When she received a legitimate-looking check for $2,750 in the mail with a letter stating that she could claim thousands more in sweepstakes winnings once she cashed it, Sharon Hill investigated. However, some others who have received such bogus letters and checks have cashed them only to be left owing the bank when the check is returned.

The letter Hill received was dated April 2 and the letterhead was SunTrust Funding and Settlement Corp of Toronto, Ontario. The letter stated, “We have secured for you through our third-party financial sponsors the required amount you need to pay for all the tax and service charges so you can claim your winnings.”

“I knew I hadn’t entered a sweepstakes,” Hill said. “Some of these poor people might not question it and get scammed.”

According to the letter, Hill and others would divide $55,850 as part of the International Sweepstakes program. The letter also instructed Hill to cash the check for $2,750 “which represents the processing fees.” Hill called the telephone number listed in the letter and a recording said the number couldn’t be reached as dialed. An international operator instructed her to dial a “0” before the number. The number couldn’t be reached that way either.

“I went to the Internet and searched the yellow pages for the address,” Hill said. “It was a legitimate address, but the business wasn’t located there, according to the information.”

Melinda Moore, senior vice president of South Georgia Banking Company, said Monday that her bank takes inquiries and complaints about such scams monthly.

“We’ve had at least 15 instances of it this month,” Moore said. “It didn’t just start in the last month, but we have seen it flourish lately.”

SunTrust Funding and Settlement Corp. is a legitimate business, Moore said, but the routing numbers on the check aren’t valid, making it worthless.

“These checks look like they are from a legitimate bank or business or like normal travelers’ checks,” Moore said. “They just don’t jump out at you as fraudulent until you start calling around.”

Moore said that some of the scams are also being e-mailed to people. One customer said an e-mail solicitation for money stated that the person could claim a cash award if they paid a “terrorism tax.”

Lt. Porter Jackson of the Tifton Police Department said Monday that his department takes several complaints each month related to such schemes.

“Some are lucky enough to talk to us before they cash them,” Jackson said. “The ones we have the most experience with are the ones who cash them.”

Jackson said it isn’t only senior citizens who can be taken by the thieves who operate the scams. An manager of a local business recently reported that he had taken a chance and sent $5,000 to a company claiming to have a larger prize waiting for him.

“He was having some financial difficulties and fell prey to this,” Jackson said. “He was just out $5,000.”

In one case, Jackson said someone received a check for $100,000 from a corporation that was legitimate, but the account numbers had been changed on the check, making the check useless.

“I feel for the people who go and cash the checks,” Jackson said. “They will be responsible to the bank for this money, and it’s sad to see someone living on a fixed or low income that thinks this will be a windfall for them.”

Jackson said his department has been in contact with the FBI and the U.S. Postal Service on some of the cases, but there are so many of the cases being reported federal authorities usually don’t investigate unless the amount of the fraud is large.

“People should do some background work and come to us or to the bank and ask some questions before they cash checks, especially if they have played a sweepstakes and feel they might have won something,” Jackson said. “If you don’t play the lottery, then you can’t win. There’s no such thing as them drawing your name at random.”



To contact senior reporter Angie Thompson, call 382-4321.