Allied Services - Allied Financial - M&I Marshall & Isley Bank Sweepstakes scam using valid-looking check for $4,750 Toronto Ontario

I received in the mail, a letter addressed to me with no return address. The cancel on the stamp came from Canada. Inside the plain, white business envelope was a letter that appeared to have been printed on a desktop ink jet printer. The only other enclosure was a check for $4,750.

The letter was to inform me I was was a winner in an international sweepstakes drawn on May 20th 2008 in the UK. It used names of companies (foundation of software products, slidecircular awards) I never heard of and one (Heineken) I had heard of that were organizers of the sweepstakes.

The check was to cover the taxes on my winnings. The letter warned me to not use the check until I called the phone number at the top of the letter. I never attempted to contact a claims agent nor have I tried to use the check. The bank name is similar to a real bank, but I couldn't guarantee the veracity of the check nor its bank.

Dear sir/madam
Columbia, Maryland
U.S.A.