I recieved a letter from Reader's Digest Claim Services saying I was a 3rd place winner in a sweepstakes drawing and had won $65,000. Enclosed in the envelope there was a check in the amount of $3,046.75. They said to call the number on the bottom of the letter to claim your winnings.
I called, they told me the $3,046.75 was to pay for clearing/processing fees and is considered a punishable offense. They wanted me to deposit the check in my bank and they would let me know where to send to fees to pay these items.
I decided to go to my bank and guess what, I had them run a check on the enclosed check. The routing number was in Arkansas and the bank numbers were in Texas. The check also said the financial institute was Diebold Financial Services in Ohio and was drawn on Bank of America in California.
My bank kept the check which I was glad because If I had deposited it and contacted readers digest they would have told me where to send the fees using a check from my personal checking account. Now they have all my personal banking information and could clean out anything that was left. I could take up to a month for the ckeck to clear because there were so many states involved including Canada. The bank would then make me pay back all that money because the ckeck was a fraud. Ultimately this fraud company would be gone by then and no way to recoup your money. Your s out of luck.
The bank also told me that sometimes they tell you to send your payment to a Western Union or someplace out of the country. My bank also told me that they actually hire people to answer phones of companies they set up themselves to make you believe you are really talking to a Bank or whatever institute.
I live in a very small community of about 900 people of Twisp WA. I would like to make them pay the $65,000 just for all the time wasted checking this out not to mention my disappointment and and depression. All beware It is definetely a BIG SCAM.
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