Complaint Review: Standard Financial Management

On March 17, 2006 I recieved a letter from Euro Lotto that was nicely written and said it was a certificate of award that certifys that I was one of 19 people who won a payout for the third category (this was from the Noth American Sweepstakes). Total price was $1,805,000.00 divided by 19 winners made me the winner of $95,000.00.
They enclosed a fraudulent check (computer generated on real check stock from Window World)for $1,998.65, this was for tax and clearance fee of $1,850.00 and to pay the fee to have it sent by money gram to Michelle Burk at 1125 St. Catherines Room 303 Ottawa, Ontario Canada H2W1A5, and that any money left over I could keep. When I get the money gram to send them I was to call my authorized agent (Melissa Jones of Standard Financial Managmement, Subsidiary of Euro Trust Corporation. Calgary, AB and give her the conformation # of the money gram and in 5 business days they would send me my money by UPS, on the 4th day after I have given them my conformation number they were to call me and give me the tracking number for UPS so I would know where the money was at.

I decided that because I never seem to win anything that I would go to my bank and see if this check was real, they said they couldnt tell and so I went to a few more banks who also couldnt tell, so I went home and called all the numbers on the check and the letter and they all assured me this check was real, so on Monday (3-20-2006) I took the check to my bank and with the check opened a new savings account and had the bank put a hold on the check until it cleared, the next day someone from my bank called and said the check was not real and they were going to close out that account so noone could do anything on it.

Sense then I have called repeatedly to my "authorized agent" and she keeps telling me she will call me back and/or have a supervisor call me because they would issue me a new check that was good and that aparently the check had not been activated properly. Now they seem to have just put the answering machine on and will not answer when I call them.

Had I not been so worried that this was not a real check and did like some people told me to do I would have spent some or all of the money and then I would have owed the bank, which I could not afford to do. That check was more money than I get for an entire month of income and it broke my husbands heart to know that it was fake. He had made plans to get a new van so it would be easier one him to go places and so we would have somewhere to put his power chair. I have called the FBI and some other places to report this, I know I did not loose any money but had I had the money in the bank and believed this was real I would have taken out my own money and sent the money gram to them, only to find out too late that this was all a fraud.

A word of advise to anyone who gets checks in the mail from someone that are susposed to be winnings, open an account with only that check in it and do not spend any of the money for at least 60-75 days, my banker told me that when anyone writes a check they have a maximum of 60 days to tell their bank that the check is fraudulent and you would be responsable for any spent money and/or overdraft fees that you would get if any money was taken out from this account.

Laura
Olathe, Kansas
U.S.A.

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