Amro North America Inc. ,North American Direct Sweepstakes And Promotion Co, Sent Me A Letter Saying I Won 250,000. and sent a check for $3,945 for taxes... Seattle Washington

Mark is correct it is a scam - and people just like you are falling for it hook line and sinker.

Jennifer - even after you found similar stories online you still were not sure? That has me puzzled. THE CHECK WILL NOT CLEAR - and your bank can have you arrested for passing bad checks! The whole point is to get you to send them money before the check clears. By the time you find out it is bogus, you now owe the bank that money.

Try doing an internet search on lottery scams, sweepstakes scams and Mystery Shopping Scams.

Use some common sense - no legitimate lottery or sweepstakes is going to send you a check to pay taxes and or fees with- just to have you send money back to them!

Legitimate lotterys and sweepstakes will remove those from your winnings FIRST
and report it to the IRS!

Who would believe that they won a sweepstakes (or anything) when they have to send their own money to a 3rd party? Any check you get is counterfeit, stolen, or just plain bogus. If you ever do deposit it, wait for it to clear entirely. It never will clear and you may be in trouble for trying to cash a stolen check!!! But whatever you do, do NOT send any money to a 3rd party - ever.

Who would believe that they won a sweepstakes (or anything) when they have to send their own money to a 3rd party? Any check you get is counterfeit, stolen, or just plain bogus. If you ever do deposit it, wait for it to clear entirely. It never will clear and you may be in trouble for trying to cash a stolen check!!! But whatever you do, do NOT send any money to a 3rd party - ever.

Who would believe that they won a sweepstakes (or anything) when they have to send their own money to a 3rd party? Any check you get is counterfeit, stolen, or just plain bogus. If you ever do deposit it, wait for it to clear entirely. It never will clear and you may be in trouble for trying to cash a stolen check!!! But whatever you do, do NOT send any money to a 3rd party - ever.

Who would believe that they won a sweepstakes (or anything) when they have to send their own money to a 3rd party? Any check you get is counterfeit, stolen, or just plain bogus. If you ever do deposit it, wait for it to clear entirely. It never will clear and you may be in trouble for trying to cash a stolen check!!! But whatever you do, do NOT send any money to a 3rd party - ever.

This is one of many scams originating in Canada. There's the lottery winnings letter and the secret shopper letter. The company names vary. They are ALL scams. The checks are forgeries of real bank account checks. The companies identified on the checks, in the upper left hand corner of the checks, are real, victimized companies whose bank account information has been stolen. The information is used by the scammer to create counterfeit checks which they mail with their official looking letters. Recipients are randomly selected from a mailing list. If you cash or deposit one of these checks the funds will be debited from your account by your bank once the check is returned. This could take up to 15 days or more to occur. So, don't cash or deposit any check you might receive associated with any lottery or secret shopper mailing. They are ALL scams. As a police detective I have collected hundreds of these mailing from residents in my town since 2006.

Have you heard anything yet? I want to just see if I can cash the check....

I recalled the company to get the info for sending the taxes, I told the man that i could not withdrawal that amount of money until the check clears.. He said that if it does not clear within 10 days i will be unable to claim my prize.. He told me to call him back when it clears..The womans name i am suppose to send it to is Krita Artman, in New York, New York..