Full Notification

Fake Sweepstakes Scam:

Fake sweepstakes letters with authentic looking cashier’s checks have arrived in West Manheim mailboxes, prompting law enforcement officers to issue warnings to area residents.

The most recent mailing comes from an address in London, England, with a claim that the person is the winner of the “De-Lotta Australia Sweepstakes”.

The West Manheim resident who received this mailing, along with an authentic looking cashier’s check, became suspicious and turned over the items to the police department.

The letter has a letterhead from “Featureview Trust Inc.” and includes the West Manheim mans full name and his address. It claims to be from the International Claims Department in London, England. The letter indicates the resident has won $250,000.00 through a random computer ballot system drawn from shopper names.

The letter states the check for $4,995 is to help pay “applicable government taxes and insurance on your winning”. The receiver is instructed to call a 15 digit phone number where they will be given the name of the tax agent assigned to the claim. They are to pay the tax agent directly $2997.00 for “the government tax”. They will be instructed to make that payment by wire transfer that is untraceable and unrecoverable. The $4995.00 check, if deposited, would later come back from the bank as fraudulent leaving the resident out $2997.00. In addition, during the phone call, there will be aggressive attempts to gain personal information such as social security numbers and bank account information.

The letter and $4,995 check are a scam and residents need to be aware of such cons to avoid becoming victims. If it looks too good to be true it probably is.