Thanks for visiting UCAN.org! For over 25 years, UCAN has been protecting, educating, and advocating for consumers through a small staff of dedicated consumer advocates. Our services are available because of grassroots donations from people like you. Please help us continue our work with a donation of any amount on our secure donation page.

North American Sweepstakes Scam

ucansue's picture

The North American Sweepstakes scam is a form of the Nigerian money scam.  Somehow these off-shore thieves are printing checks with the names of legitimate companies that have nothing to do with the scam.  If you are cold-called or emailed about winning large sums of money where you're asked to send money, hang up and/or delete the email.  They target seniors and low-income persons.  Don't be a victim for this fraudulent scheme.  Contact the FBI Internet/Cyber Fraud Unit.

Sweepstake winners are not contacted by email or by mail.  Alleged winners are never asked to wire money before being eligible to win. Taxes aren't paid for by the sweepstake offering company---You pay the taxes.  Has anyone asked themselves how a foreign lottery ticket or prize could be won without ever having been in that country?  When has anyone heard of a sweepstakes prize company providing checks in advance?  Your real key to this fraud is that if you truly won money, you would be most likely contacted by certified mail, not via junk mail.

The old saying is still true!  If it sounds too good to be true, it is too good to be true.

Filed Under

Comment viewing options

Select your preferred way to display the comments and click "Save settings" to activate your changes.

cord covers

This forum is really good i am having a great time in this forum.cord covers

Knew it was too good to be true, but ....

I had to call them anyway. You know, just to make sure. I wasn't sure how this scam worked if they had already sent me a check? But that's just it, the check IS the scam. Fake check, you deposit it, draw on it to pay the "taxes", "ins", or whatever, then your bank finds out the check is fake and guess who owes the bank for the funds you drew on it??? YOU!!! Here is a list of red flags with my check ....

Return address: Desjardins General Ins, Mississaugua Canada
Letter from: West Link Securities, UK
Check drawn on: Commerce Bank of St Louis, Hannibal, MO
Account Name: Enterprise RAC Co of Baltimore, MD USA

So I called this "John Willeford". I've "won" $125,000! The check was for $3,875, of which $1,875 has to be paid to the "tax agent" before any other money will be released. "John" tells me to deposit the check tomorrow then call him to get the instructions on how to wire the money to the "tax agent" and get the rest of my money. You know I've never seen any organization (other than the IRS!) so concerned that I pay my taxes. I hope he is holding his breath waiting for me to call him back!!!

AMERICAN SWEEPSTAKES SCAM

iF IF WON A SWEEPSTAKES DO I HAVE TO PAY AN INSURANCE BEFORE I SO THEY CAN GIVE ME THE PRIZE?

THANK YOU

Award notification from National Trust Inc.,London, England.

In Feb. 2011 I received a letter from National Trust Inc.,London England claiming
that they had sent me a letter on Nov. 22,2010 that because I won $50,000. the letter claimed different sweepstakes and Lottery databases around the world. They even had the "Lucky" number I won with. It stated that I contact them by phone at 011-44-7574-753665 and ask for David Edwards or Sabrina Williams. I
figured it was a scam but you never know,since the call wouldn't cost anything and if they ask for anything like a social security # I would hang up. I called and was ask my name and phone # only. The man who answered my call and had an accent but I'm not sure from where. He said I won the money but they would send me a check for $5000. to pay a clearance fee /taxes and I was to call him once I received the check,which was to be deposited into my checking account and to call them and they would tell me where to send the money for the fees/taxes,after this was done they would send me the $45,000. balance. So I thought I would wait to see what happens. A couple of days later I got online and found that other people had done the same thing but had deposited the check in their accounts and paid the fees by western union. After this is done what happens is the check you deposited bounces and your stuck owing the bank $5000. I even Googled the address in London which appeared to be a park.
The day after I received the check in the mail this Dave Edwards ? called to find out if I rec'd the check and when I was going to deposit it . My husband answered the phone and told them it would probably be the next day since I just got back from the dentist. The check looked like it was a cashier's check from Chase which is who we bank with,so my Husband took the check and letters to Chase Bank and they said it wasn't on of their check's and it was fake.

Nationwide Securities Inc

I received the letter yesterday. It bascially reads as yours. When I called I was told that my name was one of many that were entered into the sweepstakes and lottery databases worldwide. My personal information had been obtained because I shopped at Walmart, Home Depot or Sears. The letter provided me with my lucky numbers that won in category four. I was not asked for any personal information, just my phone number. I was told that I would receive via mail a check for 5% of the winnings. With this money I should pay the fees and taxes on the total winnings, then I would receive the final pay off amount. The letter closed with a security statement advising me to keep my winning information confidentially until the claim was fully processed. Thank God I called my daughter immediately. She suggested that I Goggle the company.

Thank you for posting your experience. You have save me a lot of money and suffering.

went from 2.5million to 450,000 in less than 24 hours

got a call yesturday and was told I won $2.5 million and the guy kept repeating his name over and over and to make sure that I ask for him and that I needed to call him back in a couple of hours as I had said I was not the person he was looking for not to mention he couldn't say my last or first name correctly. Had no intention of calling him back went about my day and just chuckled to myself once in a while.
Today I get a call from the Federal Trade Commission and I let my machine take the call and then listened to it and made sure I got the name right and the number. I called as I have unlimited long distance with my phone service so what the heck right, Well a woman answers the phone after 8 rings and says yes she will put me through to Mr. ??? and I get a guy on the line but he has to ask me to hold for a minute as his secretary has just burst into his office, I hold, and then he keeps telling me that I have won a second place award from the American Sweepstakes Association and that I have less than 72 hours to get my award but because the association has tried to contact me since December that I would have to pay the insurance on the package because it comes from across state lines and that with the new Freedom act I would have to pay 1% of the winnings first but it is only temporary as I will get the insurance back right after I get the package this is all due because of 9/11 per G W Bush. I ask how much is the insurace he says again 1% or $4,500.00 I say NO WAY so he says he will contact the sweepstackes company and see it they will cover some of the cost of the insurance and I should call him back in 2 to 3 hours to check. Well I hang up to phone and think WHY SHOULD I CALL HIM BACK IF HE WANTS TO MAKE SURE I GET MY MONEY AND IT DOSEN'T END UP IN A CHARITY THE ASSOCIATION PICKS OUT. needless to say that call back is going to be taking a long long long time for me to place. Thanks for the heads up.

went from 2.5million to 450,000 in less than 24 hours

got a call yesturday and was told I won $2.5 million and the guy kept repeating his name over and over and to make sure that I ask for him and that I needed to call him back in a couple of hours as I had said I was not the person he was looking for not to mention he couldn't say my last or first name correctly. Had no intention of calling him back went about my day and just chuckled to myself once in a while.
Today I get a call from the Federal Trade Commission and I let my machine take the call and then listened to it and made sure I got the name right and the number. I called as I have unlimited long distance with my phone service so what the heck right, Well a woman answers the phone after 8 rings and says yes she will put me through to Mr. ??? and I get a guy on the line but he has to ask me to hold for a minute as his secretary has just burst into his office, I hold, and then he keeps telling me that I have won a second place award from the American Sweepstakes Association and that I have less than 72 hours to get my award but because the association has tried to contact me since December that I would have to pay the insurance on the package because it comes from across state lines and that with the new Freedom act I would have to pay 1% of the winnings first but it is only temporary as I will get the insurance back right after I get the package this is all due because of 9/11 per G W Bush. I ask how much is the insurace he says again 1% so that would be $4,500.00 I say NO WAY so he says he will contact the sweepstackes company and see it they will cover some of the cost of the insurance and I should call him back in 2 to 3 hours to check. Well I hang up to phone and think WHY SHOULD I CALL HIM BACK IF HE WANTS TO MAKE SURE I GET MY MONEY AND IT DOSEN'T END UP IN A CHARITY THE ASSOCIATION PICKS OUT. needless to say that call back is going to be taking a long long long time for me to place. Thanks for the heads up.

went from 2.5million to 450,000 in less than 24 hours

got a call yesturday and was told I won $2.5 million and the guy kept repeating his name over and over and to make sure that I ask for him and that I needed to call him back in a couple of hours as I had said I was not the person he was looking for not to mention he couldn't say my last or first name correctly. Had no intention of calling him back went about my day and just chuckled to myself once in a while.
Today I get a call from the Federal Trade Commission and I let my machine take the call and then listened to it and made sure I got the name wright and the number. I called as I have unlimited long distance with my phone service so what the heck right, Well a woman answers the phone after 8 rings and says yes she will put me through to Mr. ??? and I get a guy on the line but he has to ask me to hold for a minute as his secretary has just burst into his office, I hold, and then he keeps telling me that I have won a second place award from the American Sweepstakes Association and that I have less than 72 hours to get my award but because the association has tried to contact me since December that I would have to pay the insurance on the package because it comes from across state lines and that with the new Freedom act I would have to pay 1% of the winnings first but it is only temporary as I will get the insurance back right after I get the package this is all due because of 9/11 per G W Bush. I ask how much is the insurace he says again 1% of $4,500.00 I say NO WAY so he says he will contact the sweepstackes company and see it they will cover some of the cost of the insurance and I should call him back in 2 to 3 hours to check. Well I hang up to phone and think WHY SHOULD I CALL HIM BACK IF HE WANTS TO MAKE SURE I GET MY MONEY AND IT DOSEN'T END UP IN A CHARITY THE ASSOCIATION PICKS OUT. needless to say that call back is going to be taking a long long long time for me to place. Thanks for the heads up.

Tremendous concepts on this

Tremendous concepts on this web site. It's rare these days to find websites with data you are seeking. I'm happy I chanced on this webpage. I will certainly bookmark it or even register for your rss feeds simply to be updated on your new posts. Maintain up the nice job and I'm sure some other folks researching valued information will actually stop by and benefit from your site for resources.
http://www.onlinecheck.com

Tremendous concepts on this

Tremendous concepts on this web site. It's rare these days to find websites with data you are seeking. I'm happy I chanced on this webpage. I will certainly bookmark it or even register for your rss feeds simply to be updated on your new posts. Maintain up the nice job and I'm sure some other folks researching valued information will actually stop by and benefit from your site for resources.
Merchant Cash Advance

A visious scam

My son received a letter from the North Amaerican Point of Sales Lottery., at 2737 Kipling Avenue, Ontario, CA. phone# 1-647-995-2270 . The letter claimed that he had won $250,000 from a total cash prize of $5,000,000 shared by and amongst twenty winners. They sent him a check written on Wachovia Bank of Greenville, South Carolina for $3,926.69 from the company Phillips Inc. located in Santa Fe Springs Ca, 90670. In order for my son to get the money, he will need to contact his agent Ronn Gibson @1-647-995-2270 or by Email emandeminc@yahoo.com.hk The check for $3,926.69 was issued to assist my son with paying the mandatory British Valued Added TAX (VAT) However, Please do not deposit this into the bank uintil you have been instructed by your direct agent on how to pay the British (VAT) I APPRECIATE HOW MUCH THEY LOVE MY SON AND WANT TO ASSIST HIM.
The letter is signed by Cathleen Antonio, Senior Vice-President, Apparently the vice president of a visious scam.

I could see right through this scam. First of all Wachovia Bank was purchased by Wells Fargo, and is no longer in existance. The next thing I pulled the company web site. The type of business they are in does not jive with any information listed on the letter. so this was suspect, also why should anyone be required to pay taxes on money you don't have . That is not the way the Government function. Why would they be so willling to send him $3,926.69 to assist him in paying the taxes.

I have reported this information to the FBi, The US postal Inspector and everyone else I can think of.
I am tired of getting this junk at my hone almost daily, as well as all the phone call I get coming in from Jamacia and las Vegas. I hope this information posted here will help someone else.

The thing of this is my

The thing of this is my fiance' and I filled out a sweepstakes info card at Wal-Mart so this seemed legitamate at first. I think the sweepstakes card was just a way to get our information to be able to do the scam. So beware of what you fill out and where you do it. Always take down the information of who is putting on the promotion if you are going to risk giving your personal information for a lottery drawing or a sweepstakes.

fraudulant winnings

I got one from ADI group Inc. Start check was 4010.30 USD written on a Bank of America check. WIth an EL Paso TX address.

Beware of Scams

Never believe in your luck that you will get huge money from Sky and some one call you to help you getting money. Frauds can do anything, just follow your life rules your parent taught you and you will never suffer again.

876 scam

PLEASE ADD 876-495-0971 TO YOU SCAM, THE GUY'S NAME IS MICHAEL STEWART CALLER ID IS UNDER JM KINGSTON, THE STORY LINE IS THE SAME 2.5M, WHITE MERCEDES, BLA, BLA, BLA. IT IS REALLY SAD WHAT THESE PEOPLE DO.

To late... im a college

To late... im a college student and was looking for work.. nothing big offered just an online job and got paid for the correct amount... then they "accidently " sent me a check of $3800 said they appoligize and just subtract the amount i was going to get paid and send them the money... well.. did that.. and know i owe my bank $3000 and the bank wont help me in anyway! Not just that ... i have to stop going to school and find a full time job... the problem is .... i cant find anyone hiring... my story to you...

Post new comment

The content of this field is kept private and will not be shown publicly.
  • Allowed HTML tags: <em> <p> <strong> <cite> <code> <ul> <ol> <li> <dl> <dt> <dd> <!--break-->
  • Lines and paragraphs break automatically.

More information about formatting options

Type the characters you see in this picture. (verify using audio)
Type the characters you see in the picture above; if you can't read them, submit the form and a new image will be generated. Not case sensitive.


Like what you see? Go ahead and show your support! UCAN is a truly independent non-profit watchdog organization, dependent on grassroots donations like yours!

 

Utility Consumers' Action Network - (619) 696-6966

Terms and Conditions

UCAN.org is made available by the Utility Consumers' Action Network to assist you in becoming what you always knew you could be: a consumer ROCK STAR! We take no corporate money, and are beholden only to you, the consumer. As such, the site is here for educational, advocacy, and empowerment purposes, as well to to give you general information and a general understanding of the law. Just remember this site is NOT here to provide specific legal advice. By using this web site you of course understand that there is no attorney-client relationship between you and the Web Site publisher, UCAN. The Web Site should not be used as a substitute for competent legal advice from a licensed professional attorney in your state.

That said, get to digging on the site, inform yourself, speak your mind, and earn Watchdog Bones! This is YOUR site, and we mean it. So comment on any of the content, discuss the latest issues in the forums, file a complaint on a company with the Fraud Squad, and generally cut loose.

See our Terms of Use, Privacy, and Copyright complaint policies as well as our Content Reuse Policy, Some Rights ReservedRemember, if you have any questions about copyright law or need legal information regarding intellectual property, the internet, or new technologies, visit our affiliate New Media Rights at www.newmediarights.org. If you are in the San Diego region, you can also can apply to use New Media Rights' multimedia studio and equipment for free.