Scam Via Snail Mail
How convenient. When I went to the mailbox today, I received an “Official Declaration of Certified Award and Provision of Payment” saying I won either $1,327,940 as a one-time payment or $2,000,000 spread out over 30 years at $66,666.66 per year!
The only thing wrong is that the Declaration is yet another fraud. The convenient part? It was my topic of the day. This may be the first time anyone was actually happy to see a scam arrive at their home.
Beware ‘Official’ Look and Feel
It looks so darned official. It says ‘Judges Authorization Completed’. Wouldn’t that give someone the chills, if they were low on cash and now dreamed of paying outstanding debts or being able to afford a nice house or apartment for a change?
Ooops, forgot the bottom line and in these Declarations, there is always a bottom line. This one requires my check for $12.99 to process the windfall. Well, I’ll just write that check and get it in the mail and…NOT A CHANCE. Instead, I wrote across the piece of paper that must go with my check, “Take it out of my winnings” and sent it back to the judges. I truly think there will be a long wait before I see any money.
Looks Like a Famous Lottery, But Look Again…
These scams purposely look very similar to the Publishers Clearing House mailings that hit every house this time of year. If a person has studiously filled out the constant PCH stream of mailers , they may think this Official Declaration comes from that famous company and that they won.
In goes the $12.99 check for the first round. You can bet there will be requests for a bit higher amount and then another and then another, with their prize no closer to arriving than it was the day they received the first letter. Even if no further calls for money arrived, multiply $12.99 by even one million. Thirteen million is not a bad haul for one well written fraudulent letter. And if they can expand on that with additional mailings, that’s a nice chunk of change.
Check It Twice Before Believing
As another way of defrauding people, this one is one of the most dangerous. Why?
• It looks official
• No misspellings
• Two sheets of paper used to answer all possible questions.
• And, as a bit of a joke, look at the amount you receive over thirty years – $66,666,66 (to Christians, 666 is considered the sign of Satan).
Here are the copies of my letter. By the way, another hint that this one is a fake, they did not know my real name.
so sad when many fall for this…I never even open them. would make a great television investigation.
I think if we all reported this to the FTC and I mean ALL of us, maybe something could be done about it. Today, seniors lose hundreds of thousands, if not millions on scams such as this.
I received the same one yesterday. I think I will call FTC and the Postmaster about it.