Money Safe

Lottery Scams are still jamming email inboxes all over the Puget Sound area.

Shardale writes in:

"Consignment box" from FEDEX Courier Co. containing $2.5 million. I need pay only $260 to receive it. Info. required: Name. address, phone, age and scan my driver's license. Can I send you the email? How? I didn't send any money, I was hoping you could check into it and let others know. Thank you.

Shardale

Oscar Writes in:

Award Opportunity Group is a CA based scam that wants you to send $20 to Henderson, NV so that they can release a supposed 3mil to you. Please put this on the 10 o'clock news. All letters came out today 6/30/08 I googled the name and people all the way in the Philippines are getting this letter. SCAM,SCAM,SCAM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

--Oscar

The Federal Trade Commission tells me that any contest that offers a prize that you have to pay for, it's not really a prize. Also, any time you are asked to wire money to somebody you don't know, that is a huge red flag. Once you wire that money, it's gone, and there's no way to get it back. There is no big money jackpot.

Coretta writes in, with another form of the lottery scam. This is the classic "fake check" scam, which we have featured previously on Moneysafe:

I received a letter today with no return address, when I opened a check for $4890.00 fell out ...with a letter that said I was one of the declared winners of the Shoppers Sweepstakes...I don't enter sweepstakes...the letter goes on to say..."to expedite the processing enclosed is the check for $4890 which has been deducted from your winnings. The sole purpose of this check is for payment of applicable Government Taxes on the big winnings. The tax amount is $2985 to be paid either by Moneygram or Western Union. Please do not attempt to use this check before you call." The name Yolanda King is given as your claim agent with 1-905-598-1425, which is a number in Ontario, Canada...The name of the company is Imperial Platinum Inc. 500 HWY 7, Midland, ONT,L4R 1Y5...when I googled the company I found that other people have been receiving the same letter but the check was a different amount...it is a scam.

Coretta

Yep. It sure is. The disturbing thing about this is that the checks look very real. Often when you take them to the bank, the tellers can't tell that they're fakes. So, initially, the check clears, but then days later, when the check bounces, you realize that you've been had. You lose not only whatever you spent from the check proceeds, but you're also out overdraft fees, and if you wired the scammers any money in return, you are obviously out that money as well.

Joie says that she received one of these fake checks, but her bank was able to spot it as a fake:

Hi Bill
I had received a fake check in the mail from UPS. Today my bank verified that it was a fake check set up by a fake account #.The person who gave me the check, her name is Nicole Johnson from Nigeria.I had saved her emails also.

--Joie

Here's another one, sent in from a viewer, offering a free ATM card, that you supposedly could use to get cash anywhere in the world (?)

Here is something i suspect a little fishy i have yet to go through with it but it just dont sound right. i have no idea who this person is and have never filed a claim. this is what it said :

DR.USMAN SHAMSUDDEEN
DIRECTORS FOR FOREIGN OPERATIONS.

Okay. First of all, the english is very difficult to decipher, so it's hard to tell what they are offering, or why they are contacting you. The scoop, though, is that it's a badly-worded scam, and doesn't make a lot of sense, so I would certainly hope that nobody falls for this one.