Full Notification

A Mercersburg citizen alerted the Mercersburg Police Department to the following scam through the U.S. Mail: The citizen received a letter on September 18, 2009 purporting to be from Trustnet a Financial Express Company informing the citizen that he was one of the winners in the “UK & NORTH AMERICA CONSUMER PROMOTION DRAW”, that was alleged to be organized for all customers of Wal-Mart, Sears, Home Depot, Safeway, etc. The letter also stated that you are entitled to the sum of $50,000.00, payable to you by check by certified check, and will be delivered to you by a courier company, FedEx or UPS and to contact the claim agent at the phone number listed in the letter.

The letter goes on to say because the DRAW was held in the United Kingdom; they have enclosed a check in the amount of $3,990.00 for payment of the non-resident tax which is applicable to the winnings.

They enclose a very official looking check, (That even shows VOID all across the front of the check if you copy it), from the Fleet National Bank of 10 Center Row, Hartford CT in the amount of $3,990.00 payable to you. The letter asks you to deposit it in your account and send $3,880.00 to the tax agent that is listed in the letter. After you deposit the fraudulent check in your account, they want you to send $3,880.00 in the form of a MONEY GRAM or WESTERN UNION MONEY TRANSFER to the tax agent at 453 2nd Avenue, London, England to cover the so called taxes.

At the bottom of the letter there is a note to “Please beware of scam artists who usually request you to send the money upfront without receiving any check for payment of these taxes. Report such fraudulent activity to the authorities.”

The Mercersburg Police Department has checked this out and it is a SCAM. They want you to deposit the check of $3,990.00 into your checking or bank account and send them $3,880.00 in the form of a MONEY GRAM or WESTERN UNION MONEY TRANSFER to pay for the taxes. Once they get your money, you are out the money, because your bank will receive the check back as a fraud in several days to week or more, and you will be responsible for the deposit of $3,990.00 you had made to your account. The Fleet National Bank was bought out by Bank of America. Different addresses and amounts may be used in the letter. PLEASE DO NOT REPOND OR CASH THE CHECK IF YOU SHOULD GET ONE.