So you think you won the Canadian lottery…
Generally when you think something is too good to be true it generally is. Today I had a guy come up to me and hand me a check drawn off a Canadian bank (TD Canada) for USD $150,000 made out to him. It seemed a bit fishy from the start, but I figured I would just go along with it and see where it went. So I asked the guy for his account number. I punched it in and the name matched up. After looking into his account I notice that he has less than $10 on deposit with us.
Since we are a credit union, we cannot process checks drawn off of foreign banks. When we get a foreign check, we bring it to Wells Fargo where they process it and then credit our account. So I decided to take the check from him, since there wouldn’t be any way that he would have access to the right away anyways.
Next, I ask the guy how he happened to become the recipient of this large foreign check. He tells me that he had won the Canadian lottery! Wow, seems like a lucky guy to me. I was always under the assumption that you had to be a Canadian citizen to win the Canadian lottery, but maybe I am wrong. He then goes on to tell me that this check is a lump installment that they sent him so that he will have the funds to pay a “luxury tax.” I have never heard of this “luxury tax” scenario ever happening. Typically they take the “luxury tax” straight out of your winnings. I just went along with it and told him to call us up tomorrow to check on the status of the check.
After he left, I took the check over to my manager to see if he felt the same way about it. Turns out the Canadian lottery hoax has been around the block many a time and is nothing new. What happens is that you get mailed a valid looking check in the mail along with an official letter. The letter will tell you that you have won the Canadian lottery. It will then go on to say that the check is to be deposited into your bank account so that you can pay for the luxury taxes and other fees and what not. So you deposit the check in your account, and right after you do this you send the “Canadian lottery” a check for xxx amount of dollars. They get your check and cash it off your account, and you end up with a bounced lottery check and out a bunch of money.
So please, if anyone comes across a letter about winning the Canadian lottery, please don’t fall for it. Remember, if you didn’t enter the lottery there is no way you could have won.
Here is a link to a news release from the District Attorney of Jefferson and Gilpin counties in Colorado that talks a bit more about the Canadian lottery scam.