I received a letter "we happily announce to you that we have confirmed your winning award of $93, 000 at the Alberta Payment Center".
They mention that they have to deduct a "Clearance Fee" and also that I should keep this letter private "as part of our security procedure".
Of course I recognized this right away as a sweepstakes scam. I note that Connecticut State Attorney Blumenthal had already gone after "Liberty Sweepstakes" when they were in New York, so apparently they just moved to Canada and are trying the same thing again.
I didn't see a consumer complaints on them, so I thought I'd be a good citizen and alert people to this scam.
Most likely the way it works it either, they send you a counterfeit check, which you cash and wire them the money. The check later bounces, their is no sweepstakes money and your bank comes after you as your account is now overdrawn.
OR
They ask you to wire them money to pay the clearance fee and again, their is no sweepstakes winnings, so you're again out that money.
Either way, it's a well-known scam. P.S. no real sweepstakes ever asks for a fee to release money AND no real sweepstakes gives a hoot if you keep it private or tell everyone. The only reason for "keeping it private" is so that other people can't alert you to the fact that "Its a SCAM! "
0 comments