
They were so
happy that I had called in to claim my prize, but before I could
receive my $52k I had to pay taxes on the money. So I needed to cash
the check, wait until it "cleared" , she said that should be within 3 to
5 days. Then, I needed to go to "Money Gram" and wire transfer
$3,680.000 to a Person in Brooklyn, New York. Now, to wire transfer
that kind of money, I would supposedly incur Money Gram Fees between
$60 and $180.00! There goes my $3,860!
I asked her why they could
not just take the taxes right out of my winnings like the Lottery does.
She said that they were Canadian so they couldn't do that. Then I
asked why Canadians were worried about the IRS? Of course they weren't
worried, but I should be. Then I inquired as to why I was sending
"taxes" to an individual and not the IRS. She actually told me that the
person I was sending the money to worked for the IRS. OK, so if they
weren't asking for any type of identifying information, why would I send
money to the IRS without the proper Form and personal info so that I
could be credited for paying taxes on my winnings?
Well,
according to her, I could do that when I received my $55k check! I cold
even have an attorney present if I wanted because they actually came to
my house to present it to me in person. I ended the call with her
assuring me that this wasn't a scam, and that the woman from the IRS
that I was supposed to transfer money to would contact me the next day
with any questions that I might have.
Alright, on to Readers
Digest. I spoke with a Customer Care Representative from their
Pleasantville, NY office and she said that this definitely was a SCAM!
Sadly, they receive about 3 calls with the same story everyday! Worse
yet, so many people actually wire the money only to find out that the
check eventually bounces. Readers Digest referred me to the Consumer
Protection League in Washington DC.
There I spoke with a Gentleman
who explained the whole scam to me and said that they receive 10 to 15
phone calls like this everyday. Here's how the scam works so Please
pass this information on to your friends and family. Especially Senior
Citizens and College Students, given the statistics, they seem to be
the majority of victims in cases like this.
You go to your bank
and deposit the check. Some banks will make the funds available to you
in 3 days, some 5, and very few 10. It all depends on your bank, and
quite frankly how much money you already have in your accounts. Most
banks want their customers happy so they will try to make funds
available as soon as possible. In the meantime, you check back with
your bank and the everything seems to be OK. So now they release the
funds and you wire transfer the money to whomever! Which by the way
doesn't necessarily have to be picked-up at the location that you wire
it to. Since the recipient has the pertinent information, the money can
be pick up anywhere, sometimes even in another country!
Unfortunately,
these crooks have it down, they know that the check can bounce not
once, but a couple times. Technically, just because the funds were made
available to you doesn't mean that the check "cleared". That can
actually take up to 21 days and the thieves know this! So that makes
you feel secure enough to wire transfer the money. Now all you have to
do is wait for that entourage of people to show up at your house with
the BIG check, right?
WRONG, here comes the mailman with a letter
from your bank saying that the check bounced and now YOU owe the Bank
$3,680! Nice eh? Rule of Thumb here, There is NEVER a reason to send
money in order to collect winnings, period. If you receive a letter
like this in the mail, or know of someone that has, please refer them to
www.fakechecks.org. Click on "prevention" then "report it". Fill out the form and the proper authorities will be notified.
Additionally,
you might want to notify your States Attorney Generals Office. Many
of these have online forms that you can use to report this type of
Fraud. Together, we can help stop this kind of Malicious Crime!
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