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#90398 - 06/20/03 06:41 PM Lottery Scam?? Need assistance contacting bank
Miss Kitty Offline
Platinum Poster
Joined: Mar 2002
Posts: 721
California
Need assistance contacting a Bank in Kentucky - I called them this morning to verify the validity of the Official Check, and their customer service gave me a "900" Merchant Check Verification number to call ($3fee).
we have a possible sweepstakes lottery scam and our senior customer want's to send $$$ "today". We're doing everything we possibly can to delay this. Please send a private message and I will give more details on the Bank. I'm in California by the way.

Quick summary on the scam: Customer receives letter (no letterhead) congratulating them on winning the 1st prize $ in the Sweepstakes Lottery in the amount of US$5.800 000.
They enclose a cheque for the amount of US$ 850 000. They put a partial hold on the cheque until the first amount of US$ 85 000 in taxes is paid immediately. The remaining amount of US$4 950 000 will be mailed to them to enable them to pay the rest of the taxes totaling US$634 286.82. They also note that the customer may not cash the cheque until the US$85 000 is paid in full. For the Awards people's "own security no information can be obtained in regards to our accounts, until the above mentioned total taxes is paid."

This has SCAM written all over it.

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General Discussion
#90399 - 06/20/03 06:44 PM Re: Lottery Scam?? Need assistance contacting bank
rlcarey Online
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rlcarey
Joined: Jul 2001
Posts: 83,227
Galveston, TX
This is not a possible scam - this is one of the oldest scams around. Don't accept the check for deposit. Don't cut a Cashier's Check for the senior citizen.
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The opinions expressed here should not be construed to be those of my employer: PPDocs.com

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#90400 - 06/20/03 06:45 PM Re: Lottery Scam?? Need assistance contacting bank
1111 Offline
Platinum Poster
1111
Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 580
I would not contact anybody, except a relative of the senior customer if you can secure a contact name. There is no lottery that is set up this way, so why bother to check it out. Turning the whole thing over the the local police is probably a good plan.

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#90401 - 06/20/03 06:46 PM Re: Lottery Scam?? Need assistance contacting bank
JacF Offline

Power Poster
Joined: Nov 2001
Posts: 6,719
PA
Have you checked the Alerts and Counterfeits Page for a match on the check? If it's not there, and the customer won't take your word that it's a scam, I'd say $3.00 to verify the check (or in this case, demonstrate its lack of authenticity) is a good investment.

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#90402 - 06/20/03 06:48 PM Re: Lottery Scam?? Need assistance contacting bank
John Burnett Offline
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John Burnett
Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 40,086
Cape Cod
Why are you worried about checking with the bank? It's a scam of the "too good to be true" variety, and your customer ought to be warned to avoid it at all costs!

Hint: Does the customer recall ever enrolling in this lottery? If not, there's a sure sign it's bogus with a CAPITAL B!

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John S. Burnett
BankersOnline.com
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#90403 - 06/20/03 06:50 PM Re: Lottery Scam?? Need assistance contacting bank
rlcarey Online
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rlcarey
Joined: Jul 2001
Posts: 83,227
Galveston, TX
It reminds me of the man that prayed to God for two hours every night to win the lottery. This went on for months and months. Finally, in a large booming voice, God said "Buy a ticket".
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The opinions expressed here should not be construed to be those of my employer: PPDocs.com

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#90404 - 06/20/03 06:51 PM Re: Lottery Scam?? Need assistance contacting ban
Retired DQ Offline
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Retired DQ
Joined: Dec 2002
Posts: 40,766
Turnpike Exit 10
I would call the police, they can get access to info a lot quicker than a bank can. They can convince the customer that it's a scam.
Also, don't forget to contact our friends: the Postal Inspectors.
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Get your facts first, then you can distort them as you please. - Mark Twain

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#90405 - 06/20/03 06:57 PM Re: Lottery Scam?? Need assistance contacting bank
Miss Kitty Offline
Platinum Poster
Joined: Mar 2002
Posts: 721
California
I have contacted the local police, who have stated the customer is a victim of previous scams. We have also contacted the FBI and is investigating. We did pay the $3.00 fee, and the funds are available at this time. The customer is convinced that in order to make money, you must spend money. From what I understand he does play the lottery. We know it's a scam, we're doing our best to protect our customer. The Bank in question does have a web page with several branch locations. Customer Service refused to assist me, other than giving the 900#.

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#90406 - 06/20/03 06:57 PM Re: Lottery Scam?? Need assistance contacting bank
Tom C Offline
100 Club
Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 199
South of Boston
Quote:

Need assistance contacting a Bank in Kentucky - I called them this morning to verify the validity of the Official Check, and their customer service gave me a "900" Merchant Check Verification number to call ($3fee).





Tip for the future - If you have a possible scam like this, ask for the bank's Security Officer. Don't even bother with Customer Service! You are not calling about something that is even close to being on the same level as a merchant verification. The Security Officer needs to know if there is a fraud going on that involves his bank.

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#90407 - 06/20/03 08:18 PM Re: Lottery Scam?? Need assistance contacting bank
Miss Kitty Offline
Platinum Poster
Joined: Mar 2002
Posts: 721
California
Thank you for the tip! I called back the number, (call center), they didn't know what a Security Officer was, but... after a few minutes of discussion they finally connected me to someone who is able to assist me.

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#90408 - 06/20/03 08:53 PM Re: Lottery Scam?? Need assistance contacting bank
Anonymous
Unregistered

A dear friend of mine's grandmother was taken by this scam, along with others to the tune of 250,000.00 + dollars over a 2 year period. Do anything you can to thwart it.

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#90409 - 06/20/03 09:51 PM Re: Lottery Scam?? Need assistance contacting bank
Hussam Al-Abed Offline
Platinum Poster
Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 551
Abu Dhabi / U.A.E

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