In a new twist to an old scam, Canadian and other international lottery scams are now using bogus cashier's checks made out to the victim to collect upfront fees. Other scams using fake checks include work at home offers to "process payments" or do "mystery shopping" by depositing checks and wiring funds to a location outside of the U.S., and overpayment scams where an individual claims to have "accidentally" sent too much money for a transaction (these often target sellers through online auctions or businesses) and request that the extra funds be deposited and returned to the buyer with the item (in this case the seller is out all of the funds and the product).
In the lottery or sweepstakes scam, the consumer receives a letter stating he or she is the winner of several thousand to several million dollars in an international lottery. In order to collect the "winnings" the victim is required to pay an upfront processing fees and taxes - a common ploy of international lottery scams. In this version, though, the supposed lottery includes a cashier's check for the consumer to cash to pay for these fees.
Consumers who deposit these checks may find they initially appear to be valid, but later find out that the company whose information was used on the "cashier's check" had their information stolen. The consumer then has to pay bank fees, and the money they've wired to the foreign lottery is long gone.
Before being tempted to take the bait, ask yourself, if the organization has the money to write a check for the consumer, why have the extra step of sending the money to the consumer then having it returned? Consumers are reminded that one should NEVER pay money to win a sweepstakes. Legitimate prizes do not come with processing fees, and taxes are paid directly to the Internal Revenue Service after winnings are collected.
Additionally, in Canada, there are no Canadian taxes or any other fees to pay on lottery winnings, and winners have to collect in person, in Canada.
The only lotteries which are legal within the United States are official state-run lotteries. Foreign lotteries violate U.S. Postal Service statues, though they may not violate the statutes of the country from which they originate. Foreign lottery solicitations should be brought to the attention of the U.S. Postal Service.
Many claim to be from outside of North America, but consumers are directed to contact a Canadian phone number for instructions in how to claim a prize.
The Illinois Attorney General urges anyone who has been victimized by a phony check drawn on a federally insured financial institution to contact the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation at 877-275-3342. If the check is drawn on a foreign bank, contact the U.S. Secret Service at 202-406-5572 or at www.secretservice.gov. Consumers can also seek help through the Attorney General's Consumer Complaint hotline at 217-782-1090.
The National Consumers League has developed a website to help individuals who may still be tempted to deposit one of these checks investigate the offer: http://www.fakechecks.org
Some names of lotteries operating this type of scam are:
1st Capital Financial Services
Ace Communications Inc.
Ashland Financial Services
Atlantic Lottery
Atlantic Lottery Winning
Atlantic Sweepstakes Prize Inc
Australian Lottery Games
Austrian Prize Lottery
Camden Marketing, Inc.
Capitol Financial Trust
Carnival Gaming Lottery, Inc.
Cash Jackpot Lotto
Casino Tropez
Central Lotto Inc.UK
Chapman Investments
Chesswood Communications, Inc.
Crown Investment Service
Crystal International Lotto
Daylight Financial (USA Mega)
De-Lotto (DeLotto or De Lotto)
El Gordo
Embassy Sweepstakes Lottery
Enterprise Wheel of Fortune 21st Century
Financial Services Solutions
First Union Financial Services Group
Foley Marine Financial Inc
Fortune 500 Consumers Rewards Program
Global Alliance Sweepstakes
Global Financial
Global Trust Fund & Financial Services
Golden Financial Inc.
Hallmark Sweepstakes
Hartland Payment Systems
ING Direct Financial, Inc.
International Lottery Incorporated
International Publishers Sweepstakes
International Sweepstakes Distributions
ITK Financial Trust Services
JG Wentworth and Associates
John Moore Services
Lakewood Financial
Liberty Investment Group
Libery Trust, Inc.
Lipitor Investment
Lotto Winners Direct
LTL Networks
Mega 2000
Mega Millions
MGD Claims Center
MWH
National Lottery Company
North American Claims, Inc.
Northwestern Mututal Financial Network (Prize America Jackport)
Offshore Financial Services
OSA Sweepstakes Alliance
OSA Sweepstakes Alliance
Pattison Award Services & Payment, Inc.
Premier Random Lotto
Principal Financial Group
Prudent Financial Management
Royal City Financial Inc.
Royal Sweepstakes Co-Operation
Shopping Group Inc.
SOLO Lottery
Sony Capital Claim and Payment
Sparton Financial
Stallion Group Inc
Super Jackpot Gaming
Superior Sweeptakes
Sweepstakes Clearing Commission House
Switzerland Prize Lottery
Sysco Financial Corporation Inc.
Sysco Intermountain Inc.
Treasure Financial Group
Trinity Financial Management
Union Trust Financial Inc.
United Claims Center
United Trust and Finance Inc., 1st Capital Management Services Inc.
US Grant Inc.
Valiant Financial Services
Vintage Communications Inc.
Virgin Atlantic Online Gaming.com
Waterhouse Financial, Inc.
Wellix Finance, Incorporated
and many more we have not yet heard about.