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major fraud afoot
4 Jan 2006 03:01 pmYesterday we got this letter in the mail with a check for $1,100 saying we wond some sweepstakes, blah, blah, blah, $1.5 million, blah, blah...
I knew it had to be some sort of scam but was very curious. So today I looked up the name of the company--USA Direct inc. that was on the letterhead.
At first I couldn't figure out why this company (which was some sort of marketing company) would have anything to do with a sweepstakes, then I saw at the bottom of the page a fraud warning. It said somebody was using their letterhead to send out notices about a sweepstakes and to take entries and such. So I was right. It said to take said letter, if you recieve one, over to your local police department and report it. Hmmm, intersting.
So then I googled the name of the bank on the check--First American Bank of Texas and right away I see they have a warning too about some people trying to pass fraudulent checks with their bank name on it. I was shocked. This is some major scam. They are having it ivestigated by the FDIC and said to forward any info to them.
The thing that made me most suspicious, aside from the fact that I had never entered any sweepstakes, was that the envelope was postmarked from somewhere in Canada, but the company letterhead says Las Vegas and the bank is in Bryan, Texas. Of course, I never trust people that just send me free money in the mail. There always has to be a catch. Just keep your eyes open for this scam. I feel for the bank who is getting all of these checks that aren't real.
I knew it had to be some sort of scam but was very curious. So today I looked up the name of the company--USA Direct inc. that was on the letterhead.
At first I couldn't figure out why this company (which was some sort of marketing company) would have anything to do with a sweepstakes, then I saw at the bottom of the page a fraud warning. It said somebody was using their letterhead to send out notices about a sweepstakes and to take entries and such. So I was right. It said to take said letter, if you recieve one, over to your local police department and report it. Hmmm, intersting.
So then I googled the name of the bank on the check--First American Bank of Texas and right away I see they have a warning too about some people trying to pass fraudulent checks with their bank name on it. I was shocked. This is some major scam. They are having it ivestigated by the FDIC and said to forward any info to them.
The thing that made me most suspicious, aside from the fact that I had never entered any sweepstakes, was that the envelope was postmarked from somewhere in Canada, but the company letterhead says Las Vegas and the bank is in Bryan, Texas. Of course, I never trust people that just send me free money in the mail. There always has to be a catch. Just keep your eyes open for this scam. I feel for the bank who is getting all of these checks that aren't real.
