I read a complaint on a "Cornerstone Financial Securities & Trust" that presented very similar circumstances to a letter and check I received in the mail today. Even the name of the company and $ amounts were close.
I received a "Winning Final Notification" letter and a check for $4, 875.00 from Union Financial Securities & Turst, International Claims Department, 285 Bay St. Toronto Ontario, M5G-2N7 Canada. The letter indicated that I, along with 32 other "declared" winners of the DE-LOTTO NORTH AMERICAN SWEEPSTAKES LOTTERY, had won $125, 000 USD. Allegedly, the participants were selected through a random computer ballot system drawn from over 500, 000 names.
The letter indicated that the check was the "FIRST CHECK" for payment of "applicable GOVERNMENT TAXES" on the winnings and that the tax amount of $2, 875 USD had to be paid either by Western Union or Moneygram "directly to the tax agent"...
The letter also advised that I should not attempt to use the check until after I called a Mr. Eric Duncan at DIRECTLINE: 1-416-826-9340. The check itself "appears" legitimate and to be written against a Union Financial Securities and Trust, 943 Maple Drive, Morgantown, WV 26505 account at a bank in Morgantown, WV.
I checked the Bank out on the Internet, and it "appears" legit. Fortunately, I checked "complaint" and saved myself some time and effort. Had there been nothing reported similar to this, I was going to take the check to my bank to get their "read" on the validity of the check. Now, I'll just spend that time taking the items to the US Postal Services to file whatever charges are available to file. (By the way, the letter was mailed from Canada. I'll check out their postal process for filing complaints on scammers, too).
Additionally, I plan to notify the bank in WV (if they are legit) that their bank's name and information is being used by scammers to help them appear legitimate to people they are trying to scam.
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