Atlantic Lottery Corporation

[Ariabella]

Has anyone ever heard of them? Are they on the up and up? I got a snail mail regarding winning a lottery through them and that they'd been trying to contact me. Included was a check for partial winnings which I can't cash until I call them.

You hear so much about these scams, I want to run it by a few people. Might take it to my bank and see what they say too.

[Celestial Goblin]

As far as I know, there is no chance for those type of letters to be for serious. It's always scam.
Unless you actually bought a ticket to a lottery, I don't think it's worth to bother.

[Nell]

Yeah, most likely a scam. One way they do it is by making you dial a number with some odd area code that goes off to some random place and charges you an absurd amount like hundreds of dollars a minute for using the line. Or it could be an attempt at identity theft, make sure not to give away any of your details over the phone or online to them.

[Ariabella]

Yeah I spent most of the night researching them, but came to no conclusions. Apparently they themselves are a respectable company, and the information on the letter matches up with their contact us info. But they only operate in Canada. The check itself was from Safeway, a grocery store here in the US but apparently they have stores in Canada and it reads like it was a store contest. I think I'm going to let my bank take a look at it, I'm sure they have a legal department.

[Elvi]

There's a lot on the internet about this Cindy, type into google:

"Atlantic lottery corporation is it a scam?"

This one says it all.....
http://www.bankingquestions.com/scamsfraud/q_lotterycheck.html

Is This Lottery Check a Scam?

QUESTION:

I received a check in the mail from someone claiming to be from Atlantic Lottery Corp. The ALC seem to be on the up and up. The check is drawn on National City Bank of PA. Is there any way I can find out if this is a scam before I deposit this check? How long would I need to wait if I deposit this check to make sure the bank will not take the money back if it is a scam?

ANSWER:

Let's begin by asking you this: did you purchase a ticket for an Atlantic Lottery Game? If you didn't play, you can't possibly have won.

The Atlantic Lottery has put out a U.S. Fraud Alert. The alert reminds individuals that in order to be eligible for a lottery prize from Atlantic Lottery, the individual must have purchased a ticket from an authorized retailer in one of four Canadian provinces, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island or Newfoundland & Labrador, or on the entity's PlaySphere website.

If you purchased a ticket, you may have won. If you didn't, you haven't and it's a scam. If you have a ticket, check with the ALC to see if it's a winner.

[Ariabella]

I'm thinking scam, but I'm going to let the bank check it out. I was in a Safeway a few times and it says it was from a promotional sweepstakes, so I suppose the question would be if Safeway had a contest or not, and they may have.

[Kalen]

Hey.. I actually live where the ALC operates, and they don't do mailouts.. their website is ALC.CA 

And like Elvi posted.. it's a scam.

[Ariabella]

Thanks. I was so hoping this would be something good. Ah well.

[Kalen]

*hugs*

sorry, Cindy.. I hate it when I get an offer that doesn't pan out..

[Elvi]

awwwwwwwww.........*hugs Cindy lots*

[Ariabella]

*hugs back and sniffles*

[Kalen]

*offers Cindy1 a flyer*

"You have won an all you can handle experience with the Amazing Kalen!  Redeemable any day of the week... hell, use it repeatedly!"

[HairyHeretic]

Remember, if something looks too good to be true, it probably is.

I got one a few months back making similar claims, but based out of Spain. All I had to do to claim my winnings was send them proof of identity with such information as my bank details, and a photopcopy of my drivers license or passport.

Hmm .. lemme think about that one for a second ..
um ..
NO!

[Ariabella]

Yep I know. Well I took it to the bank, who is 90% sure it's a scam but they sent it to their security departemtn to check out. That way it can be turned over to the authorities when it doesnt' check out. I have noted, however, that you can't always match up details with sites. The only thing that didn't match with them were phone numbers, which I told the bank.

But last night I was looking at a company I sent an application to and hadn't heard from , and the address and phone number on the site did not match the anywho directory. Wasn't even the same city.

[Archangel]

ALC is ligit and are located locally here in Atlantic Canada, but as someone said, they don't do mail outs. I could get you their customer service number if you'd like...

[Ariabella]

Thanks, I'm sure the bank will track it down. They have all of the information I would need to call them, like the ticket number, the vendor number, all of that.