CASEY: Virginia couple avoids flimflam by scammer posing as Publishers Clearing House

Congrats are in order to Judy and Jerry Willis, a retired couple in Wytheville. Recently they made a huge score, the kind that might leave others green with envy.

They won $750,000 from Publishers Clearing House, the "International Lotto Commission" and the "Int'l Lottery Board."

The Willises learned of this stunning good fortune in a July 10 letter to Judy, a former schoolteacher. It purports to be from the well-known magazine marketer, which has used sweepstakes to sell subscriptions for decades.

Also included with the mailing was a legitimate-appearing business check for $8,050, purportedly from a real insurance agency located in Bozeman, Montana. It was typed, like a cashier's check.

"You are required by the International Sweepstakes and IRS by law to make a payment toward taxes and processing fees," the letter states. "Enclosed are funds to assist you with out-of-pocket expenses to enable your payment."

All Judy had to do to get the ball rolling on her grand prize was deposit the check into their bank account and call Publishers Clearing House to find out what to do next to claim the prize, the letter said.

Oddly, Judy can't recall ever entering this particular contest. But the letter covers that base with an all-purpose bit of gobbledegook.

"Your entry into this Sweepstakes/Lottery was based on cross-promotion by marketing companies through Credit Card expenditures, past subscriptions and in-store and grocery store rebates in North America," the letter says.

It advised Judy to call "your claims agent Roy Kline" immediately, at one of two different New York phone numbers listed on the letter.

"Please keep this award letter strictly confidential until your cash prize winnings have been processed and remitted to your designated account," the letter adds. "It is our company policy to keep this letter and your cash prize winnings confidential to avoid double or false claims, identity theft and impersonation.

"You should in no scenario give out your personal info to anyone online or by phone in regards to your winnings."

Judy did not deposit the check. Neither did Jerry, a retired chiropractor. Nor did they keep the good news confidential. Instead, they informed me. They wanted to spread the word to other potential victims of the scam. And in short order, they emailed images of the letter and check.

"What I'm afraid of is, there will be other people — older people especially — who will be gullible enough" to fall for it, Jerry told me.

Columnist calls 'Roy Kline'

Neither Judy nor Jerry had called either number listed on the letter — so I did. And somebody picked up after the second ring.

"Publishers Clearing House, how can we help you?" a man answered.

"Yeah, I'd like to speak to Roy Kline," I said.

"This is Roy Kline," he answered. "How can I help you today?"

"I'm calling about my prize," I said.

"Okay, what is your name?" he asked.

"My name is Judy Willis," I replied in a deep voice.

"Judy Willis?" he asked, He sounded a bit incredulous.

"Yeah, that's my wife's name," I added. "My name's Jerry."

"Uh, and what is your claim number?" he asked.

I read the corresponding string of letters/numbers off the letter. And I added, "It came with a check for $8,050 from Rocky Mountain Insurance Group."

"Uh, yeah, that check will pay the customs fees," Roy said. "You know, any customs fees involved, uh, that check will pay for. That's why the check has been given to you."

Customs fees? Even though I called after noon, Roy sounded rather unprepared, like he'd just woken up or something. His fumbling repartee failed to inspire confidence.

"Why is an insurance agency from Bozeman, Montana paying my taxes associated with collecting this prize?" I asked.

"It's uh, yeah, because you're not located in Canada. So they've agreed to take care of it," he responded. "They're a sponsor — to our company they're a sponsor."

"When you say 'to our company,' which company is that?" I asked him.

At that point, Roy uttered an expletive and hung up. Evidently he was suddenly disinterested in helping Judy collect her $750,000 prize. Which, if you haven't realized by now, doesn't exist.

FTC: Fake Check Scam's an old one

It seems hard to believe that people would fall for something like this, right? But a second call — to the insurance agency in Bozeman — persuaded me that some people do.

"We've gotten a couple dozen phone calls, at least," said Suzie Boyer, operations manager for Rocky Mountain Insurance Group, a real business in Bozeman. The checks are phony, but they've prompted calls to the insurance agency from Seattle, other areas in the Pacific Northwest, Tennessee, Kentucky, New York, Pennsylvania and Florida, she added.

Now Boyer can add Virginia to her list. Oh joy.

At least a couple of those calls have come from credit unions that were attempting to verify the authenticity of the checks, after account holders deposited them, she said.

"The unfortunate thing is there's no number for us to call, to get disassociated with it," Boyer added.

The ploy's an old con game known as the Fake Check Scam. This column first publicized that more than 14 years ago. Back then, the intended mark was a reader named Hugh Elliott of Roanoke.

Elliott's letter said he'd won $150,000 in an international lottery he also couldn't remember entering. His letter contained a check from Subaru of Lafayette, Indiana, to help him cover the fees he had to pay to collect his "prize."

Boyer told me the routing and account numbers on the check the Willises received are made up and don't pertain to any actual bank account.

The U.S. Federal Trade Commission has an entire web page devoted the Fake Check Scam. It outlines the five major categories of scams associated with company checks that arrive unexpectedly in the mail.

According to the FTC, banks are required by law to make funds from deposited checks available to account holders within two days. But it often takes a bank longer to ascertain a check is phony. In the meantime, a bank may float the funds to its account holder.

If he or she wires money to a scammer during that float, the bank could end up holding the account holder responsible for the wired funds.

The U.S. Postal Inspection Service also has issued warnings. According to that agency, the real Publishers Clearing House NEVER charges advance fees to its prize winners. And its real phone number, where people can check sweepstakes winnings, is (800) 459-4724.

Don't be a victim.