This is an incidious one. They send you a very real check (mine was for $2989.00) and have you call them. The letter is worded strangely, but not as bad as the ones you receive on the internet that are grossly misspelled and misphrased. I was, of course, very suspicious but too curious for my own good and called the number using my calling card.
My card immediately told me that it was charging me double what I usually pay per minute, so it couldn't be a Louisiana number. I have no idea where Regina, SK is yet, but that was another clue to scam behavior.
Well, I left my call back number and was immediately contacted by Sylvia Park who informed me that I should deposit the check and then call back to receive further instructions. I challenged her on the scam-like feel to all this and she said that's why they send the real check - so people won't have to use their own money to release the funds promiced (mine was $46,500).
When I asked how they had gotten my name and address, she said that it came from a list of utilities users they had used to select winners of this "prize". When I asked where the "prize" money had come from, she said that it was from insurance funds that were never claimed. She added that the company couldn't just keep the funds, that would be "money laundering" (her phrase), so they had devised the drawing to disperse these funds.
The check looked incredibly real, so I went to a different bank from my own and opened an account with the check, thinking that they would inform me if the check was not OK. (Did I mention that I have rampant curiousity?) I knew I was risking my personal info, especially my social security number, if they could access my new account from the check when they received it back. I really don't know how all these theft/scams work, but short of identity theft, I didn't think they could get anything out of me but their own check money back.
I called the number at Zurich & Shaw, 306-351-2859, and the additional numbers listed in small print, 306-880-4873 & 306-351-4286, and have never had another call back in over a week, despite repeated attempts to contact them.
Needless to say, I didn't leave the new bank account number on the answering machine (the voice on the machine - indeed all of the numbers had the same ansering machine message with the same voice - is the same woman, Sylvia Park, to whom I had spoken in the initial phone call)
I had shared this process with my sister and husband and they began to give suggestions as to the type of scam this was. When my sister heard about the extra charges to use the phone card, she said she'd heard of telephone number scams where people ended up with thousands of dollars owed to their phone providers. This didn't seem likely to me because I'd used my calling card to call each time, but of course they have my real phone number from my call back messages.
So I called my phone service provider, AT&T, and asked if any unusual charges had shown up on my account. I don't have long distance service through them, so I knew any odd charges would show up as an additional service charge and we could track it easily. I explained to the AT&T rep what I was concerned about and she said nothing had shown up and that it was probably not a concern since I had used my calling card. I'll call again in a week, just to make sure.
My husband, being as curious as I, and more cautious, looked up the Zurich people online, and up popped the Rip-Off site, and the rest is yet to be discovered. The person, Kendal, from CA, got the same letter as I did and had reported it on your site in full, so we knew we'd better get busy and report all this, too.
I don't know what steps to take next to protect myself, or how to handle the bank account situation. At the least, I will suffer some embarrassment at that bank - we live in a tiny town in Far Northern California - but what can happen to me now and how can I avoid it. Of course, if the check is real and isn't stopped from payment, (wishful thinking) I'd just love to get my hands on that actual money and keep it for all my effort and concern. I would love contact from a specialist on rip-offs to guide me now
Thanks
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