Complaint Review: North American Sweepstakes; Tyco Management

I recieved a letter in the mail with a 3,100.00 check enclosed. THe Letter reads.....
We are pleased to inform you that you are one of the declared wiinners of the NORTH-AMERICAN SWEEPSTAKES held on DECEMBER 30th, 2004 in the 2nd category.

We have made several unsuccessful attempts to contact you regarding this winning.

Your ticket with the serial number 938572D drew the lucky winning numbers 3-9-14-17-29-37-48
You are therefore entitled to the sum of US $120,000.00 payable to you either by Band draft or Certified Cheque.
Your claim number is ZIC- 826-4362-TJ.
Enclosed is a cheque in the amount of US $3,100.00 that has been deducted from your winnings. THe purpose of this cheque is for the payment of the Non Resident Government Service Tax (GST) on your winnings.
The tax amount is $2,910.25 to be paid by MONEY GRAM.

Do not attempt to negotiate this cheque until you contact your client care Manager for further clarification and instructions on claiming your big winning.

NOTE: That all prize money must be claimed not later than October 31st, 2006, at which time any unclaimed fund will be declared null and void.
Once again Congratulations from all the members of our staff and thank you for being a part of International promotions program.

Yours Sincerely,

Linda James
Client Care Manager

After reading this letter and looking at this "check" that was so detailed that my bank did not notice that it is a fake....I called the number on the letter and talked to Mrs. James, which she then instructed me to cash the check and send the money to Mr Robert Nazarro in Toronto, Ontario Canada who was the tax officer, and then to call her back with a reference number and as soon as that happened that she would release my winnings by check or right into my bank account.

Thank goodness for this site I DID NOT send any money and if this check happens to be real ( my bank has it right now) then I am keeping the money. I am planning to call this lady when I get home and tell her I reported her and will do all I can to get this stopped.

Sherrie
Paragould, Arkansas
U.S.A.