Citizen Beware: Spring Rush Lotto Scam

Have you received a rather official looking letter in the postal mail with a Canadian postmark, and a check on CitiBank of New York for $1,997.00, informing you that you have won a 3^rd place lotto drawing? The letter comes from Spring Rush Lotto, 6798 Rier Blanca, Barcelona, Spain. From the desk of the Regional Coordinator, Free Lotto Promotion department. It is signed by a Roselyn Bell, President. If you have received one of these checks - do not cash this check, this is a scam!

How the scam works;

The letter claims that the check for $1,997.00 is being sent to you in order to pay all taxes and fees associated with your collection of a much larger winning. According to the letter, you have actually won $120,000. There is also a phone number on the letter to call for official rules, details, and the steps to take in order to claim your full winnings.

When you call this number, you'll be greeted by a very professional male voice, identifying himself as a Canadian lawyer, working for Spring Rush Lotto, out of Barcelona, Spain. This man is slick, and has an easy answer for any question you may hit him with! If you ask when and where you registered for this lotto, he explains that if you've ever filled out an online survey, participated in a discussion group, subscribed to a newsletter, or a magazine, it is likely you were entered into the drawing. Then he will laugh a little and ask if you ever thought you'd actually win one of those drawings. After he has you a little more at ease, he cuts to the chase. With a scattering of legal jargon, he explains that Spain has a hefty tax on lotto winnings, and the check you received ($1,997.00) is actually to cover these taxes, because it would be illegal to charge a person money to claim prize money. To keep the lotto legal, they have to cover the cost of these taxes for you. He instructs you to deposit the check into your bank account, and to WAIT until the check has processed and cleared your bank - before you send him the money to cover these taxes. Then in a casual manner he asks if you know about how long it takes your bank to clear an out of state check. If you say anything over 24 hours, he has you.

He will then ask you to refer to your prize notification letter and tell him the claim date that's printed on your letter. When you read the date (5 days from the postmark) he say's in a very disappointed voice, that he's sorry to have to be the one to tell you this - but unless you can make your bank process the check faster, there's no way you can claim your prize by that deadline. The tax money has to be in his office at least 3 days ahead of the deadline date in order for him to transfer the funds to Spain. At which point, most people would ask him if they can at least keep the $1,997.00 check. Of course, he will say, this is yours to keep regardless! And he truly regrets that you can't get those taxes paid in time to claim the $120,000. Then in a casual manner he will suggest - you could - simply go ahead and cash that check, and wire him the tax money - if you wanted to. Because it would be shame to lose $120,000 because your bank takes too long to process a check.

Most people assume that if you take a check to your bank and have it cashed, that it's not your fault if the check is bad - and that the bank will pursue collection measures against the issuer of the check. However, this isn't the case. Your bank will hold you - since you received the money - responsible for repayment of the fraudulent check, as well as all associated fees. This varies from bank to bank, but can be as much as a $45 charge for a fraudulent check. If you were to deposit this bogus check into your account and subsequently write checks on this amount - you would be overdrawn as soon as the bank becomes aware that the check is no good. You would also be responsible whatever your bank charges in overdraft fees.

This scam is simple, they get you to cash a bogus check and wire them good money. By the time your bank realizes that this check is no good, the scammers are long gone with your money, and you have no recourse. If you've received one of these letters in the postal mail, you should immediately contact your State Attorney General's office and make them aware. It is also a good idea to contact local authorities and area banks, to bring the scam to their attention as well. If you received one of these checks and either cashed or deposited it, contact your bank immediately and let them know it was a fraudulent check. Unfortunately, there doesn't seem to be much you can do at this time regarding recourse. The check isn't worth the paper it's written on and none of the information on the check is valid. The company doesn't exist, and the contact number is a call forwarding service that routes the calls to an unknown and unregistered cell phones. Apparently even the money pick up point isn't a viable point for the authorities to make an arrest. In this case, a private citizen has been hired through a newspaper ad to pick up these wire transfers and convert them into foreign currency and send them overseas. Any information this person has on their so called "employer" is bogus.