Lead Financial Inc. Lottery Research Management & Payment Verification Any of the words listed as name of company. Scammed by $2900.00 (was told I was a lottery winner but had to pay taxes) Toronto, Ontario
My mother received a check for a little over $3 thousand dollars along with a letter of what needed to be done. She called and followed the steps by he scammer. She deposited the check in one of her accounts then turned around and had two money grams made in the amount of $2,900.00. Unfortunately the check did not clear and she is out the $2,900 as well as is responsible for paying the money back to the bank who should NOT have cashed the check until it was clear. This is a scam and NEVER cash a check that you receive in the mail unless you have an attorney look it over first. Nothing is free!
1 Updates & Rebuttals
Flynrider
Phoenix,Arizona,
USA
You're mistaken about the bank.
#2Consumer Comment
Fri, December 21, 2012
" Unfortunately the check did not clear and she is out the $2,900 as well as is responsible for paying the money back to the bank who should NOT have cashed the check until it was clear. "
What you think the bank should have done and what the bank is legally obligated to do are two different things. The entire scam is based on the fact that the scammer knows the rules and the victim does not.
Regulation CC requires banks to make cash available on deposits before the check has cleared the originating bank. This came about because consumers complained that banks held deposits too long before making funds available. Now the bank is forced to provide funds for checks that haven't cleared, which leaves the customer responsible if the deposited check turns out to be phony.
You can thank the folks in Washington for their "wisdom" on this issue. Their foresight singlehandedly created an entire phony check scam industry. It is such as successful scam that not a day goes by without someone posting about a phony check scam on this site.
" This is a scam and NEVER cash a check that you receive in the mail unless you have an attorney look it over first. Nothing is free! "
Forget the attorney. Just remember two things. A large check from a sweepstakes or lottery that you never entered is phony. Anytime someone you don't know requires you to send money via a Western Union personal transfer, you are being scammed. Such transfers are untraceable and used exclusively by scammers for that very reason.