Con letter and check that I received

its junk mail -- chuck it...

DO NOT CASH THE CHECK...IT IS A RIP OFF.

Google $250,000 scam...and you will get 50,000 hits.

The check will be accepted by your bank...and you will be asked to send a check of your own to the people running the scam.

Place a call...the number is there...and you will talk to someone with a Nigerian accent.

Google the theNigerian scam...and you will get several millions hits.

I intend to throw it in the trash. I just wanted to know if anyone else got one like I did! The envelope had an un-canceled 89 cent Canadian stamp on it.

Well, the stamp is probably legit -- it currently costs 89 cents to send a first-class letter to the States. Maybe you can cash it in somewhere.

Definitely sounds like a scam, but why not call the purported issuer of the check?

I know that the stamp is legit, last month I received post cards from Toronto and Halifax, from a friend on vacation. She put 89c stamps on the cards!

Hold it Victor - the sender is a POB in TX, why 89-cents stamps?


I don't know where in Maryland you are, so here are both contact numbers for suspected fraud:


United States Attorney's Office in Baltimore at (410) 209-4800, or Greenbelt at (301) 344-4433.

Of course, you could always skip the inquiries and just deposit the check in your bank account; if it clears, remember possession is 9/10 of the law <G>

High Seas,
The envelope came from Canada. It had a Canadian stamp on it. Canada charges 89c for first class letters and post cards. I think the rate now is 93c Canadian.

I would forward it to either the attorney general (as some one stated) or the postmaster (as it came through the mail) in your area.

By the time they investigate - the scam has probably moved on, but you could perhaps help some poor sap from getting scamed.

Here are some details on this particular scam…

http://www.snopes.com/crime/fraud/lottery.asp

Report it.

There are a pile of these nasty scams going on and we all need to do what we can to stop them.

Here's a stupid one that I just received:

Good day to you Sir/Madam,
Brad&Sons needs a book-keeper/company representative in the states.This project has been developed in a way neither to affect your present job nor bring you any form of stress but in order to help take care of those extra costs.

Brad & Sons is a small company thats deals in the production of various clothing materials, batiks,assorted fabrics and traditional costumes.

The handling of the company is in the care of myself and two elder brothers.As the Public Relations Officer of the company,it came to my knowledge that there are a lot of lapses in handling funds that come in from the states which come in forms of cashiers checks,company checks and money orders and are not readily cashable outside the United States,So we need someone in the States to work as our representative and assist us in processing the payments from our various clients which come in on a weekly,monthly and annual basis.This is why we decided to get a representative over in the states to help us pick up our payments at your contact address you shall be providing us,in order to process our payment from our clients.Our website is currently under construction and which should be ready in the month of February.

Your Job description is as follows:
1)You would receive payment on our behalf from any of our various clients which would come in the form of cashiers checks,travellers checks and money orders.

2)You then get the payments cashed/deposited at your bank.

3)As soon as the payment has been cleared by your bank,you then deduct a commission of 10% of each payment you would be receiving on our behalf which you are entitled to as been our representative

4)You thus send the remaining funds back via western union to details you would be given as soon as it has been confirmed you have received payment.

Our payments will be issued out in your name as we would inform our clients to do so.Therefore the following details would be needed from via email.
1)Your Full name
2)Your Address( Not P.O.Box)
3)Zip code
3)Your Phone numbers
4)Your Age
5)Your present Occupation
6)Do you have a checking account? Yes or No

Once we have confirmed your details,it would be forwarded to one of our clients and they will start making payments to you as the company\\\'s representative in the states .We would notify you as soon we confirm that one of our clients has mailed out payment to you.

I await your urgent response.

Warmest Regards,
Thomas Bradley.
Head Human Resources Department.
Brad&Sons Holdings Ltd.

-------------------

Daft B.S.

Forget about the check clearing your bank. Wait till the funds are "collected", then keep the whole thing, anyway.

I'm surprised they're not asking for money right away. I guess the other shoe drops in the follow-up letter.

No, they send a worthless check to establish good faith. If they get the 90% back after you deduct your "commission", they are 100% ahead. A variation is to buy stuff you've advertised on ebay or craiglist. They will send a worthless check that grossly overpays for the product "to cover shipping", or some such. They rely on your integrity to refund the balance, and hopefully before you discover the value of the check they've sent. Again, never make such a refund till funds are collected. This is not the same as having a check clear 'the bank'.

You should send them the name, address, etc of the other scam and have them duke it out.

Oooh, I like the way you think! :wink:

What happened to the pictures? In the US also report it to the FTC.

I must have deleted the URLs by accident on Photobucket. I'll rescan the letter and check and post the picks again.