Tuesday, August 17, 2010

Oceanic Royal Sweepstakes sent a check&letter say'n we won.Check is 4 insurance cost 4 winnings.This a scam?

Oceanic Royal Sweepstakes sent us a letter %26amp; check saying we won $125,000. The check they sent is to cover insurance. We are to deposit the 1st check, when it's in the account, we call %26amp; get confirmation numbers for the big check. They then will draw it out of the account %26amp; send us the other check w/15% being taken from the winnings to repay the cost of the insurance fees(the 1st check). The 1st looks to be a real negotiable check. But the whole thing has me a bit cautious %26amp; confused. Is this real or a scam? Has anyone else had this experience?

Oceanic Royal Sweepstakes sent a check%26amp;letter say'n we won.Check is 4 insurance cost 4 winnings.This a scam?
I get these "prize" claim forms in my regular mail and by e-mail. They are likely NOT legitimate. Here is a way to tell if they are legit or not. Ask yourself the following:


1 - Did YOU enter their contest?





2 - Look CLOSELY at their "prize claim form".


Do they request that you pay ANY money for "shipping" or "handling" or "processing" charges?


If so, they are FRAUDULENT. ANYTIME you win a legitimate contest, you will NEVER have to pay any of the above nonsense fees.





3 - Do they ask you for ANY bank or financial data? NEVER EVER give your bank or private data to ANYONE who has solicited you first. ((If YOU solicited them FIRST that's a different story))





4 - Do they ask you to send them your PERSONAL CHECK, or VOIDED DEPOSIT SLIP? If so, they are a SCAM. THAT is how they would access your bank account.





5 - Because they sent you a "prize check" I strongly suspect that they are hoping you will try to deposit that at your bank. I also believe that ONCE YOU ATTEMPT to cash/desposit the check THEY WILL HAVE YOUR BANK INFO. Your act of cashing/depositing the check implies that you are giving them permission to your bank info. ((The bank will write your account number on their check %26amp; the check will be sent back to the sender))





**THIS IS SCARY **


I did NOT know this but here is a quote from the Federal Trade Commission website "If you play a foreign lottery — through the mail or over the telephone — you’re violating federal law."


Here is their link http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/pubs/aler...





Be happy %26amp; be safe.


If you want to check for dates that scams are likely, or obtain best dates to enter contests, etc., http://www.AstroWishes.com has a wealth of information.
Reply:Yes, I got the same check and was told I was the third winner for the $125,000.00. I have just started looking to see how much of a scam this is. It is too easy to believe. I was told by all the accounts that he listed that somehow on some of the pop ups on my msn.hotmail is probably where they got my address. The thing that caught my eye is the fact the misspelled my last name by one letter. Is this indeed a scam? How do we find out more? or turn them in so that no one is hurt with this.
Reply:This is definitely a scam. Any legitimate sweepstakes is not going to require any of your account numbers or anything similar, nor will it require any kind of insurance. Also, this was answered previously at http://sg.answers.yahoo.com/question/ind... and it was determined it was a scam, and that the check will bounce. Also see http://scambust.htmlplanet.com/list.html and http://www.joewein.net/419/419companies....





Don't get me wrong, it IS possible to win money via a sweepstakes (I'm living proof of it), but if you've been told you won a sweepstakes you didn't enter, or if it's a company you've never heard of, or if they require any personal information like account numbers, etc. the red flags should go up. If in doubt, type the company name into any search engine - some will bring up results like the ones I got at the URL above.
Reply:So weird... my mom got a check for $2999.75 from the same company. The letter said that we won 3rd prize for 120,000.00 and we got ahold of someone who didn't really know what we were talking about and said that they would get their manager to call us back in 5 minutes but we never heard back from them but this all happend today.
Reply:I sounds like a scam. Why would anyone give you a check to deposit and then want you to take it back out and return it. Unless the check is no good, then you just gave them money for a bad check! Call the bank it is "issued " on, and check to verify the funds are there to cover it. Chances are the back doesn't exist or there is no money in the account. It really doesn't sound right to me. Do a lot of research before doing anything with it. Call the Butter Business Bureau as well, they may be able to tell you if it is legitimate. Good Luck! I'm glad you're asking questions before going a head with it.
Reply:i received the check and letter as well, i called their offices but the person who answer told me to call back. i also think this is a scam not really sure though. is the check a real check? can someone help us here.


thanks.


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