P.T. Barnum said there’s a sucker born every minute – but on
Monday, Veronica Everly of Bradford proved she doesn’t fit the bill
when she alerted The Era to a lotto scheme she got in the mail.

World Wide Lotto Inc. sent Everly a “certificate of award” along
with a check drawn on a Wells Fargo account for $2,999.50.

“I’m on public assistance and I would have been in big trouble
if I would have cashed that check,” she said. After looking over
the letter and check, she realized it was too good to be true – so
she called the state attorney general’s office, the police
department, the district magistrate’s office and anyone else she
could reach to find out what to do with the check.

She was told not to cash it, as she would likely be held liable
for the amount of money she received from the check.

Instead, she brought it to The Era to serve as a warning to
others who may get a similar notice.

“After a successful completion of the third category draws of
The World Wide Lotto, held at Geneva, Switzerland, we are pleased
to inform you of the official announcement today that you have
emerged one of the winners of the World Wide International Lottery
Programs,” the certificate reads. The letter explains her name was
selected from ones who had signed up for the North American
Sweepstakes as part of the International Promotions Program.

The lump sum payout she “won” was $65,000.

“A tax and clearance fee of $2,999 has been financed with the
enclosed check,” the letter reads, “kindly deposit of cash the
check to pay for your tax and clearance fee. You will receive a
total of ($62,001.00), minus the $2,999 for the tax. Your agent
will elaborate more on that.”

The certificate instructs her to contact a woman in London and
gives her an international phone number to call – and she must do
so by Oct. 2 or “we will assume that you are not intrested (sic) in
your winnings,” the letter reads, including a misspelling in the
instruction.

Karen Reiff, postmaster at Bradford Post Office, explained
Monday afternoon that anyone who receives such a letter can return
it to the post office to be investigated.

“Normally if they bring them in, we forward them on to Postal
Inspection Service,” Reiff said. “If you are suspicious of it, give
it to postal employee and they can give it to proper
authorities.”

Save the envelope, she added. A return address is helpful to an
investigation, and a lack of one can show that the lotto may not be
trustworthy.

“Anyone who doesn’t want you to know where it came from is
suspicious,” Reiff said.

There are some other ways to recognize scams, she said.

“I always advise them if it’s too good to be true, it probably
isn’t. If they are asking for money to get money, it isn’t true,”
Reiff added.

According to the Pennsylvania attorney general’s Web site,
“foreign lottery scams have been circulating for years. While these
schemes were formerly associated with direct mail and telemarketing
fraud, recent reports involve possible scams through your e-mail
account. No matter what foreign lottery is being ‘pitched,’
consumers are warned to avoid these lottery rip offs.

“Typically, these foreign lottery scams represent that you are
being contacted to make a claim for millions that you have already
won or that you have been randomly selected from a pool of lottery
players to share in the cash prize. Upon responding to one of these
e-mails, you will receive a message suggesting that you only have a
limited time to reply and that you will be responsible for certain
costs associated with the delivery of your winnings such as taxes,
custom fees, insurance or other delivery costs. These bogus
solicitations will then request bank account or credit card
numbers.

“If you receive one of these foreign lottery notifications,
remember first and foremost that it is illegal for a U.S. resident
to participate in a foreign lottery,” the site reads.

The site also offers the following tips: never disclose
information regarding your financial accounts or personal
identifiable information such as your Social Security number or
date of birth to any companies who you are not familiar with;
legitimate lotteries do not award cash to individuals that did not
purchase a ticket for the lottery; and you will never have to pay
fees in advance to a legitimate lottery in order to claim your
winnings.