LEGAL NEWSLINE

JACKSON, Miss. (Legal Newsline) - Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood recently warned residents to be wary of phone marketers promising lottery winnings or bogus checks in the mail declaring that they have been selected as a grand prize winner.

The lottery scam is used through phone, mail and email and often includes claims that the recipient has won an item or service of significant value.

In the mail version of the scam, a check with a legitimate business name and a real routing number printed on it may be included that can fool the banking system and provide the illusion that the check is legitimate when it will actually later bounce.

"Lottery scams are reported to our office just about every day," Hood said. "Cons will send out these checks hoping to convince the consumer into believing that they are getting a significant amount of money if they just cover a small amount of taxes or fees in return. We have even had reports that these crooks claim I am going to deliver the winnings personally. Although I liked Ed McMahon, I will not be delivering checks to people's homes."

Hood said that consumers should simply ignore the scam as it is unlikely that someone will win a lottery or sweepstakes without knowingly entering one.