I received a letter from A & A Associates. There was a check for 3990.00.

I just received a similar letter with a check in the amount of $1276.00. The letter read Opinion Surveys Inc. Position: Customer Service Evaluator with an Rep ID #. The letter was stating CONGRATULATIONS !!!!, I am pleased to confirm you that you have selected to become one of our representatives in your region. Please give us a call at 1-416-887-7602 as soon as you receive this package to validate the enclosed payment of this assignment. Now my letter stated that i was to be paid for my training in the amount of $200.00  That i would be trained and it provided a break down of the funds that was attached (So when i seen this I was like okay i do not have to come out of my pocket and i am still getting paid.  The only way they could of got my name was from me appling for work at home jobs seen on tv by CNN and CBS etc..) Breakdown listed: 2 hour Evaluation training pay.........$ 200.00, Required fund to be sent ..... $950.00, Service Charge by Western Union........$86.00 and Retail Shop Evaluation Assignment (In which I was to keep purchased goods and mail in the recepits) .... . $40.00 and or fax to 1-866-758-7930.  I called the lady and she was like deposit the check and call me in the morning.  I am glad my bank has a fraud system in place and can be stop. I am glad i did not have any prior money but .22 cents in my account. I have also reported this situtation to my bank. I really needed that money. darn it!!

Yeap I got a check also and called and I said "hey so, what kind of scam are you running" so she hung up on me.  Didn't even try and defend herself.  What lossers!

Received the same letter and check for 3990 I knew it was too good to be true nothing is for free. I did however get a different company name from Dallas Texas and the check was from a different company Will CoX Roofing Inc. Cleveland Texas.

i recieved a check just like all of you and i was so happy to get the check because i was having my home foreclosed on and i could have saved my home.

Hello all,
Just last week I received a check for the amount of 3390. I was instructed to send the check to someone in the UK or Brooklyn by Western Union. I had to send them 3500 of that money and kept the rest. I am a secret shopper part time and I am assuming that is how they got my name. If you get one of these types of check rip it up just like I did!

I got the mail last week 9/21/09. I receive a check 3,990.00 I need to know why they hang up on the phone with the interpreter. I'm hard of Hearing. So need to know to activated my check. Please call me 866 320 1651. Ref # E9374. Ticket number #3280878. Why Nicole hang up the phone when i call her. I tried explain to her about the activated my check. I need to know is it real check or not. Please relay me back or call me.

I also received the letter and check.  It felt really good to call and tell them what awful people they are, and to earn money the decent way.  People should remember that if you win any money, you never have to send money to get the money.  And again, if you didn't sign up for a sweepstakes, then you didn't win the money.  I hope people don't fall for the scam, but if you do don't feel bad about yourself.  It happens to the best of us.

I was able to sniff this out by a lot of the clues you all have confirmed here. It looks like we all have to be as dedicated to avoiding these scams as the people who pull them.  Thanks all for the info,... they missed this mark.

Yep, add me to the list as well.. I just received the exact same check and letter, with a canadian postage stamp...

I was just glad to see it wasn't a bill collector!!!

Live and learn!!!!

I received the same letter and check for $3900.00. I thought this is cool and then tried to fiend it through bbb and could not get any results. After looking this up on google and finding these posts I am sure glad I was careful and thought better not to. Saved myself money that I do not have. Thank u all for the advice and warning on this scam.

This is How the scam works. You deposit the check into your checking account and if you have more than 2929.00 in your account before you deposit the check, the bank will honor that amount based on what you have in your account (more than 2920.00) You mail the scammer $2920.00 they cash the check, the original check for $3990.00 bounces, and now you are on the hook to pay your Bank the $3990.00, plus the bounced check fee. If they send out 10000 of these checks a month and have only a 1/10th of one percent success rate that means that they can make almost $40,000 per month on this scam.

Remember most checks in this amount are almost always sent by certified mail.

I recieved a call and e-mail and letter containing a check for 3,999.00 part of which was to go toward taxes of a 150,000.00 reward. I didn't fall for it and I hope other people don't either. People do desperate things in desperate times and there are preditors out there lurking on those hurting especially in these times. Please take the time and research the origin. As my grandfather said. There's no such thing as a free lunch and BT Barnum said a sucker is born every moment. Good Luck and get thes parasites!

I see where it says how to report the phone call, but, how do you report the letter?  My daughter, by the way is 13, recieved one in the mail, I was so excited and thought wow.  I called the number and a woman answered, what made me suspicious is when I asked her what was the name of the name company she would not speak clearly, I asked her again and she again did not speak clearly, she also sound as if she was getting fustrated with me beacuse I kept asking her what was the name of the company.  That is when I typed the name Adam Banton and Assoc. Ltd. in the search bar and behold....

I saw the word void also in the middle.

i recieved the same letter and check today. i did get my hopes up and tried to think back to see if i entered something. this woman who i was supposed to contact's name is nicole hamilton but when i called the # to see what this was for and to see if she could tell what contest i entered, she couldn't give me info and plus she had the strongest, thickest asian accent. hmm...... i thought it was a godsend considering i have an almost $200 phone bill!! guess not.

yeah i got a funny story i got the lame scam check so i kindly call her back after i found this website and i was like nichole im just wondering why are you sending fake checks out thats not nice...and she was like    F- you B**** i was like ok have a good day lmao

I jst got a check in the mail 8-28... Told me also to cash the check n call then back, so they can give me the tax agent #!!! hahaha i went to my bank n the investigated for me n found out that it was a fake n scam!!!
This really suck!! someone should stop them & shut them down!!

So can anyone tell us what these scammers actual get out of this deal? Are there actually banks cashing these fraudulent checks and that is what they get, a few thousand dollars that the person cashing the check is then responsible for paying out? Pretty crappy thing to do to people.

if some people read down in the 4 paragraph it reads WE HAVE INCLOSED A CHEQUE FOR YOU IN THE AMOUNT OF 3990.00. ket word is CHEQUE, that is how the french spell check, that is what caught my eye and then i new it was foney..... and when you call them on it saying it's fake they hang up on you i did a few times and all the times i said aboutthe check being fake they hung up on me...

I just got the same check as everyone else. On 9-8-09. Call Nicole Hamilton. I called her and told her to get a real job like everybody else. Stop trying to scam people. She told me its not a scam so I told her to pretty much to F off and die. People are strugiling to make ends meet and cant afford these scams

I recieved a letter and a check in the mail. it says that i won $150000.00 and the winnings will be FedEx once i paid the taxes wich is 2,920.00. The claim agent is nicole hamilton the number is 1-416-833-0034. If you have a magnifying glass you can see by the top of the check there is Void. The bank is Woodforest National Bank in The Woodlands, Tx. Im only 19 i should'nt have to deal with this crap!!

We just received the same check and information in the mail.  My husband and I never enter sweepstakes so we knew better.  We are, however, going to contact our local news to let them get the word out since we live in Florida ~ haven to the elderly.  I don't want someone's grandparents or parents getting a hold of this information, relieved that they have money coming in, only to find out that they will end up owing the money back.

It's horrible how people will prey on others at a time like this and I hope that they will be caught and stopped.  Perhaps if we take the envelop, complete with Canadian post markings, they will be better able to tract where it comes from in Canada.  Sending fraudulent materials through the mail is a federal, and now in this case international, offense.  Add to that the counterfeit check and they are looking at some serious charges.

they sent one to my 17 year old son!!!!!!!

I just got the same letter and I am glad my cousins wife looked up the name on the letter before I did anything That is when she found all of your post. Thank you all for preventing me from doing something that whould come back on me..

I've received many hang-ups lately on my answering machine but the phone number has not registered in my caller ID.  I received the letter and check today from a bank in The Woodlands, TX.  I called their customer service and had them check the routing number and account number.  Neither is a valid account with the bank.  SCAMMERS

My letter said to call 905-781-6067

I received a letter and check in the amount of $3,999.00 and the letter stated that I had won 150,000.

We received the same exact thing, darnit, was hoping it was real, could have used it!

Because ADAM BANTON AND ASSOCIATES HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH THIS SCAM!

You are rather naive to think that they are.

They change the business name and numbers constantly!  

SCAMMERS ARE USING THE NAMES OF LEGITIMATE BUSINESSES in order to appear legtimate to those they are contacting.

The scammers are out of Canada and are hard to track down.

And because of the economy the scammers are coming out of the woodwork! Everyone is having a tough time now - not just you and your husband!

yeah taxes would be a whole hell of a lot more than 4 grand haha.