Victim Location 17101
Type of a scam Sweepstakes/Lottery/Prizes
I received a letter from "North America Financial Services" in Ontario Canada, along with a check (appears to have been stolen – the routing number is legit and the check is from a real business) in the amount of $4620. I supposedly "won" a lottery for $250000 (which I never entered) and they sent me the check to cover "tax and insurance" with instructions to call and complete my claims process. I, of course, did not call them, but called the Ontario fraud bureau and am posting the scam here. My guess is that these people are using this method to "launder" stolen checks, steal your financial information and/or or get the unsuspecting to wire a small sum of money in order to receive the big bogus payout.
So everyone knows: You cannot win a lottery if you don’t enter it, You NEVER have to pay an advance payment to receive lottery winnings, and there is no such thing as a "tax and insurance handling fees" advance payout. Be wary of anyone and anything asking for money up front or claiming you are a winner of something you never heard about, an inheritance from a non-relative, or basically any person or business claiming you are entitled to receive money and all you have to do is provide your financial information or pay a small fee up front.