Please be advised of a lottery scam being perpetrated by a firm called JC Financials in Ontario, Canada. Do not go through I went through. I received a very non-descript envelope from a Canadian return address. Enclosed was a Cashiers Check for $3, 900, as well as the following letter, dated December 4, 2008:
"Claim Number: KCC-9502500 FINAL NOTIFICATION
Congratulations. We wish to notify you of the release of the Consumer's Reward Program Lottery held on December 1, 2008. Your name, attached to ticket number 975130 drew the lucky numbers of 3, 7, 9, 11, 23, 28, 31 and 39 which ultimately WON the lottery in the second category.
Please read the following carefully: You have been approved for the lump sum payment of $39, 000 credited to an account with the above Claim Number. This amount is drawn from the total prize of $480, 000 shared among the North American Winners in this category. Previous attempts to contact you directly on December 3, 2008 failed, resulting in this final notification. For security reasons, we advise that you keep this award from public notice until your claims have been finalized. This will help us prevent fraud and double claims.
The Draw - All participants were selected randomly through computer from Consumer database directory system, drawn from a pool of 98, 000 customers provided by various department and chain stores and other services institutions across North America.
Claims - In order to facilitate speedy and hassle free processing of your claim, we have deducted $3, 900 from your total prize to enable you to pay for the applicable Tax. Please contact one of your agents Sarah Smith or Michael Edwards at 1-905-781-2894 as soon as you receive this notification, they will assist you in finalizing your claim.
ALL PRIZES MUST BE CLAIMED BY DECEMBER 22th, 2008
Office Hours: Mon-Fri 9am-9pm, Saturday 10am-5pm, Sunday - Closed
CONGRATULATIONS ONCE MORE!!
Sincerely,
Sara Dose
Vice-President"
I tried calling the number the day I received the envelope, which was on a Friday afternoon. The call went to a voicemail that was full and not taking new messages. The check that came with the letter looked very real, so since I couldn't get a hold of anyone at the number provided, I deposited the check into my checking account. The check was a cashiers check drawn from Peoples Bank in Bridgeport, CT. The following Monday, the money cleared and was available in my account, so at that point I was pleasantly surprised that this was not a scam. I was finally able to get in touch with Michael Edwards, who had a very thick Nigerian accent, on Monday. He advised me that I had won a sweepstakes and told me to deposit the check and get back in touch with him in two days, which would have been today - Wednesday. Between Monday and Wednesday, I spent part of the money catching up on bills and also on a few Christmas presents, assuming I would be getting the remainder of the money at a later date.
However on Wednesday, I called again and spoke to Michael Edwards. This time he told me to take $3, 000 from the check and wire transfer that money via MoneyGram to Brianna Johnson in Rialto, California. He said she was a tax agent. Once I wired the money, I was to call Michael Edwards back with the reference number from MoneyGram at which time he would overnight the check for the remaining balance which was around $36, 000. At that point, I contacted my bank to verify the funds in my account but discovered the check was returned and there was now an overdraft on my checking account. I contacted Michael Edwards again and told him the check had been returned. He asked me to give him the check number and told me he would have someone from his accounting office call me back to let me know why the check was returned. It was at this time I began to get very suspicious of the entire transaction.
I did some online research where I found two other reports on usaconsumercomplaints.com, but the postings were not very detailed so I looked for other information. I found some other postings related to the bank routing number I found on the bottom of the check (221172186) that said there was a counterfeit operation going on concerning fake cashiers checks. I contacted a woman named Karen at the People's Bank Fraud Office who said she had been inundated with calls from people who had been sent counterfeit cashiers checks. She told me the best thing I could do would be to file a police report in my local municipality and also to notify my bank of the situation.
I should have known better than to participate in anything like this, but I do enter a lot of internet sweepstakes and fill out a lot of internet surveys, so I was not completely wary of being notified I had won something. I will probably not get reimbursed for any of the fees my checking account will incur, but I wanted to file a more detailed report for this website to hopefully inform other people not to fall for this scam. If something is too good to be true, it is.
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