Complaint Review: Meridian IQ/Publishers Clearing House/Readers Digest

I received a letter from "Director of Promotions Dept., Ottawa, Ontario" stating that I had won $68,000 in the ECASINO GAMING SWEEPSTAKE LOTTERY along with a check for $2975 from Meridian IQ in Greenwood, Indiana to pay "accounting, tax processing, and clearance fees" for my prize. The letter said to deposit the check , wait 24 to 48 hours for it clear and contact the claims agent for processing.

I called my mother, who works for a bank, and she told me of an email she had received from her manager to be on the look out for this scam-it had already happened to one of her customers.

I looked up Meridian IQ on the internet and found it is a global logistics company out of Kansas, not Indiana. I also called the numbers provided on the check and letter after their "normal business hours" and both go straight to voice mailboxes that were full. Further inspection of the letter showed that it was poorly written, both in grammar and punctuation, and not at all professional looking (though the check looks real)

I hope that the REAL Meridian IQ company is aware of this and are pursuing these jerks that are running a scam under their name!

Julie
Mt. Pleasant, South Carolina
U.S.A.