Publisher's Clearing House Inc. Scam, Fido Solutions Scam letter claims to have prize award and processing check; however you must first call them for instructions. Younkers New York

To the intended victim of the "Deposit for Lottery Proceeds" scam:

These scams work rather simplistically. While it may appear on the surface that you can't lose, depositing an "advance" cheque (yes, I'm Canadian, and that's not a misspelling) prior to sending the scammer YOUR money, you can, and very handily.

Simply, they demand some sort of "clear funds", such as a money gram, bank draft, or wire transfer, a conveyance of funds almost impossible to stop once sent. In the meantime, you have only their "cheque" to deposit to your account ... a deposit which will vapourize as quickly as it is bounced back, NSF.

That leaves the "participant" short the amount of their money gram, etc., plus bank charges for the "returned item".

I can almost guranantee that the company involved was not "Fido Solutions" (my cellular provider). The telephone number you were provided with was almost certainly an unlisted number or one connected to a prepaid (junk) disposable phone. A "reverse lookup" on such a number will provide only the cellular provider (Fido, in this case), not the subscriber (rip-off artist).

I would suggest, at the very least, contacting Fido Solutions Security (1-888-481-3436, toll free in Canada AND the USA, 1-514-925-4590, Direct (Montreal)), and letting them know that:

(a) their "telephone subscriber" is committing FRAUD, providing details AND telling them that you are making a complaint to police (they'll monitor the line, logging everything in "real time" for the authorities, without alerting the subscriber); and

(b) that you are following up your complaint with the RCMP via the FBI;

Then, call the FBI! This goes past any grey area of scamming, customer complaints, poor customer/employee relations; it is FRAUD and an out and out CRIMINAL ACT.

Unfortunately, this country (Canada) has not-so-strong sections in its Criminal Code when it comes to cross-border fraud, like this and another one, "purchase agent for lottery tickets". The authorities on this end want victims or near-victims of these frauds to come forward and provide statements and make complaints. I don't think that the Canada-USA Extradition Agreement really addresses sending these fraudsters southward for prosecution, but they certainly are prosecutable in Canada.

That might mean an all-expenses-paid trip to Montreal, Quebec, as a "witness".

Call Fido. Call the FBI. Demand of the FBI that they solicit a response from the RCMP (federal) and possibly the QPP (Quebec Provincial Police). If you would like to write a "Letter to the Editor", the daily newspaper with the greatest circulation in Montreal is likely The Montreal Gazette.

Canadians are getting really PISSED at these bas***d mail fraud artists in Montreal pulling off this horse****! Some of them are from here, and some just operate from this country due to its lax laws in this regard.

Mic
Vancouver, BC, Canada