May 7, 2008

Chief Karabas was recently contacted by a Florissant resident regarding a lottery scam letter received in the mail.

The envelope was post marked from Canada but contained a letter for the “SILVER SWEEPSTAKES” from the Australian Sweepstakes dates April 23, 2008.

The letter describes how the recipient won the 2nd category of the draw and was entitled to a lump sum payment of $97,000.00.

A check in the amount of $3,700 was also enclosed and was to be used to pay the taxes for the larger prize amount.  The check is drawn on the;

Zions First National Bank
POB 25837
Salt Lake City, UT 84125

The recipient of this letter never entered the sweepstakes described. Fortunately, the resident did not respond to this scam but many do and are taken for thousands of dollars. 

One way is the recipient is instructed to cash the check, purchase a money order or conduct a wire transfer for the amount of the check back to the sweepstakes office to cover the taxes.  The recipient discovers they have been scammed when their bank notifies them the check they deposited is no good.

If we examine this scam we see the letter was mailed from Canada, involved the Australian Sweepstakes, with a check issued from a bank located in the United States.

Remember, IF IT’S TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE, IT PROBABLY IS!  Please don’t allow yourself to fall prey to a scam artist.