International Securities Management Sweepstakes Scam Massapequa Park New York

First, I want to emphasis that I did not fall for this sweepstakes scam, but I know some who have. So I want to post this report in hopes of showing how and why International Securities Management (I.S.M) is a scam. I received a "Confirmation Form" and letter from International Securities Management today, November 18, 2014, stating that I won $4,320,000.00. On the bottom of the letter is a replica of a check for $23,762.00. Well, that must be miraculous since I haven't entered any sweepstakes or contests. I don't even play the lottery. Automatically, this raised a red flag.

Now, for the logical breakdown on why and how this is a scam. The 1st reason should be very obvious. The supposed winning sums are for two different amounts. The 2nd reason: in the letter it states, "Please fill out the payment confirmation form on the next page. Again, money has definitely been awarded to you. When we receive your confirmation, your money will be sent to your approved address." On the Confirmation Form, it states that we must enclose a $20 Confirmation data fee before we can receive our "winnings". This also apparently confirms our identity. Let's pause here for a moment, so I can state the obvious. Regardless of what title they want to label the "fee", no one has to ever send in money to receive something they've won. There are a few sweepstakes out there that are legitimate. And none of them ask for any kind of processing/confirmation/premium offer fees in order to distrubte a monetary award. Please, please, please DO NOT fall for this. There is no what if of missing out, because it's not real. They take your money and then try to milk you for more. It would be like buying a lottery ticket, winning any amount, and then being told in order to cash it in you have to pay an additional service fee. But in this case, nothing was purchased. (Nothing ever has to be purchased to enter a real sweepstakes.)

The 3rd, most self-defeating reason this proves to be a scam is that on the back of the letter under "Consumer Information", towards the bottom of the paragraph, it states, "This communication is not a sweepstakes or award notification and does not guarantee that you will win any sweepstakes." Yet, in the letter portion it emphatically states in bold and underlined words that money has definitely been awarded to you. If you flip that letter over and read just that single paragraph (which they put as a disclaimer so you can't cry foul), you'll see that they contradict everything else they say on the precisely detailed and decorated forms. If they're contradicting their own "sweepstakes" and declaration of award by saying it's not one and that it is not an award notification, then how can it possibly be legitimate? Simple: It Can't Be. 

Scammers like this know that most people will not read the fine print. They will jump at the chance to win any kind of money, and that they'll reason $20 is a small price to have that chance.

But International Securities Management (I.S.M) and other companies like them are NOT a sweepstakes. They bought your name, and now they're fishing to see if you'll bite. It won't stop at one letter or one processing fee. You'll be putting money into their pockets, for a chance at something that doesn't exist. Because there is no award payout. Ever. You're better off taking your $20 and playing the lottery or putting it to use for a good cause. So please, do your due diligence. Google these companies, listen to your gut, not fear, and when in doubt, throw these scams out. I really hope this helps someone from being scammed.