Ill-gotten Gains Widespread in Weak Economy
by This has been revised to protect the guilty. All true names, addresses, and telephone numbers have been left out so as not to expose those who attempt to rob us.
Where is law enforcement in this country? Fraud is on every street corner and permeates the internet. A wicked thief is luring in cell phones and even arrives in an envelop in the mailbox, waiting for money. Just this week, I have had attempts to rob me. The first thief came in the form of a letter that said I had won a lottery in the amount of $125,000! My dreams had finally come true, I briefly thought. The envelope had a Canadian stamp but the postmark looked as if it could have been stamped by anyone’s home computer and had the web address of a another country’s postal website and was addressed to me. When I opened the envelope I found a check that was written on a fictitious company that I am not ALLOWED to name with a fictitious address and the bank holding the account was also one that I am not allowed to name. The amount of the check was $4,875.00!
The letter stated that “The sole purpose of this FIRST CHECK is for the payment of applicable GOVERNMENT TAXES on your big winnings.” It went on to say that “The tax amount is USD $2,875 (TWO THOUSAND EIGHT HUNDRED AND SEVENTYFIVE DOLLARS) to be paid either by WESTERN UNION OR MONEYGRAM directly to the tax agent. Please do not attempt to use this check until you call. We urge you to keep this winning CONFIDENTIAL until your claim has been processed and your cash remitted to you as this is a part our security protocol …”
My File Was Closed Because of My Bad Attitude
When I first saw the check, a small part of me thought “YES! Finally, I won a lottery!” The check looked like an ordinary check and I can see how someone might run to the bank to deposit it, then take cash to send “taxes” by Western Union. I called the “office line” that was on the letter at a number that I am not ALLOWED to name, and a meek sounding woman answered the telephone. I could hear what sounded like a back door slam, then a man speaking in an unknown tongue, and then I heard a rooster crowing. I asked the woman if this trust company was located on a farm. Then I started asking her why I had to send money directly to the tax agent before I received the rest of my “win.” “What if the check is no good?” I asked her. Needless to say, my questions got me nowhere and before I got off the phone with her, she told me that my “file” would be closed because there was an “error“ with my check. The check was dated for 02/07/2008 and had the famous words imprinted “VOID AFTER 60 DAYS FROM CHECK DATE” but the check had not been mailed to me until July 4, 2008. I told her not to misunderstand me, I definitely wanted my winnings from the lottery, I just did not like the idea of having to pay “taxes” before I received any money and I did not understand about having to pay directly to a tax agent instead of just sending it to THEIRS, more commonly known as the IRS.
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