I have received a letter and check from "RN Financials" presented as a 'final notification' that I've won the Consumer's Reward Program Lottery, held on September 19, 2008, to the tune of $39,000, and accompanied by a very real-looking check for $3,900 to cover the 'applicable tax.'
I have participated in a couple online consumer products surveys, so it was very tempting to believe, especially in these times of looming financial hardship -- now I'm wondering if those surveys weren't a set up for this.
1 -- There's no address for the bank on the check.
2 -- A search for RN Financials online via Yahoo web browser turns up no such company.
3 -- The phone number listed in the letter is a cell phone according to www.whitepages.com.
4 -- There's no website for RN Financials listed on the letter. Everyone -- and I mean *everyone* -- has a website nowadays.
5 -- I never received a *first* notice that I'd won anything.
6 -- I received an incredibly similar letter in the mail just the day before, but it was from somewhere in England.
I'm wondering if there isn't something set up where you make that phone call to a long-distance phone number (which connects, but only to tell you you cant' talk to anyone or leave a message), and the charge shows up on our telephone bill, and the money you pay for the charge goes to whomever is running the scam. How much do *you* pay for overseas or foreign phone calls? And how many times would you call, hoping that you're winning thousands of dollars? I bet it won't be cheap.
Add to that the fact that most banks will charge *you* a hefty fee for presenting somebody else's bad check to be cashed, despite the fact that you're the victim (I know my bank does, it's happened to me).
This has hoax and scam written all over it. I'm not sure how these people got my name and address, but I wish they'd leave me alone. I get enough junk mail as it is.