READER FEEDBACK
Post a commentHarry Gross: If it sounds like a scam, it is
Dear Harry: I am enclosing a letter and a check from North American Sweepstakes. The letter declares that I am a winner of "swipe and win sweepstakes." I never entered any sweepstakes, ever. The check looks like it's genuine for $3,985. I'm a skeptic, so I went to the Internet and looked up the outfit. Lo and behold, the reports are that this is a fraud. The letter told me to call for further instructions within five business days and to keep my ID number and the amount of my winnings a secret until I get my final check for $96,015 (to make the total $100,000). The letter is on very expensive-looking stationery with color headings and beautiful typefaces. How does this scam work? And please inform your readers.
What Harry says: The check looks great, but it will bounce. In the meantime, you are expected to call them and send them a certified check or money order for some amount less than the $3,985 for them to pay a tax or processing fee of some sort. In some cases, the scammers ask for a direct bank transfer by wire. Their check to you is drawn on a bank located more than a thousand miles away so it will take a while to bounce. By that time, the perps are into a new scam, and you're hit with a fee from your bank for the bounced check in addition to the money you sent. Many of these scams have been around for a long time. Each new incarnation is a little more believable. Remember, if it sounds too good to be true, it IS too good to be true. No ifs, ands, buts or probablys.
Write Harry Gross c/o the Daily News, 400 N. Broad St., Philadelphia, PA 19130. Harry urges all his readers to give blood - contact the American Red Cross at 800-GIVE LIFE.
