Allstate Nancy Brown; Claim Agent, Allstate advised me of an entitlement to the preliminary prize of $250,000 from a 'puter drawing of Am. & Can. sutomers of major retailers (Target, Wal-mart, Sears,etc). Enclosed check for $4,980.60 Tacoma, Washington

Allstate sent a letter advising that my name was drawn out of a computer database from an annual "Consumers Promotional Draw", organized for American & Canadian customers of major retailers e.g. Target, Wal-Mart, Sears, Macy's, Home Depot, etc.  That I was entitled to the preliminary prize of $250,000 by means of Certified Check, delivered by a courier company (Money Gram/Western Union).  Enclosed was a check of $4,980.60 for payment towards mandatory payment of "Non-Canadian Residential Tax", insurance & delivery charges.  I was instructed to first contact my assigned claim's agent, Nancy Brown. 

I did and she instructed me to call her when I deposited the check.  I called her of the deposit and recalled her when the check bounced.  She said she would look into it and call me back. She did not.  I called her again and she was unable to answer why it bounced; that she would call me back.  She did not.  By this time, I looked under the Consumer's Report and found another person who experienced a similar incident with Allstate but different agents/country.  So I didn't pursue it any further. I just want to know the purpose of this nonsense; what are these people trying for?  Probably to gain access to your checking or credit card accts.