In this particular scam, I was given a very real looking check for $4900.00. The scam claimed that I had won $100,000, and by some "sweepstakes act," I had to pay 3.9% of that money back (or $3900). So, I was supposed to cash this check and mail them $3900, leaving me $1000.These fake checks are so realistic that banks can't tell the difference for a few days. So, if I would have cashed it, I would have gotten $4900, mailed them $3900 of it, and then the bank would have gone after *ME* for defrauding THEM of $4900.
This particular scam was from the Alaska Grand Casino. I had to contact the "Claims Attorney" in order to find out where to send the $3900. His information:
Allen GoodmannIf you'd like to contact this person, feel free! I'm sure he's lonely.
1-647-219-5567
cnitelfin_sol@yahoo.com
The check and letter were both signed by scanned-in signatures. I'm GUESSING that these signatures were taken from checks mailed to them from victims. Isn't that sad? Several (fake?) addresses and PO boxes were given on the letter and check. One of them listed both a PO box and a street address. The street address and city name were constructed from other state names, which I thought was cute.
The mail was sent from Canada. I've notified the Ohio Attorney General and the US Postal Inspection Service (USPIS). If you receive something similar, you should also notify your state attorney general and the USPIS.
15 comments:
l good... hi got one of those myself...looked real good.. but the company ipsco steel inc has web sites all over..they are probably real... oh, the claim agent? cant get any more messages on his machine... laughter
When I called that number a few days ago, a man answered with "Good Evening." I'm guessing he was waiting for me to ask for a name, and he'd look up that name in his database-o-scams and start playing the appropriate part. I told him I had the wrong number and hung up.
I looked up the number, and it's an unregistered cell phone from Toronto, Ontario. It's probably a prepaid mobile phone used in a similar manner as drug dealers do. That is, I'm guessing that his mailbox is full not because people have been spamming him but because he's moved on to the next scam number.
So, I'm guessing he's completely untraceable. I contacted several different US government authorities (both state and federal) as well as Yahoo (who gave me a form response with outdated and broken links to the same US authorities that I already had contacted; I sent them a note with the correct links). I went to Canada's government web page, but I couldn't figure out who I should contact, and so I gave up there.
Hopefully publicizing all of this information will help prevent at least a FEW people from falling into this type of trap in the future.
I got one of these too- my huband and I found many errors in the letter itself and figured it was fraud. Had to look it up to be sure, hope no one falls victim to this one!
My family and I got this same letter in the mail and thanks to your blog we knew FOR SURE that it was a fake.
Make sure you notify the authorities if you've received one of these scams. The more of us who speak up, the more likely they'll be to work with Canada to find the scammer.
Several other related scammers have been put away lately. It's probably near impossible to trace any one particular letter, but if they have checks from several of us, they can use that information to home in on a link among them all.
So, definitely contact the USPIS and your state attorney general. I link to the USPIS in my post above.
Oh, if you haven't heard, the latest batch of these have been generated by paying people who work for legitimate companies (e.g., IPSO Steele) to get payday checks from them. They then counterfeit those checks and mail them out. They've been getting mailing addresses by similar means.
I got my letter today. I called that number for the "Claim Attorney" Allen Goodmann. He sounded African and had such a thick accent I could barely understand him. He asked for my "Claim" number and then told me to deposit the check and then call him back.
I looked up the number too and it is a cell phone in Toronto, Ontario.
Thanks for the blog. I'll definitely report this to the authorities.
I got this "great" check today myself. I loved talking to that idiot Allen. He quickly hung up on me and then turned off his phone. I will be contacting the authorities now. Beware All of this POS.
hello all!!!
Im a scambaiter...I bait scammers.
ie.scammer sends an email.I reply as a willing 'victim' and mess with the scammers.
The problem is..I dont get mails by post...so I cant bait them.
soooooooooo
Please please please can you send me a copy of the scam postal mails you receive? (not the emails...I get about 1000 per day)
you can mail me at
shamfien
at
gmail
.
com
believe me,you will be making their lives miserable ;)
Hello, received my "check" and I live in Illinois and thanks to this site I will contact the appropriate people about the scam. I am also scanning a copy to the scam baiter.
They sent one to my grandmother, she almost tried to deposit it, thank god she asked me...these damn ignorant thieves preying on elderly people really ought to drop by so I could help them swallow a pretty lead pill.
Prize co-coordiator
Dr. Michael Cary
Claim agent Sean Peter at astoria_sean@yahoo.com, phone number 1-647-830-4001Securities Legislation
Alaska Sweepstake
P.O.Box 9400
W. Georgia St. suite2016
Nevadaville, Al. 36570
Cool, I'm so glad I found this site. I got my check today and I hope Sean Peter isn't waiting up for my call cause I ain't calling. I live in California.
Hi, we got the envelope today, I thought it sounded too good to be true, just for fun I called the number, actually talked to a person with a very heavy accent, who reiterated several times, 'make sure you don't tell anyone becuase we are having trouble with people trying to steal your award". The check really does look authentic, so i googled alaska grand casino and got this site. thanks for taking the time to put this up, you are helping more than you know
My mother received one of these checks in the mail last week. The check looked very real, but we were unsure what to think, she had not signed up for a "lottery sweepstakes". It was from a freight payment company though. It also had a PO box and a street address(Washington St.) and the letter was from a Penbrook Financial Systems, the claim agent was listed as John King with the same phone number as on the Alaska Casino letter. Thanks to this webpage, we knew it was a scam.
I live in NH and I recieved one of those checks today 2/17/09.Boy you are right they look so real.they gave me a phone number to call. I tried, the operator came on and said no such number. so on the letter head was a email address so I wrote to it,and got (this page not found.) At the bottom of the letter Thanks to Wal Mart,JCPenny and UPS for making this program possible. So I called my local police dept,and they made a copy of the letter to further get info to check this out.My winnings were $2,750.00 I am retired and live on low income,and I could not afford to send them any money,but the check looked good enough to cash.But I didn't. I hope they are able to stop these people before some one who needs the money doesn't try to spend it.12:45
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