Complaint Review: Winners Trust Finance Sweepstakes

My sister recieved an envelope with no return address, inside was a letter from "Winners Trust Finance", a sweepstakes. Along with that was a very authentic looking but outdated check for 4,900 dollars.

The letter stated that she had won 250,000 dollars, but in order to claim she had to cash the check and send in half of it for "tax deduction purposes", via Western Union or Moneygram This was a red fla). The letter also stated that she was not to tell anyone of this due to time concerns. (HUGE red flag!)

She called me, concerned. Red flags went up, and she took the check to her own bank.

She had called Winners Trust Finance and talked to a woman who, again, asked her not to tell anyone about this. The woman also told her that if she couldn't get the check cashed, she could still send in 2,00 dollars to "speed things up."

She later recieved a phone call at her home from a David Green (although the caller ID said California, the man said he was in Washington DC), asking if since the check was on hold, if she could send 2,000 because she was "close to passing the time limit" When she said she didn't have 2,000, the man asked her:

"How much can you send?"

This place is a scam, the checks are authentic looking, but it is a SCAM! Thank God she called me and we did a rip-off report search (Global Finance runs the same scam!). DO NOT GIVE THEM MONEY. No legimate sweepstakes asks for money to recieve, and the "how much can you send?" is wrong! Not once in the letter did it have her name on it, just on the envolope. No return address.

Let's put these b**terds who play on people's hopes out of buiseness!

Teressa
Overland PK, Kansas
U.S.A.