I recieved a check for $4,410.35 from Flagstaff Citizen Bank in Troy,Mi.Letter said I won Sweepstakes of $250,000 and the check was a down payment to help with fees.Signed ERIC GRANT claims officer.Said call for activation of check.I did.Not a working number.

Things to believe:

• There ain't no such thing as a free lunch.
• If it seems too good to be true, it probably is.
• You have not won big bucks from a benign benefactor, a pot of pesos from PCH, dinero from a doctor, a car from a caller, or a grant from a gracious government    ◄- ◄- ◄- ◄- ◄-
• The tooth fairy really does not exist
• Everything you read on the internet is not necessarily true.
• It is illegal to ask for money for a loan or prize, before awarding the loan or prize!
• "Free Trips" are loaded with mandatory & costly extras, and you usually must give them your card number after listening to a loooong spiel at a hotel.
• Microsoft or a different famous software company, or one of their agents did NOT cold call you to fix your computer.
• The moon is not made of green cheese.
• The IRS will snailmail you, rather than phone you, if there is a problem.
• Jackalope milk is not an aphrodisiac.
• If you Vanilla Card, MoneyGram or Western Union money to a scammer, the money is gone.
• You should beware of Geeks bearing gifts, specially if the gift is a wooden horse with termites, or a statement that your computer is infected.
• 876 is NOT your lucky number, and it will cost you money to call that area code!
• The number you see on your Caller ID may not be the number of the person who called you!

More information on those scams (and others) may be found at
http://phonehelp.2truth.com/facts.html

Remember to return here, to 800notes.com, after you look at any of the information at that site, either to post more information, or to let us know you avoided the scam.

In case it isn't clear from Slim's lengthy post, don't cash the check and do NOT have anything to do with the scammer who sent it to you, who will probably call and ask that you deposit the check (it's a bad check) and return a portion of it as payment on taxes due (allegedly) or some other fake reason.

The check will bounce well after you have deposited it and sent off money to the scammer. When the check is returned, you'll be out the money you lost as well as all kinds of bank charges for a returned item. Oh, and anything you spent from that check will be a loss, too.

Received mailing with same "Claims Officer" name of Eric Grant @ 1-647-717-4642. Company name he used was Omega Brokerage and Financial Service located in Canada. Used bank name of Community Choice Credit Union in Michigan.

Letter states winning from "North American Mega Sweepstakes Raffle" of $250,000.00. They included a check of $4,200.00.

Total fake and illegal!!

Received mailing with  "Claims Officer" name of SAM GOODMAN @ 1-647-830-9760. Company name he used was CML Financial Brokerage Securities Service located at 1029 Ridgeway Ave. Ontario Canada. Used CREDIT UNION name of KERN FEDERAL Credit Union in Bakersfield, CA.. CML Financial was 'contracted' by Multi-State Gaming Assoc.

Letter states winning from "North American Mega Sweepstakes Raffle" of $250,000.00. They included a check of $4,907.00.