Citi Financial Request of overseas payment for purported sweeptakes win of $ 50,000. Clearwater Florida
Citi Financial, a "Financial Express Company" sent me a letter- the envelope comes from England with no return address- stating that I won $ 50,000. They sent a check for $ 2,400 supposedely issued by the " Mercury Insurance Group" [no way to know whether the Mercury Insurance Group has anything to do with it or not] and asking to contact their phone number. The payment is supposedely part of a $ 50,000 won in "consumer promotion draw". They ask to deposit the check, then send them a $ 980 "tax clearance fee" that non residents are supposed to pay, as the draw took place in the UK. The funny thing- the letter is signed by a "Mrs. Elizabeth James", but the signature reads something like "N. T. Anant" , and the same signature is on the check. I saw another report of the same scam on ripoff report- I am not sure what to do with the fake check. If the Mercury Insurance Group is not involved, this is something they should know. On the other hand, I have no way to know what is going on.
1 Updates & Rebuttals
IrishFutbol
Trash the Check
#2Consumer Suggestion
Tue, December 24, 2013
Just throw out what you received. The check is fake and will eventually bounce at the bank. The whole point of the scam is to turn a fake check into real money. "Citi Financial" (fake company) sends you a fake check, asking you to cash it then return a portion of it back to them. They hope to trick you into thinking that you've made $2,400, and can make another $47,600 just by sending a portion of the $2,400 back. However, what eventually happens is that a few days after cashing the $2,400 check, your bank will tell you that the $2,400 check bounced. In the end, you'll just be out the $980 that you send back to "Citi Financial".