Scam

When I got my mail the other day, one letter was smooched to the back of the mailbox. The other stuff all came out together, but I had to reach in to get this business sized envelope. It was from Canada. However, it wasn't postmarked; it was like one of those pre-printed envelopes that charities use. Inside was a letter from Consumer Research and Marketing, INC in New York City. However, the phone number had a 647 area code while the fax had 206. The letter goes on to say that I was a sweepstakes held in London, England. I apparently won a prize with a lump sum payout of $52,500. They enclosed a check in the amount of $3,997 to "help cover the Government Service Tax and processing charges"-which is only $2,987.32. BUT I have to call (a 315 area code) to activate my claim before I cash my check, "this is very important".  Yea...right...I won a Sweepstakes in the UK, I get a letter from Canada, it's from a company in NY, and there are 3 different area codes-one of which starts about 40 miles east of me and the check is from a bank in Maryland.. But the check does look real. I think I'll take it to the bank and see what they say about it. I may also file a federal fraud charge, somehow, after all, this did arrive in my mailbox!