Complaint Review: Waterhouse Financial Services

Received a "Prize Winning Notification" from Waterhouse Financial Services stating that I won $125,000 and
enclosed with the letter was a check for $3,875.00. I was advised to contact Mr. Mark Nelson for further clarification and directives.

When I called, he told me to deposit check into my checking account to pay the applicable Government Taxes on the $125,000.

After, further checking, I discovered that although the check looked very authentic, had a real bank name, "TCF Bank," with a real address, 8756 S Yosemite Street, Lone Tree, CO 80124, and numbers that looked like real account numbers — the check was not a valid check. I called TCF Bank, 1-800-823-2265, to verify the check and TCF could not verify the check. The account number on the check was 9 digits, and their account numbers are 10 digits.

Thank goodness I had the mindset to do some checking before depositing the check as this check was not authentic!