Mail scam leaves Mishawaka resident with bogus $4,700 check

By YaVONDA SMALLS, Tribune Staff Writer

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(WSBT file photo)

By Beth Boehne

Story Created: Dec 14, 2007 at 8:56 AM EST

Story Updated: Dec 14, 2007 at 9:04 AM EST

(SBT24/7News) Wilma Mathes opened her mail Wednesday to find something that would make the average consumer’s heart skip a beat.

The Mishawaka resident learned she was a winner in the second category of the USA Mega Draw sweepstakes held back in March.

An entry slip attached to her name matched five lucky numbers, winning her $450,000, according to the letter Mathes received from Global Financial Inc., out of Nova Scotia.

But amid the good news, something just didn’t seem right. “It just seemed kind of strange,” Mathes said.

That’s because the prize isn’t real.

Along with the letter came a fake check for $4,700 that appears to be from the Archon Vitamin Corp. of New Jersey to help pay for taxes. The name “Wells Fargo Bank, N.A.” was also printed at the top of the check.

Mathes was advised to contact her claims agent, at a number provided, to start her claim processing and activate her check.

She even received a special warning: “Please do not act on this notice until you contact your claims agent to avoid cases of misappropriation and mishandling of prize monies,” the letter reads.

The letter then provided a section for Mathes to sign after she receives her $450,000 check. “That’s just a come-on,” said Dreama Jensen, area director for the Better Business Bureau of Northern Indiana. “This makes it ‘legal.’”

Unfortunately, Wells Fargo sees a lot more of these scams today than it has seen in the past, said Hugh Davis, community bank president for Wells Fargo.

That’s why Davis advises consumers not to do business with people they can’t identify. Also, don’t give out your personal information - such as Social Security or credit card numbers - until you can verify the legitimacy of the business you’re dealing with.

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