I was sent a check from this company for $4250.00. Of course, there was a disclaimer that this company was merely a dibursement company and has no further responsibility other than processing the winnings. The entire winnings is supposedly $180,000.
There are instructions to contact a Bob Evans for activation and further clarifications. Of course, Bob there can barely speak English and has no further info, only what is in the letter that us Americans can read just fine by ourselves. I did eat at a Bob Evans a few weeks ago though ;)
The whole thing sounds fairly legit with a few problems. My supposed winning number doesn't match the supposed number drawn as the winner. The participant is apparently drawn from the Federal Computer Bank so as not to raise suspicion over not entering a sweepstakes. It also says that if you don't claim your prize, it will be donated to charity. You also have to cash the check and send $2750 of it back to cover surcharges and govt. Taxes.
A few red flags here. First, the return cancellation and stamp on the letter are from Canada. The letter is from Orient Financial in Florida, the check has an address from Connecticut and Pennsylvania. These companies are on the Better Business Bureau website, but with different addresses and no report available. Also, there is no return address on the envelope. Most accredited places place some form of identification on th outside of correspondence.
By the way, the check looks very genuine. It even has the security features on it, like watermark and heat sensitivity.
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