Fraudulent letter promises big prize

A local woman received a notification by mail dated July 29, 2016, that she was a second place lottery winner of the European, African and USA Consumer sweepstakes in conjunction with the USA Departmental Stores.

The notification looked official and so did the check that she received. In the notification she was instructed to deposit the $3,750 check and send the processing fee back to them in return mail. The letter stated that she would receive $250,000 after they received the processing fee of $3,400.

She deposited the $3,750 check in her savings account at First National Bank of Oklahoma. Days later she received a letter in the mail from the bank that the funds would not be available for several days due to inconsistencies with the check.

On Friday, after receiving further explanation from the bank about the lottery winnings and the inconsistencies with the check, she was convinced it was fraudulent and brought the information to the Police Department in hopes of saving someone else from falling prey to this scam.

“The first thing to ask yourself”, says Ponca City Assistant Police Chief Anthony Rogers, is “did I enter this contest or sweepstakes and if the answer is no, you should immediately be suspicious.”

Credit goes to the bank for calling into question the check and for warning their customer so she didn’t become a victim of fraud.