My dad received the same letter today (June 20, 2008). It was a letter stating that he was one of the declared winners of "North American Sweepstakes". It stated that he won a lump sum of $100, 000.00. There was also a check enclosed with the letter for the sum of $4, 900.00 that would go towards the tax that he would have to pay for the total amount of his winnings.
I worked for a bank for 2 years so I was trained properly on examining checks and what to look for. When I had examined the check I noticed there was no security water mark.
My father called to see what he needed to do to claim his prize. We spoke to a man that claimed himself to be a claim agent (Mr. Tom James). This man had a very heavy accent. He said that we needed to deposit the check today then give him a call back and he will give us the address of where we needed to make the money order to pay the tax. That set off the red flag to me but my father went and deposited the check at his bank anyway.
My father came back with the deposit slip and he said the tellers at the bank warned him to be careful with scams. When my father returned I called the number back to inform Mr. James that we had deposited the check. The funny thing I noticed is that he kept asking on when the bank said that the check was going to clear opposed to where they need to mail the rest of my father's winnings. He said that we needed to mail a money order to Naomi Jason at 25 James St. in Houston Texas, 77042. He then instructed for us to call back when the money order has been mailed. Thats when I told my father that I was going to google this company and not to do anything else and that is when I saw the "complaint".
I called back Mr. James and had many unpleasant words. He claimed that he had no idea what I was talking about. I then told him that I know that his letter was a scam and he hung up on me.
I called the my father's bank and informed them of the situation and they reversed the transaction.
And I am the kind of person who doesn't really get mad I just get irritating. So continued to call him every 3 minutes to make sure he understood I didn't appreciate on what he was trying to pull. I would get in a couple of words before he would hang up again but its worth it. Now he knows that not everyone is as stupid as he thinks. But I didn't stop there I called my husband, my 2 brothers, my mother in law, and my sister in law and they all joined in in calling Mr. James to let him know exactly what we think of his little scam. If we can't get to him through the legal system because the address is through Canada I will just keep annoying him.
In reference to the previous report, I do agree that it is sad because there are people that will fall for this scam.
So please be careful when getting things like this in the mail.
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