On 4/26/07 I received a letter from United Finance Inc., P.O. Box 0721, Bartlett, NH 03812 (HeadQuarters) advising me that I had a winning sweepstakes/lottery ticket in the category A of the North American draws. Supposedly the "... Qualified winners were randomly selected from Readers Digest, Publishers' Clearing House Computer database and participating retail stores".
Enclosed with the letter was an "Official Check" "issued by Integrated Payments Systems, Inc., Englewood, Colorado to J PMorgan chase Bank, N.A. Columbus, Ohio".
The amount of the check was $3,900.00 which was to cover the necessary fees and Foreign access taxes for the total winning share amount of $90,000.00.
The check was not valid until activated by calling UFI Foreign Account's manager Mike Davies. The letter was sent by "Edward JAMES Vice President".
The remitter for the check was United Finance Inc., with the Drawer being First Financial Bank, NA. The signature on the check was partially illegible except for "Mary Anne..."
The research I did included doing a reverse telephone number which showed that the telephone number shown on the letter was in Brampton, Ontario. I could not find a "United Finance Inc.", Official Checks issued by Integrated Payment Systems Inc. Look different and show "... A true watermark" while the one I received "... includes an artificial watermark". There was no actual signature on the letter and there were several obvious typos which real business letters would not have.
So "winning" $90,000 was an easy come easy go. It amazes me that scammers think so many people will far for it. The check I received needed to be activated after I provided them with "... All positive verification". Yeah, right! I was born at night but not last night.
I am turning the letter and envelope to the Postmaster General and letting him deal with these scammers.
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