Checks in the mail?
By Mommamea
@Mommamea (1215)
United States
November 25, 2006 10:08am CST
I recieved a check in the mail for $1,995 supposedly it is for a lottery I entered. The check looks legit but I am afraid to cash it. My husband thinks it is a scam. Would you cash the check? Do you think it is scam? It says the remainder of the lottery winnings will be distributed when I call a number listed and register with the American Agency handling the lottery. The lottery is from Free lotto and the lottery game was from the Netherlands. Have you ever won anything on line?
1 person likes this
24 responses
@jjn1983 (1353)
• United States
25 Nov 06
Dont do it! My husband has gotten 2 of them, only they were for like 3000 bucks. And if you cash it you supposedly get like 50,000 put in your account??? We turned it right into the police department in our area. What happens is the bank could cash the check and give you the money..then later down the road when they find out its fake YOU have to pay the bank that 1995 back!!!! i wouldnt do it if i were you. try calling the bank thats on the check and talking to them..tell them check number..whole situation..everything, that is what we did.
@caribe (2465)
• United States
25 Nov 06
Be careful also about calling phone numbers with area codes that you don't know where it is. I have heard of people having offshore numbers in some little country where if you call there, they can legally be charging your phone bill some outrageous amount of money per minute and they try to keep you on the phone for as many minutes as possible and there is no tip off of something like a 900 number. Check out the area code online to see where it is located. Here is a link to one.
http://decoder.americom.com/
@Lydia1901 (16351)
• United States
25 Nov 06
I got the same thing in the mail a month ago. It's a scam. Do you know how I know? They would ask you to visit the place to collect the money, but you have to pay them certain amount of money first after you call them and it's in another contry. If you don't care about the bank charging you for a fake check in your account, then go for it and see what happens. But, just know it's a scam. I get those things all the time.
@Mommamea (1215)
• United States
25 Nov 06
I defenitly wouldn't cash a check without looking into it further. I am going to call the bank the check is drawn on as well as my own bank. I will talk with all authorities before doing anything. I get lots of them too but this one for some reason looks legit and has all the vital information. I at least want to find out if I'm wrong. Not that I wish give any of my money away or accept any deals that they say. I wont give them any information on my bank especially not to my accounts. I am not one to buy into these scams. I will let you know what happens.
@calvin222 (1606)
• India
25 Nov 06
why should you feel afraid? its the person who issued the cheque who should feel afraid
@Mommamea (1215)
• United States
25 Nov 06
and if I cash this check and it comes back from my bank saying I should have known it was a scam, What do I do then? Who is responsible,the bank the check is drawn on or the company the lottery is representing which I'm not sure yet who that is. I know the lottery is through the Free lottery and the lottery was in the Netherlands.
@LackThereOf (571)
• United States
25 Nov 06
My friend got a check like that one time for $50 and she cashed it. In the super-super fine print it stated that endorsing the check gave them permission to switch her phone service to some unknown little phone company that was charging her an arm and a leg...and there was nothing she could do about it after the fact. It looked like a lottery winnings of some kind, she thought it was for a contest she had entered at the mall. They were using that contest as a way to get a list of names and addresses to send these checks to. What a mess...I'd be really careful!!
@Mommamea (1215)
• United States
25 Nov 06
Actually there is no fine print on the letter. All the writing of the letter is in 12 font. The check also has a security lock on it. I think I'm going to take it to my bank and see if the bank the check is drawn on it legit and if they can contact that bank and see if they have and actual account to do this. Thanks for the information.
@Joi130 (13)
• United States
26 Nov 06
Do not cash this check, they float around every year at this time when people need the money the most for the holidays. Call the bank that this check is drawn from, and get all the imformation you can to see if it is legit or not. More than likely its not. Good luck.
@angel011 (1343)
•
25 Nov 06
Take it to the bank and get them to check it for you i hope its real but it sounds like a scam never give money i have never won money online
@Mommamea (1215)
• United States
25 Nov 06
Thanks for the information. I am going to do that. I never won anything either and am very skeptical when I get anything like this saying I have. I wont believe it until I get the check and it hasn't cost me anything nor had to sign up for anything.
@mtatum4496 (63)
• United States
25 Nov 06
Read the fine print very carefully. A coworker of mine once came into my office, all excited. She appeared to have to have won a huge amount of money. What kept her from accepting the whole deal is that she had not entered the sweepstakes. Sure enough, we started reading through the cover letter and about three quarters of the way through it, we found out she was a finalist.
Quick rule of thumb - if you did not enter the sweepstakes, lottery, or other contest - you didn't win anything. You are being soliticited and there is a catch somewhere.
@Mommamea (1215)
• United States
25 Nov 06
I do enter alot of sweepstakes on line and the surveys I do are for entries into sweepstakes as well. I could have possibly entered through one of them. I am a member of Free lotto and that is the name at the top. I think I am going to take it to the bank and have them check with the bank the check is drawn on and follow up with the number on the letter. Don't worry I haven't spent any of the money.
@kylesmiles (1910)
• United States
25 Nov 06
Don't even bother... this is a SCAM! Please don't cash it or even take it to the bank...just rip it up!
@Lydia1901 (16351)
• United States
25 Nov 06
I got the same thing in the mail a month ago. It's a scam. Do you know how I know? They would ask you to visit the place to collect the money, but you have to pay them certain amount of money first after you call them and it's in another contry. If you don't care about the bank charging you for a fake check in your account, then go for it and see what happens. But, just know it's a scam. I get those things all the time.
