Either I've won the lottery or... well, I very well didn't win the lottery. I just got an actual physical mail version of the standard "you've won the lottery" e-mail scam. This time there's a twist. They included a "partial disbursment" of my "winnings" in the sum of $4,450.00 in order for me to pay "Non Resident Government Service Tax (GST) in the sum of $2750.00. The check looks negotiable, it's got a legitimate account and routing number. The only problem with it is that it's as fake as a $3 bill. The account is marked with notations to not cash these checks as an international mail fraud scam is using a perfectly legitimate account.
The trick, I'm guessing, is that people are depositing the checks to their own accounts, sending Western Union / Money Gram to the scammers to "pay the tax" and waiting for their winning bank draft. What they'll get in reality is a bounced check fee and a feeling of outrage as they get burned for the 2 3/4 grand they sent off to the "tax agent" in order to free up their winnings.
Posted by TMLutas at April 11, 2006 07:32 PM