Complaint Review: Zenith Financial Management Group - Britsh Mega Lotto - London

Google "Check from a scammer bounces victim into jail" to get a news article from the San Francisco Chronicle that talks about an incident where the victim got arrested for unknowingly passing a bad check.

Sandra - ignore it. It's a scam. I just got back from London last week, where I played every lottery type game they have. (There are 3 main British lotteries, including Euro Millions) There is no game in Great Britain called British Mega Lotto, nor any other Mega Lotto. Throw it out, don't look back.

Sandra - ignore it. It's a scam. I just got back from London last week, where I played every lottery type game they have. (There are 3 main British lotteries, including Euro Millions) There is no game in Great Britain called British Mega Lotto, nor any other Mega Lotto. Throw it out, don't look back.

Sandra - ignore it. It's a scam. I just got back from London last week, where I played every lottery type game they have. (There are 3 main British lotteries, including Euro Millions) There is no game in Great Britain called British Mega Lotto, nor any other Mega Lotto. Throw it out, don't look back.

Sandra - ignore it. It's a scam. I just got back from London last week, where I played every lottery type game they have. (There are 3 main British lotteries, including Euro Millions) There is no game in Great Britain called British Mega Lotto, nor any other Mega Lotto. Throw it out, don't look back.

This scam is so prevalent I'm amazed that people fall for it. I absolutely guarantee you that the check is counterfeit. The company probably exists, which makes the scam more effective. Fir those who haven't heard of it here's how it works: You present the check at your bank and try to deposit it. The bank accepts the check but places a five day hold on the funds. This is the maximum allowed under federal law. After five days you withdraw the cash, take it to Western Union and wire it to the "Agent", who then picks up the money. Meanwhile the check winds its way through the Federal Reserve System finally ending up at the issuing bank which recognizes it as a counterfeit. They then return it through the system to the receiving bank (yours). This process can take a month or more. Your bank, who has already given you the cash, recoups it by withdrawing the money from your account. If you don't have it, they take your account negative and begin collection procedures against you. I've never heard of anyone being arrested for passing one of these checks because there is no intent to defraud on the part of the depositor, they are a victim. The bank will get its money back though.

This scam is so prevalent I'm amazed that people fall for it. I absolutely guarantee you that the check is counterfeit. The company probably exists, which makes the scam more effective. Fir those who haven't heard of it here's how it works: You present the check at your bank and try to deposit it. The bank accepts the check but places a five day hold on the funds. This is the maximum allowed under federal law. After five days you withdraw the cash, take it to Western Union and wire it to the "Agent", who then picks up the money. Meanwhile the check winds its way through the Federal Reserve System finally ending up at the issuing bank which recognizes it as a counterfeit. They then return it through the system to the receiving bank (yours). This process can take a month or more. Your bank, who has already given you the cash, recoups it by withdrawing the money from your account. If you don't have it, they take your account negative and begin collection procedures against you. I've never heard of anyone being arrested for passing one of these checks because there is no intent to defraud on the part of the depositor, they are a victim. The bank will get its money back though.

This scam is so prevalent I'm amazed that people fall for it. I absolutely guarantee you that the check is counterfeit. The company probably exists, which makes the scam more effective. Fir those who haven't heard of it here's how it works: You present the check at your bank and try to deposit it. The bank accepts the check but places a five day hold on the funds. This is the maximum allowed under federal law. After five days you withdraw the cash, take it to Western Union and wire it to the "Agent", who then picks up the money. Meanwhile the check winds its way through the Federal Reserve System finally ending up at the issuing bank which recognizes it as a counterfeit. They then return it through the system to the receiving bank (yours). This process can take a month or more. Your bank, who has already given you the cash, recoups it by withdrawing the money from your account. If you don't have it, they take your account negative and begin collection procedures against you. I've never heard of anyone being arrested for passing one of these checks because there is no intent to defraud on the part of the depositor, they are a victim. The bank will get its money back though.

This scam is so prevalent I'm amazed that people fall for it. I absolutely guarantee you that the check is counterfeit. The company probably exists, which makes the scam more effective. Fir those who haven't heard of it here's how it works: You present the check at your bank and try to deposit it. The bank accepts the check but places a five day hold on the funds. This is the maximum allowed under federal law. After five days you withdraw the cash, take it to Western Union and wire it to the "Agent", who then picks up the money. Meanwhile the check winds its way through the Federal Reserve System finally ending up at the issuing bank which recognizes it as a counterfeit. They then return it through the system to the receiving bank (yours). This process can take a month or more. Your bank, who has already given you the cash, recoups it by withdrawing the money from your account. If you don't have it, they take your account negative and begin collection procedures against you. I've never heard of anyone being arrested for passing one of these checks because there is no intent to defraud on the part of the depositor, they are a victim. The bank will get its money back though.

Since Lotteries are run to generate publicity either for a charity or to sell more lottery tickets, it should be easy to find publicity on the Internet. Search for the lottery. They should have their own website. Not convinced? Look up the company on the check, Forest Oil Corporation, and verify their existence from independent sources. Call them and ask them about the check you have. It has a number on it, and they'll be able to confirm that they wrote it to you on behalf of a foreign lottery. Oh yeah, a foreign lottery. Look up the laws in your country about when is it legal to play a foreign lottery. Finally, if there were a real lottery that operated by picking people at random to win a prize without even making them buy a ticket first, they would write them a check on their own bank account. They would withold fees / taxes from the winnings. They would send signature-only certified mail. And they would ask people to send money via Western Union -- which is only possible if the "winner" lies to the Western Union clerk about whether they know the recipient personally. (Check the Western Union website where it says this.) If you are still convinced that you want to cash the check, search for a few news articles about people who have gotten similar letters in the mail and were arrested when they tried to cash a bad check.