Just received a letter staing I was a sweepstakes winner on behalf of Odrian Wheel of Fortune 21st Century Alliance with Super Pages. I needed to contact a bond company and they would tell me how to claim my prize.
I called the number on the letter and asked to speak with the person on the phone. A man asked what it was pertaining to. I told him I was calling about the sweepstakes. He said that I should have received two checks. I told him I did.
I was told that I needed to cash the first one and then take it to a money transfer center. Send him the money and contact him so he could then tell me where to send the other check to get it cashed.
I knew it seemed fishy so I told him that I would have to deposit the check and let it clear before I could send him any money. He asked if my bank would release any funds before hand.
Knowing that my bank would I told them it wouldn't so after asking for smaller amounts he put me on hold. He came back and said he just had to talk to his boss and to go ahead and deposit the check and then call him back when it had passed.
I hung up and felt scam all over it so I looked up Michigan First Credit Union on the internet and got their real phone number. I spoke with someone and told them what I was thinking. She let me know that there was no such account number and that the phone number on the check was not one of their phone numbers.
I decided to do further research and found similar incidents on this sight. I hope we can do something to stop them. I am faxing this information to the bank so that they can see what their false checks look like.
The letter was signed Paul Richards however the signature did not seem to match this name.
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