Consumer Fraud Awareness
* * * IMPORTANT NOTICE REGARDING EL GRAN SORTEO * * *
Congratulations to all the winners of Sigue’s Gran Sorteo and everyone who participated. The Gran Sorteo ended on May 31, 2007. If you’ve won, an authorized representative of Sigue will contact you via telephone to verify your address. PLEASE NOTE: NO ONE FROM SIGUE WILL ASK YOU FOR BANK ACCOUNT OR SOCIAL SECURITY INFORMATION RELATED TO YOUR WINNING OF A PRIZE. If you have any questions, please call 1-800-874-6724 or visit our website at www.sigue.com. THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT AND LOYALTY!
At Sigue Corporation we value our consumers and appreciate the trust they have placed in us to safely and securely deliver their funds. Sigue is committed to providing this valuable service to our consumers and strives to protect our consumers from being victims of financial fraud. We do not want our consumers to be victims of consumer fraud and we are working to create awareness of the various types of consumer fraud that threaten to steal our consumer’s hard earned money.
If you feel you have been victim of fraud, please communicate with the appropriate agency as outlined below.
The best way to avoid being a victim is to be educated. Sigue has found that the most common types of consumer fraud are Lottery Fraud, Overpayment Schemes, and Foreign Money Offers. We have put together this Alert to help you understand the types of schemes that attempt to fool you. Understanding these scams will help you avoid becoming the next victim of consumer fraud.
The money transfer service of Sigue Corporation is an excellent way to send money to people you know and trust. Sigue Corporation does not recommend using our service when sending money to strangers or someone whose identity you cannot verify. Do not wire money to strangers.
HOW SCAMS WORK
All these scams have a similar pattern, which involve attempting to convince you that you should send money to pay for “taxes”, “insurance” or “processing costs” before the “prize” or “money” is delivered to you. The fraud involves either stealing your identity or convincing you to voluntarily send money with the false expectation of receiving a large amount of money in return.
Fraudulent Lottery Scheme
You may receive a solicitation which is personalized and very “official” looking telling you that you have been approved to claim a large sum of money which is available for immediate deposit into your bank account. The “Notice” may include a secret claim number and inform you that this is part of a winners package from a foreign organization and you simply need to contact them and provide them with your identification and/or banking information to immediately claim your “prize”. They also attempt to have you wire them funds to cover the “processing fees,” “taxes” or “insurance” to safely deliver your “prize” or “money.” If you receive an unsolicited communication by mail or an unsolicited telephone call informing you that you have been “selected” to receive a “grand prize” from a “foreign lottery”, do not respond.
Foreign-Money Offers
People claming to be “officials”, “former government executives” or their “family members” may solicit you as a business partner to help them get their “money” out of their country. They claim that due to the state of current conflict in their region, as citizens of this foreign country, they are not allowed to remove money from their country. They may indicate that they have thousands of dollars, which they would like to wire into your bank account. If you agree, they may send “official” looking documents and ask that you cover the “fees” and “taxes” for the money transfer and that you will be able to share in the successful transfer of thousands of dollars. If someone contacts you claiming they need your help getting their “money” out of another country, do not respond.
Check Overpayment Scheme
If you are selling items online or through public advertising you may be contacted from a person from a distant part of a foreign country agreeing to purchase your property. The buyer immediately sends you a cashiers check or money order or perhaps personal or business check, which is in an amount substantially higher than the price agreed. You are asked to wire transfer the excess funds to a foreign country. The check or money order you receive looks very “official” and often will fool the bank teller. As soon as you wire the excess funds, the scammer vanishes and the check will bounce.
GENERAL TIPS
- Use extra caution when the offer sounds “too good to be true”. It may be tempting but it is usually a fraud.
- Be aware that is illegal for anyone from a foreign country to solicit lottery ticket sales in the United States.
- Do not pay for a “free prize”. If a caller tells you the payment is for “taxes”, “transfer fees”, “insurance” or “processing costs”. He or she is violating Federal law. Never send money to collect a prize.
- Legitimate organizations will not demand money before they award lottery winnings or other prizes. Never send money to collect a prize if a “fee” is required.
- If you have concern about a solicitation, talk to family members or attorney or even local police before making the financial decision to send money for a lottery prize.
- Never provide confidential personal information such as your social security, date of birth, credit card numbers and expiration dates or bank account numbers to any person not affiliated with a legitimate business or unknown persons.
- Beware of one time limited offers that are “good for today only” or are “last chance” offers.
- If telephone solicitations become threatening or caller is attempting to pressure you – Hang Up!
- Do not respond to unsolicited advertisements, beware of websites many “copycat” websites are created to fool the consumers.
- Check with your bank to find out how long it will take the check to clear. Remember, just because the bank has given you access to the funds, it does not mean the check has fully cleared. Wait until the check has cleared before sending the amount of the over payment.
WHAT TO DO IF YOU BECOME A VICTIM
If you responded to a fraudulent lottery scheme, file a complaint at www.econsumer.gov. Then visit FTC’s identify theft website at www.ftc.gov/idtheft.
If you responded to foreign money offer contact your local Secret Service field office using contact information from the Blue Pages of your telephone directory or find them at www.secretservice.gov/field_offices.shtml.
If you have been a victim of an overpayment scam, report it to your state Attorney General, find contact information at www.naag.org.
Report unsolicited email offers for any type of suspected fraud or scheme to spam@uce.gov.
Report unsolicited lottery material from a foreign country received by U.S. Mail to your local postmaster or www.usps.com/postalinspectors.
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
Consumer Protection and Enforcement Network
www.icpen.org
Federal Bureau of Investigations
www.fbi.gov