Mary Higashi picked up the mail from her Success mailbox Saturday and received a surprise.
Inside the business envelope with a foreign postmark was news that she’d won $250,000 on Oct. 10 in the “USA Departmental Stores Sweepstake Lottery.” The letter explained that Metro Financial Services was assigned by the sweepstakes organization to inform winners and pay them. The check would soon arrive by certified check delivered either by UPS or Federal Express.
Included with the letter was a check for $4,685, which had been deducted from the total winnings. In the meantime, fees totaling $3,400 were due to tax agents, and the funds could be wired. A telephone number to call was listed.
Lucky for Higashi, she checked with her bank and learned the windfall was a scam. The check, drawn on a Denver, Colo., bank, was counterfeit. Higashi said she was surprised to learn from the bank that some residents get snagged by the fraud.
She planned to turn the information over to the post office for an examination by postal inspectors.