Attorney General issues warning of check scam

Consumers from outside the State of Michigan have reported receiving a letter in the mail from a "management company" with a Michigan address, informing recipients that they have won thousands of dollars in a prize drawing. A purported National City cashier's check is enclosed to pay taxes on the winnings. The letter doesn't ask for any money; it's sending a check – so what's the catch?

The cashier’s check is fraudulent; the letters are mailed from Canada; and there is no legitimate Michigan connection. In order to receive the winnings, personal bank account information is required, supposedly so that the winnings can be "wired into your account."

Consumers must be alert to the fact that bank account information can easily be used to withdraw money through an unauthorized electronic debit, or to create counterfeit checks and clean out the victim's bank account.

Victims may be able to cash the "cashier's check," but just because money from the check may be made quickly available does not mean the check is valid. The check must go back to the originating bank, and it must clear. This process can take several days and, in the case of an elaborate counterfeit, may take a few weeks. Eventually, the named originating bank will notify the victim's bank that the cashier's check is counterfeit, and the check amount will be removed from the victim's bank account. By then, it is often too late to prevent unauthorized bank withdrawals made possible by the earlier disclosure of bank account information