Imagine this scenario: You get a letter in the mail saying you've won $500,000 in a sweepstakes and that letter comes with a check.
That's exactly what happened to Dallas resident Chrystie Carter. She’s a hard-working mom, wife and business owner who prides herself on always doing her research.
So when she got a letter in the mail that claimed she had won $535,000 in a Readers Digest sweepstakes, she didn’t believe it. Even though the letter looks official and bears the name of a well-known company.
"I thought, 'This is bull,'" she said. "I don't enter sweepstakes at all. I don't do raffles. I don't do drawings, so I knew that it had to be fake."
That’s key. The Federal Trade Commission points out you have to enter to win. And if you didn't enter, the sweepstakes is probably fake.
In Carter’s case, the letter came with a check for $7,850 allegedly "to help cover any taxes and processing that may be required to receive" the rest of the money.
“I thought, ‘No way,’" remembered Carter.
Local
The latest news from around North Texas.
But she was curious. A Google search of the Houston address on the letterhead revealed a trail of victims who said they’d been duped. She then called the phone number on the letter.
"I said, "What's the deal with this? What's the scam? What is it?’" Carter said. "And he hung up."
When NBC 5 Consumer Specialist Deanna Dewberry called the number, she repeatedly got a message in English and French that said, "The person you're calling is unavailable at the moment. Please try again later.”
The phone number’s area code was for Alberta, Canada. When the consumer team contacted the real Reader's Digest, a spokesperson said it has neither an office Alberta nor Houston.
"Reader’s Digest is not associated with this letter in any way. We have seen this letter before and previously alerted local authorities. We’ve also been in touch with readers who have shared this letter with us, letting them know that this is not a legitimate notification from Reader’s Digest,” Reader’s Digest spokeswoman Pauli Cohen wrote.
The letter is part of a long-running scheme. The crooks want you to deposit the check and then wire them money. They say it's to cover taxes or processing fees and urge you to rush, claiming "the notice is time sensitive." By the time your bank discovers the check is fake, your money is gone.
So while a check for $7,850 might sound like a great gift from Ol’ St. Nick, Carter says an old adage applies.
"If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is," she said.
Keep in mind that depositing a fake check can cost you. It could take weeks for banks to discover it’s fake, and you would then be responsible for returning the funds and any associated fees.
The FTC said signs of a fake sweepstakes include:
- Having to pay to collect you winnings. Remember wiring money is like sending cash. Once it's gone you can't trace it.
- Having to deposit a check sent to you. The check will be fake and you'll owe the bank the money you withdrew.
- Your notice was sent bulk rate. That's a sure sign you didn’t win a sweepstakes.
