Complaint Review: ATP Financial Services

My husband recieved the following letter along with a check in the mail.

We are pleased to inform you through this letter that our network shows you as the lucky winner of unclaimed prize money in the amout of Forty seven thousand dollars ($47,000.00) in United State funds. The system indicates that your name was randomly selected through a computerized ballot system as a winner for the 2007 sweepstakes draws. Congratulations!!.

All Participants were selected through a computerized ballot system drawn from Readers Digest, Publishers Clearing House, Online Sweepstakes, Internet Games etc.

Enclosed, is a Check of ($2,996.81.). Which covers both the administrative payment and clearance fees of your winnings. For authorizing and processing of your price, please contact your agent Cynthia Jacobs at Tel: 1-306-351-3254. Your winnings must be claimed not later than May 29th. 2007.

Your name is attached to claim mumber US/CA-04/09-019WD. We advice you keep your claim number confidentially secured untill your claim is processed and funds remitted as this is part of our security protocol.

Please remember to quote your number in all correspondence with us in order to avoid unnecessary delays. Congratulations again from our staff and sponsors.

Beth Staffor
PRIZE CO-ORDINATOR

My husband called the number and kept getting a recording, so he decided to take it to the bank and see if it was a legitiment check. We assumed that if it was a fraud that it would not go through...well, it did. So we deposited it and paid some bills, etc.. Then I was checking on our account about a week later and it is overdrawn due to that $2,996.81 check returned. So now we are screwed! I should have known it was too good to be true! I hope these people are caught!

Angelia
El Paso, Texas
U.S.A.