The other day in the mail I got an envelope with just my address on it, no return address postmarked from Canada. I thought it looked strange and when I opened it there was a check inside for $4,450! Also inside was a letter which stated that my numbers were drawn in the lotto and that I was to call my agent about getting the rest of the money. The letter also implied that I would have to send $3,400 in taxes to my tax advisor or something like that.
Of course my immediate reaction was, “This is fake, right?” and then I went off to google the phone number and names included on the letter and sure enough – it is fake and a big scam.
Basically – the idea is they send you the check and then you deposit it and write out a check for the taxes and mail it to the tax agent. Meanwhile, the check is no good so when the bank goes to get the money for it, it is not there so the money comes back out of your account. And you sent off the taxes and are now out that money.
Since the addresses and accounts are in Canada and London, I am not sure if I can actually do anything to get these scammers in trouble legally – but I figured the next best thing would be to try and get the word out. If you get anything that looks similar in the mail – shred it! (Especially if you never entered any Canadian lottery!)