Walter's Words of Wisdom

A resident sent me copies of a bank check he received and the cover letter sent with it. A quick review alerted me to a possible scam and a telephone call to the issuing bank confirmed that this was a scam.  

The letter said the recipient had won a second place in a lottery and the check was sent to cover the fees and taxes, plus an extra amount to cover the inconvenience of verifying the award, authorizing the payment and the time and effort involved in sending the lesser amount to the contest sponsor.

Needless to say, the check, while seemingly drawn on a legitimate banking institution, was a phony and no such account existed.  

Had the resident deposited the check and sent the amount requested, he would have later learned the check was no good, and he would be required to reimburse his bank for the entire check amount. Several glaring facts indicated this was a scam attempt: (1) He had never entered the lottery, (2) the letter was from Canada (a regular place from which many current scams originate), (3) he was informed to keep the award a secret and not tell anyone about it until he received his prize and (4) he was to contact Mr. IMALAR (read as I'm a liar!) to initiate everything.

Of course, aside from being scammed for several thousand dollars if he followed the instructions, he could also have been the victim of identity theft had he provided personal information, such as his social security number and his banking information. BE VIGILENT AND ALERT!