I have seen a couple of reports about this scam, though this time the institution name has changed so I wanted to add it. First off, I received a letter, and a check, and the check looks completely legitimate. It is from the "Greater Bay Bank" in Fremont, CA, and the bank is real.
As for the letter, firstly, the envelope didn't have a return address which was suspicious. The letter reads at top "American Eagle Finance Inc" while the check reads "American Eagle Financial Trust Inc." This alone was enough to set those alarms off. I did a search for both versions of the aforementioned name and neither were listed online. I then googled the address provided "46101 Warm Springs Blvd. Fremont, CA 94539" and the address was for a "Day's Inn" motel. Clearly it is doubtful that any financial institution would work out of a motel.
I then called the phone number provided "1-416-876-8342" after hours and received an automated mailbox full message, nothing professional whatsover. When reviewing the letter itself, I saw a couple of other issues that one would not typically find on a legitimate one. First, there is no letterhead. A professional institution would have this. And there were a couple of spelling errors. Center was spelled "Centre" and Declare was spelled "Declear". There were some other formatting mistakes as well, and the letter wasn't signed. All indicates to me that it was a scam. Hopefully this will help someone else ascertain the truth of such.
As for the letter, it follows and reads like the others of this category.
AWARD CLAIM FINAL NOTIFICATION
We are pleased to inform you of the declared winners of the NORTH AMERICAN CHARITY LOTTERY held on August 20 in the 2nd category.
A ticket with serial number xxxxxxx attached to your name drew the lucky winning number xxxxx for US$1000,000.00. YOU HAVE WONE $1000,000.00!
We have made many unsuccessful attempts to contact you regarding this winning. You are entitled to the sum of US$100,000.00. This is from a total prize of US$9 million that is shared among 36 declared winners. Please note that all the participants were selected through a random computer ballot system drawn from 500,000 names.
Your claim number is very important as it must be used each time you contact us.
A check in the amount of $4,973.37 is enclosed to make sure that you are able to pay the international clearance and processing fees in the amount of $3,950.00. You will received the remaining balance of $95,022.63 in form of a cashiers check. DO NOT ATTEMPT TO CASH THIS CHECK UNTIL YOU HAVE CONTACTED US.
And Contact our Processing Centre at 1-416-876-8342 to lift the HOLD PLACED ON THE CHECK, SECURITY VERIFICATION and to ascertain how and when the fees must be paid.
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