Cops warn of lottery scam

Thursday, March 16, 2006 posted 09:43 AM EST

BENNINGTON — Police warn that a check scam has made its way to at least one local mailbox and are alerting residents to be cautious.

A local man turned a letter and check into the Bennington Police Department Wednesday morning to report an attempted mail fraud.

Inside the envelope, which did not have a return address, was a letter informing the recipient that he had won a large sum of money. The letter claimed to be from the Mondo Financial Group, and said the recipient was picked as the winner from a list of 25,000 names in six countries.

"We are pleased to inform you that our system has identified you as the winner of prize money in the amount of $79,500 and this prize remains unclaimed because numerous attempts to notify you by phone have failed," read the letter.

In order to claim the winnings, the recipient must notify an account manager named Florence Gracia, who will provide instructions on how to claim the winnings.

Included with the letter was a check for $4,860, signed by Joe Mall Haliburton. The Mondo Financial Group said the check would be used to pay for processing fees, because international law prevents such fees from being paid from the recipient's own personal funds.

Bennington Police Cpl. Christopher W. Lauzon said the promises and the check are false, intended only to get the person's credit card number or access to a bank account.

Lauzon cautioned residents to verify the authenticity of any company claiming to offer money or prizes. He said people should ask for verification and be wary whenever asked to give out their credit card numbers.

"This is not a new thing; it just presents itself in different formats. This is one of the most popular ones, so it must work," said Lauzon.

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