This company impersonates the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and calls people on the phone (from a Washington DC number) telling them they have won $350,000 in a sweepstakes drawing through Mutual Liberty Sweepstakes. They say they are calling from the FTC because federal law requires that the FTC make the official notification for prize amounts greater than $100,000. They further tell their victims that it will be necessary to "insure" delivery of the prize check and that the cost is one percent of the prize money ($3,500). Note that the company name is "Mutual Liberty" NOT "Liberty Mutual", a well known insurance company. They claim that the insurance is provided by Lloyds of London. If you ask for a notice in writing, they will fax you a very official looking document purporting to be on FTC stationary. A quick check with the REAL FTC in Washington DC substantiates NONE of the claims, NONE of the individual names or phone numbers in the correspondence you have received. Additionally, the fax says it's from FTC headquarters and gives a Washington DC address. However, the date/time stamp at the top of the fax gives U.S. Pacific time. The faxed document also gives the wrong name for the FTC Chief of Staff. The name given is "John Edwards". Again, a quick check of the real FTC web site reveals that the correct name of the FTC Chief of Staff is Jon Leibowitz. The name "John Edwards" is either obsolete or fictitious. Many states and possibly federal law (I'm not sure) prohibit sweepstakes operators from charging ANY kind of fees or insurance charges to prize winners. This whole operation is clearly a major scam.
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