I am going to copy and paste my recreation of this letter from a WORD document. I did NOT receive this in an email, i received it in my mailbox at my apartment building. I think it is a Scam but I'm not finding much information on it on the internet:
RE: AWARD NOTIFICATION #SMD986UYT
FROM THE DESK OF THE PRIZE DIRECTOR / PRIZE AWARD DEPARTMENT
Good Day! My name is Karl Walcott; the prize director representing the Sun Trust Lotto and sweepstakes Claim Department. Further to our letter dated December 22ND 2009 in which you were informed of your selection as the prize winner of our quarterly Fifty Thousand Dollars (US$ 50,000.00) award, we are yet to receive any response from you. Every year we enter 50,000 names from different sweepstakes and lottery databases worldwide including North America, and our network server indicates that you were selected as a prize winner on November 18th 2009 and you still have not claimed your winnings for the sum of US$ 50,000.00. Now we are required to notify you that if we do not hear from you within 3weeks from the day this letter is sent, your file will be closed and you will no longer be able to claim your winnings. Usually when a winner does not claim their money, there should be a note stating why before we can legally close their file.
To elaborate further, this draw was held in Bahamas, where our head office is located. Your lot number drew lucky numbers 5-10-15-24-31-45 which won in the 2nd category. You have therefore been approved for a lump sum pay out of US$ 50,000.00 at no extra cost to you from our North American payment office located in Columbus, Ohio.
Now, we would like to explain to you the Federal and International regulations governing the personal collections of cash prizes. Prize winnings are released to you as soon as your Clearance Fee is deducted and paid. That will be the day that your cheque will be released from our remittance office. Your clearance fee is provided for you and is a calculated amount based on the size of your win as required by Federal and International regulations. Note that once your clearance fee is paid, you will receive your winnings in the form of a certified check or if you request, by bank transfer directly into your bank account or any accounted nominated by you.
For security purpose and clarity, we strongly advise that you keep your winning information confidential until your claims have been fully processed and your money remitted to you. This is part of our security protocol to avoid double claims and unwarranted abuse of this program by some nominees. So once again, Congratulations to you! For more information please contact our main processing office in London, UK. On 011-44-772-207-5007. Ask for Karl Walcott or Susan McHill
Sincerely Yours
Karl Walcott
Kitty Sue: It was my understanding in this letter that those fees would be taken out of the winnings once I contacted them and then they'd send me a check.
Not saying that I did win anything, I know I didn't, but I wanted to see if other people knew about this. Thank you for all of the helpful information, you are guaranteed the best answer on this question.
No I did not buy any lottery tickets, but the letter (to my understanding again) says that my name was picked at random and pretty much the numbers chosen for me, which is another reason I questioned it. I wouldn't know how they got my name and address but whatever.
Much thanks to you Kitty. I will be sure to report this as soon as I leave work here in 10 minutes!
Answer by Mike
no
Answer by JanetM
It's not just emails from sources you don't know that you don't open... it's also mail you receive at home. It's junk mail. You haven't won anything.
Answer by Kittysue
Its' a scam. There is no Sun Trust in the UK, in the Bahamas or even in Columbus Ohio, here is the real company's contact info, they are in Baltimore
https://www.suntrust.com/portal/server.pt?space=CommunityPage&control=SetCommunity&PageID=0&CommunityID=894
Sun Trust has a whole page about scams using their name
https://www.suntrust.com/portal/server.pt/community/scams/1732 - specifically about lottery scams
"If you think you may be the victim of a lottery or inheritance scam, contact the SunTrust Fraud Resolution Unit directly at 866.493.3446, Option 2. "
https://www.suntrust.com/portal/server.pt/community/online_fraud/1281
The phone number they give is a UK Pay as you Go mobile number not a business number, and there is no way to track who owns it
This is all you need to know it's a scam: "Prize winnings are released to you as soon as your Clearance Fee is deducted and paid." - that means send us money and we'll disappear with it. And if you are stupid enough to give us your bank acount number, we'll empty your account before you even figure out you've been scammed.
You NEVER pay a clearance fee for any lotto wins or any other fees. All fees and taxes are taken out of the total amount before the money is sent to you. If you won $ 50,000 and there were $ 1000 in fees, they would send you a check for $ 49,000. That's how real lotteries work
But to back up a few steps, did you actually buy a lottery ticket and pick the winning numbers? if so you would have a copy of the ticket and would be the one contacting the. Lotteries don't contact you if you win, as you don't give your home address when you buy a lottery ticket.
If this was sent via US Mail, contact the post office and report it to the Postal Inspector - it's a federal offense to commit mail fraud. Be sure to keep the original envelope.
https://postalinspectors.uspis.gov/
And report this to Sun Trust right away.
Answer by Lyn G
Kendra, it is EXACTLY like E-mail spam!
Did you enter that lottery, you know buy a ticket????? No??? You can not win something you did not enter or play. Besides Yahoo, Hotmail, Gmail, Microsoft, MSN and Aol do not have lotteries, reward programs, promotions, or contests. Yes, yes, that will include this one, too!
When an E-mail offer sounds too good to be true, then it is definitely not true. That also means junk mail in your mailbox!
It is a scam to get your personal information and/or your money, or both!
Do not respond to it! Report it.
For E-mails: forward it to the FTC at spam@uce.gov and to the abuse desk of the sender's ISP.
For Yahoo, report them here: http://help.yahoo.com/l/us/yahoo/mail/ya...
Choose Fraud as the reason for the violation you're reporting on.
Also, if the E-mail appears to be impersonating a bank or other company or organization, forward the message to the actual organization.
In your case, you want to report it to Sun Trust, Inc. And, then you can consider report it to the authorities. Either the postal service or the FBI, as this is mail fraud, a federal offense.
Answer by TERRY
YES IT WAS THE SAME LETTER. I CALLED SUPPOSED TO RECEIVE CHECK N 7-10 WORKING DAYS FOR TAXES .
Give your answer to this question below!
Orignal From: Has anyone else received a letter in the mail from Sun Trust Inc?
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