Snail Mail scamming alive and well

I've only heard about this as a footnote in the history of scamming and baiting. But someone near to me recently received a letter that I felt I had seen a million times before in my baiting accounts.

It read like the typical lottery scam. 40 people had been chosen to win $100,000 each. There was the string of winning numbers. A check was included, to cover the taxes on the winnings. A number was provided to call for instructions on how to pay the taxes.

The check isn't getting cashed. I'm being sent a copy of the letter to further investigate the matter (and hopefully make the perpetrators lives a living hell.) If anyone would like to assist me on this matter, I would be thankful for the help or advice.

Hey Bruce,

It seems like a regular cheque scam. I imagine you were supposed to wire some money back to them. If not then the cheque was just a sweetener so that you would think the money is real and be more likely to part with cash for other fees.

AFF is also known as "the Nigerian letter scam" which is how it originated a few decades ago. Email has let it blossom, but snail mail was the normal method of communication. I believe the first one's were variants of the Spanish prisoner scam, which itself is a century old.

The original letter and envelope should be given to your post master general or something similar. I'm not American, but i think that's the usual advice. They can help track the sender and it helps give them perspective.

night all

@Bruce,

I have seen such a letter much the same a while ago but without the fake cheque.

One thing you could do to help potential victims is to post as many of the details as you can, winning numbers, phone numbers, name of the lottery or name of the people involved for a start, scanning and posting the letter may also be helpful, (your own details removed of course) some recipients will be suspicious enough to do a few searches and if those details come up here it will confirm any suspicions they have.

Other than that, as mentioned, alerting your local authorities may also be helpfull

Oh, you guys misunderstand. It's not a letter to me. I don't have it. If I did I'd have posted it here. I'm being sent a copy of it in the mail, and then I can post more information.

The friend who received it should take it to his/her local post office - envelope and all. The USPS really hates being used for that kind of fraud.

My flatmate's sister got one of those letters. Her local police station said they had had over 100 calls and visits about it. (Yay that people checked instead of just accepting it.) Both the police and USPS took copies of the envelope, the letter, and the check.

She did call the number (a Canadian number), and the man who answered the phone sounded actually bored. She thought that was odd - if it had been truly a lottery win (hers was for $250,000), he should have been a little more excited for her. Instead he was all business, and uninterested business at that.

I'm glad that she had paid attention when I babbled on about scams and scam-baiting - something resonated within her when she opened the letter. Her bank was unsure about the check and suggested she investigate further before trying to cash it. They also took copies.

Think Jessica

A link to the sad tale of a lady who was snowed under with letters from scammers, all of which she beleived were genuine. There are many other similar stories on the site, I have emailed them and suggested a link to scamwarners.com