"I received a letter and check saying I won the lottery..."

Have you received a letter through the mail saying you've won a lottery jackpot? Did it enclose a check for a few thousand dollars to cover your 'surcharges' or 'processing fees'? Well so have thousands of other people I'm afraid!

Let me be clear from the top. This is a known scam. No, there isn't the slightest chance it is genuine. No, none whatsoever. It is 100% a scam.

Here's how the scam works. You bank the check you have been sent to cover 'surcharges' (usually around $4,000). You then wire money to the bank details provided in the letter to pay the surcharges, so the company can send out your millions. Well guess what? The millions don't exist, the winnings are never sent. And the check you banked bounces some weeks later because is is fake. You lose the money from the check. You can't get the money back that you sent because it was wired. You get charged for the bounced check by your bank.

No genuine lottery would EVER operate in this way.
No genuine lottery EVER asks for money to process a claim. (Why would they, it makes no sense!?)
No genuine lottery EVER pays a prize out to someone who didn't buy a ticket!

The check is fraudulent. It's a very good fake check, but it's still not real. The bank account number and the company on the check will be real - but they have nothing to do with the fraud, they are just another victim!

If you bank the check it may appear to clear at first, but it will be traced later. So please don't think you can get away with keeping the money, it's not a guaranteed payment, it's not cash and it's not your money. The check will eventually bounce, and you will get charged by your bank. (I know of at least 2 people who have faced some tough questions in their bank branch - not surprising, they are trying to bank a fake check - who ends up looking like the fraudster..?)

The real scammers are operating out of Canada and using cell phones, so as yet they haven't been tracked down. They will be though. What goes around comes around, and these guys are overdue some major pain.

But please folks. If you receive one of these fake check lottery scam letters, please don't contact me about them. Please just send it to your local police or mail fraud department. And if you've already been caught, don't feel too bad because you are not the only one - but please do report it to your local police.