COLUMBIA (WACH) -- Lillian Stewart knew something was suspicious when she received a check for $ 3,895 from Amazon.com. The check came enclosed with a letter indicating Stewart had won a consumer research sweepstakes.
She called the number on the enclosed letter and confronted the person on the other line. "I'm not a wealthy person. I can't afford to be scammed," she said.
"I said when do I get the rest of the money?" "He said just as soon as you deposit the check. It sounded weird."
Fake check scams through the mail are common these days, even as many of these schemes are hatched online.
Acting Administrator of the South Carolina Department of Consumer Affairs Carri Lybarker says there have been 30 such scams reported in the past few months.
"Sending a fake check to somebody is still a sure fire way to get money from someone," said Lybarker.
Lybarker confirmed Stewart's check is a fake, and has forwarded the investigation to the US Postal Inspection unit, which handles these cases.
Bogus checks like the one Stewart received look like the real thing, but they're not.
"If you deposit a check and it comes back as being bounced or a fake check, the consumer is on the hook for paying back the bank."
While most people have received some sort of scam, have you ever been the victim of one? Leave your comment below.
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