"Not unless we want to be prosecuted for passing bad checks," said my wife.  "I am willing to bet that the company that the check is drawn on is fictitious or worse yet the victim of identity fraud." 

"I think that we should take a copy of this letter to both our bank and to the Post Office," continued my wife. "This is clearly both bank and postal fraud."

We took the letter to the post office.  The clerks seemed to be a bit amused, but really not all that excited about my wife's letter.  I suspected that they had seen a number of similar letters.  One of the clerks said that they would give a copy of the letter to the Postmaster. 

Our stop at the bank was a bit more satisfying.  The manager seemed to be quite familiar with this particular scam.  He assured us that he would send copies to his banks fraud division.

"We get a number of people who think that they have won either the Mexican Lottery,  the Australian Lottery or this one" said the Manager.  "These scammers not only want money from you, but they also want your personal information.  They want your' Social Security Number, your Drivers License number, as well as your bank and checking account numbers.   They will not only steal money from you, but if they can, they will also steal your identity.  They can sell your identity to drug smugglers, illegal aliens, felons, and a host of other bad guys. 

"Everyday, innocent people are taken in by this sort of thing," continued my bank manager.   "People need to understand that legitimate lotteries don't ask for money.  If a person really wins a lottery or Sweepstakes, the only money that they would owe would be taxes.    The tax is never paid through anyone or by anyone else. Taxes are paid by you directly to your own government.   These scam artists will tell you that you need to pay bank fees, storage, shipping and a host of other things.  Lottery money is not stored at a security house, Lottery money is not shipped in cash or sent by courier.  Lottery winnings are sent by check using DHL, UPS, or FedEx.  A check from a lottery or lottery company has the lottery's name on the check.  They want you to show others your check, they would like you to publicize your winnings thereby encouraging additional people to play their lottery.  In your instance, the check that was sent to you came from some publishing company in California.  Don't you think it a bit strange to get a check from a California company after winning the British Columbia Lottery?"

We thanked our banker and went home, no longer lottery winners.

I still have to admit that I look forward to getting mail.  It lifts me up, and brightens my day… even if my mail consists of bills, advertisements and an occasional magazine. 

…As to lotteries and sweepstakes?   I am still hoping that one of these days I will be surprised by Ed McMahon or some celebrity telling me that I have won millions… But I guess a person has to apply in order to win.   If I haven't applied, and if the people who tell me that I am a winner, want money first from me, then my guess is that it isn't a real lottery and I am not a winner. 

Now is that a no brainer or what?

Is that our letter carrier?  Hey, look what she's brought me; a letter from Nigeria.  Evidently a high official wants to get some money out of the country and needs my help.  He would like to transfer it to my bank account.  All I have to do is send him my bank account numbers… hmmm?