Is this United British Lotto & North American Sweepstakes a scam???

I recieved this letter by mail came from canada and it says United British Lotto Certificate of Award on it including a real check on the bottom it looks real I just don't know if it's a scam because I did not play any lotto. ??? Thank you!!!

Is this United British Lotto %26amp; North American Sweepstakes a scam???
Yes, this is a scam and here is how it works.





The criminals who run the scam are a Nigerian gang. They use stolen checks from real businesses.





When you receive one of these checks and deposit it in your bank account, your bank will verify if the account on which the check was drawn exists and has sufficient funds. This will generally be the case. Therefore after a few business days you will receive funds in your account.





Now this is where it becomes really dangerous to you: You have just passed a bad check, which is *illegal* and you can go to prison for that. Furthermore, the check can and will still bounce. When that happens it is *you* and not the bank who will be liable for any losses! Checks can bounce for months after they have already "cleared" and it is the depositor who endorsed it with his signature on the back who is responsible. You vouch for the check with your signature.





Once the bank that holds the company's account forwards it to the company's accounts department they will see that it doesn't match any check they signed. They will find that it came from a stolen checkbook. They will notify their bank, which will notify your bank and the funds will be removed from your account.





If you have already withdrawn the cash and forwarded it to the criminals (they will tell you there are taxes and handling fees to be paid) then your account will be thousands of dollars in the red. It will get frozen. The bank may report you to the police. You may be charged with and prosecuted for passing bad checks and for wire fraud.





If you receive any check under an arrangement where you are to cash it and forward funds from it to the check sender or a third party nominated by the sender, you can safely assume it to be a scam. Take the check to the police. Possession of fake checks is a crime under US Federal Law.
Reply:I got one of the letters in the mail and i took it to the police station hopfuly they will catch these people who scam. Report Abuse

Reply:If you didn't pay money to enter this lottery, it most certainly is a scam.





Here are the hallmarks of a lottery scam:





You never paid money or bought a ticket to enter.


Your "winning" notification is probably not personalized.


Your "winning" notification came by email, probably from a free email


address such as yahoo.com or msn.com.





The way this scam works is, if you respond to the email, after one or


two email exchanges with the so-called "lottery officials" or "claims


agent," perhaps accompianied by some official looking but fake


documents, you will be asked to pay fees for "taxes" or "handling" or


some other reason. This is the scam, you pay the fees and never see


any winnings, mainly because there are none to see.
Reply:I recieved the same check from united british lotto in the amount of $2998.85 I verified funds w/ the suntrust bank of central florida by calling them @ 1-800-221-9792 and now I am jus waiting for my check to clear at my bank...The letter I recieved says that their are 19 winners so could be 19 of us are gonna get paid....YES..I believe this is the real deal!!!$$$$$$
Reply:I received a check from the United British Lotto, it has a routing # on it and everything looks to be in order. They didn't request me to send a check. Is this check for real?
Reply:well i receive the same letter and i also called the # on the certificate and the man told me deposit the check into my account allow 48 hours for the check to clear than send it to him western union and in 5 to 7 bus. days I'll receive my check for 90,000.00.. but i don't know what to do, i wonder if it would clear at my bank.. think i might give it a shot but i wont send them sh**i..
Reply:and it's probably asking you to send a check for some amount to them....yes it's a scam and because it's outside the U.S. you can't do a thing to them if you send


the check and you get nothing back
Reply:Before anyone says the lottery is a waste of money... In Georgia (US) the lottery pays for my education. Every year a percentage of lotto profits are given out as scholarship money to georgia residents with a 3.0 avergae or higher. (yes only a 3.0/4.0) It's called the hope scholarship and it is amazing!





Yay for lotteries and yay for the dream of being rich without working!
Reply:awereness thru experience ,, you play you pay .
Reply:hey, I just got one of these checks today, but mine is drawn from baker distributing co. but is also from bank of america. when i researched baker distributing co. they are located in fl. and are a heating and cooling company!! What the hell do they have to do with the lotto?
Reply:I have too. I was so freakin exited, but i didnt play the lotto either. Have you tried calling?


musicaltrujillo@yahoo.com


do you sign up for alot of things?





ok i JUST READ THIS..


I got one of these "British Lotto" checks myself. My husband and I are both unemployed right now. We should have known this was a scam but I am always entering sweepstakes and stupid me thought it was real. Even my bank thought it was for real. So, they cashed it. Now I am in the hole at the tune of $1600, and it really bites. Boy did I learn my lesson. PLEASE, if you get a check for United British Lotto, DON'T CASH IT!!!!!!! BIG FAT SCAM!!!!!!!!!!
Reply:i received the same letter from the united brittish lotto. i also received a check in the amount of 2998.95. i was told to cash it and send it to them. once they receive the money(which are the taxes on the prise money) then i would receive my check in the amount of 95K. so i think its real. if itws not i dont loose anything. i had to pay nothing. what do u think
Reply:I enter and play many different online games
Reply:hi we reiceved in the mail a check also form united british lotto and it was a real check and now we have to send that check back to them to pay the taxas on the money we one but they already sent a real chck to pay the taxas on the rest so????????? is it real????????
Reply:I got the very same thing in the mail, and I am hoping it's real! We called the number it says to call, and an actual financial company was at the other end, though they were closed because it was Sunday. Even if it's not real, I agree that I'm not out anything if I send them most of that check and don't actually get the prize. There's also an extra $150 on the check that they don't ask for back.
Reply:I just got the same check for $2,998.85 with the same directions what are the odds that everyone can get 95,000.00 or even 90,000.00 no one can afford to pay out so much to so many people and why is the check form Sun Trust a FL bank when its a British Lotto that I didn't enter. I think it a scam to get your identity or to involve you in illegal dialings I'll go talk to my bank Wednesday and see that they say about the legality of the check and the whole afire.
Reply:united british lotto is a scam, the check is counterfeit
Reply:When a stranger sends you a check, asks you to cash it, and then send him the money, the check is always fake and it is always a scam. You should treat it the same way as if someone on the street asked you to do the same thing. And if you send money by Western Union, you can never get that money back. It is untraceable. That's why scammers love Western Union.





If it seems too good to be true, it probably is.
Reply:Lotterys work like this:


1)10,000 people pay 1 dollar/euro/pound/yen....etc


The lottery company now has 10,000





2) the lottery company holds a draw and gives out 7,000 in winnings (and keeps the profit 3,000)





Scams work like this:


-1)nobody pays money (there is no money to win)





0)a scammer sends out 10,000 spam emails to tell people they have won a lottery they havn't entered.(they pretend they work for real lottery websites)





2)The Scammer asks for your Personal details (be prepared! your inbox is going to be full of emails asking for you personally...and dont get me started on what they are gonna do with your Bank details!)





3)The scammer tells you that you have to pay fees before you can accept the "winnings" (and NO,you cant pay out of the winnings! they dont exist!....silly maga)





4)The scammer manages to con 3 people out of 1000 and gives all his profits to a charity for orphaned goats (he dosn't really...he keeps it ;) )





5)Your inbox gets more mails than help@microsoft.com


Everything from "You have won anotther sooperdooperlottry" to "CHAN U B A NEXT OF KIN" to "Please join our company,cash our checks,send us the money until your bank realises you are laundering money for us?)





The moral of the story is...If it sounds too good to be true... It probably is





Some times they will help you pay the fees.


They will give you a check (Wooooo hoooooo!!!)


The checks will be fake....very good fakes.


You can hand them to a 25yr old bank teller and they wont know the difference.


The checks go in your account.


Your bank "HONOURS" the checks


You send the money to the scammer in Nigeria


The bank sends the check back to the issuing bank (can take up to 6 months)


The Issueing bank refuses to "CLEAR" the check.


Your bank says"Hey...you put in a fake check ....wheres the money?"


You say" I sent it to [insert scammers name here] by western union money transfer(untracable) to that lovely man/woman/both in Nigeria"


The bank says"??? you robbed your own bank???"


You plead Ignorance..."Im innocent" etc


They say "But YOU put the check in our bank...." and you do jail time for bank fraud





"419" scammers....dont ya love 'em


www.fraudwatchers.org
Reply:I received a letter and a check also. Call the bank from which the check was drawn, you'll find this is a scam. The bank, (Citibank of Delaware), asked me to provide any info I could and requested that I fax the check %26amp; the letter. If you should try and cash this check, you are responsible for any fees and penelties involved once it bounces.





CALL THE BANK!!!!!!
Reply:i also received a letter sating that i won 2,998.85 us dollars and i'm confused about this. What should i do next to receive the rest of the prize.

Www.pbteen.com click it, spin, it win it, sweepstakes?

Im a shopper, on pbteen. And i am entering in the click it, spin it, win it, sweepstakes. I dont know how to do it!! Can you please tell me how? please answer quick!

Www.pbteen.com click it, spin, it win it, sweepstakes?
you have to be between 13 and 18 years old. if you fit that you just enter your email after clicking the click and spin wheel. fill out the form and go. email the site if it doesn't work.





if you want other sites to click and spin, look under the fun money tab at the site listed below

Skye sweepstakes inc located at 3 baker road kings cross london w7 9dp?

does anyone know if this is a lagit outfit?

Skye sweepstakes inc located at 3 baker road kings cross london w7 9dp?
It is definitly a scam. Check out this NBC news article: http://www.nbc-2.com/articles/readarticl...

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What is the "Strike it Rich Sweepstakes"?

Probably a SCAM

What was the naked brothers band sweepstakes number?

I was trying to put it in my phone, but once I actually started to put the number in, it stopped showing the number, i guess it's not that important, but still, it wuld be kewl, so plz help!

What was the naked brothers band sweepstakes number?
i think it was 18003312117. but thats only from my knowledge
Reply:It was 1800-301-2113 believe me i was dialing like crazy i am super good at memorizing important phone numbers and that was one of them
Reply:It was 1-800-300 -_ _ _.i forgot the rest
Reply:i don't know how to fix that, but if your phone beeped 3 times i think that means you have entered
Reply:I KNOW I WAS DIALING MY CELL PHONE AND IT WAS LIKE GONE!


I AM SO PISSED!
Reply:2388156

Please let me know if you do sponser sweepstakes? If yes, how can I verify?

I have a email from Yahoo saying I have been chosen to win a sweepstake. How can I vrify if it is official Yahoo sponsered program

Please let me know if you do sponser sweepstakes? If yes, how can I verify?
The first question to ask is: Did I enter any Yahoo sweepstakes? If not, the chances are that this is one of the very popular Yahoo Lottery Scams going around right now. Other signs: They are asking you for money to claim your win, they say that you won a lottery (or worse, an international lottery), they are saying you won an extremely large amount of money.





For more tips on how to tell if a win notice is really a scam, see this page: http://contests.about.com/od/conttestsca...


This article gives you advice about how to research a win to see if it's legitimate: http://contests.about.com/od/conttestsca...


Here are some real sweepstakes that you can enter to win (not scams): http://contests.about.com/od/sweepstakes...


Good luck!
Reply:Just so you know, nobody from yahoo actually monitores this site

Who wins the Publisher's Clearinghouse Sweepstakes? I have entered 4+ times/wk the last 6 years. Nothing!

Is it bogus...a rip off? Surely, they are held accountable by some agency. FTC, Consumer Protection, anyone? Where is a complete list of winners and can they be verified?

Who wins the Publisher's Clearinghouse Sweepstakes? I have entered 4+ times/wk the last 6 years. Nothing!
U.S.Postal Authorities and the State of New York Attornney General's Office would handle any complaint against Publishers Clearing House!





A couple of years ago they got hit with a quarter million in fines, when someone found a bag of unopened return envelopes in a dumpster!

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