New York Sweepstakes Scam

Be on the lookout for another one of those ubiquitous spam e-mails, this one closer to home than some far off corner of Africa or Asia. According to New York State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli

The scam tells consumers they won hundreds of thousands of dollars from a USA Mega lottery drawing in August. A company using the name Alpha Financial Services of Canada in Nova Scotia tells the would-be victims it has been assigned to inform winners and pay them off.

Included in the letter to potential victims is a counterfeit New York state check for thousands of dollars and a message to contact a claims agent to "activate" the check.

The scam may play upon a service by the comptroller's office that tries to match unclaimed funds to New Yorkers who might not know they're owed money.

via New York comptroller warns of NY sweepstakes scam | syracuse.com.The old axiom "If it sounds too good to be true it probably is" has never been more appropriate.