Barraga Warns Against Letter Scams

Editor's Note: The following was contributed by Suffolk Legislator Thomas Barraga.

A number of constituents have contacted my office after recently receiving letters indicating that they are recipients of either money or goods. These letters are nothing more than scams to get money from the reader; they are illegal and in each case we have sent the letters to the U.S. Postal Inspection Service for investigation. Three examples which all arrived at homes in early October are indicative of these illegal rip-offs. The first letter indicates that the recipient is the beneficiary of a pending claim of $941,540.17. If the “beneficiary” wants to claim their payout they must send a fee. The second letter states that the beneficiary is the recipient of An unclaimed package containing a 2012 BMW 5501 X Drive Sedan worth $65,485.00. If the beneficiary wants to claim their package they must pay a transfer and acquisition fee to have the package released. The third letter which is the most blatant scam tells the recipient that they have been awarded a sum of $255,000.00 in a sweepstake. These con-artists go so far as to include what looks like a check in the amount of $4,685.00 to help pay a $3,850.00 processing fee before the prize in the form of a certified check is released. The $4685.00 check is bogus and the goal is to rip the recipient off for the processing fee of $3,850.00.

P.T. Barnum once said “a sucker is born every day and these con-artists believe it.” Don’t be the individual who falls for the con – if it’s too good to be true it isn’t.