The Better Business Bureau of Akron has issued a warning about a sweepstake win scam with a P.O. box in Boise, Idaho.

The Boise Better Business Bureau has been inundated with callers thinking they have won a sweepstake, and that they are to receive more than $79,000 in unclaimed sweepstakes winnings.

Calls to the Boise BBB have come from all over the United States, including
Ohio, New York, Kansas and Georgia. These potential victims are receiving a
letter and a cashier's check from a company by the name of Treasure Financial
Group, touting P.O. Box 7067 in Boise on its letterhead, according to the local
BBB.

Before the award can be claimed, consumers must call the account manager
listed in the letter at a phone number with an area code in Halifax.

Consumers are instructed to deposit the cashier's check for the sweepstake win in their account and wire a fee of $4,855 to use toward any service charges and fees.

Consumers should be aware that the check is fake but may look real enough to
fool your bank. The check eventually bounces and the consumer is held responsible for the full amount, according to the local BBB.

The Federal Trade Commission estimates that foreign lotteries and sweepstakes scam Americans out of $120 million each year. It is illegal for someone in the United States to play a foreign lottery or sweepstake, whether it's by mail or
over the phone. The chances of winning a prize that is greater than the cost of
your lottery or sweepstake ticket is slim to none. If you buy a foreign
lottery or sweepstake ticket, expect to receive many more bogus offers for other
foreign lotteries or sweepstakes or scams.

Do not give your credit-card account number, Social Security number or bank
account number to strangers. Many foreign lottery or sweepstakes offers will claim
you need to send or wire money to pay legal fees, taxes, customs fees or other
charges to receive your prize. It is illegal to require the payment of any fee
to receive prizes won in lotteries or sweepstakes.

The Better Business Bureau urges consumers to remember you do not have to pay to enter a sweepstakes or collect a prize. If you are asked to pay, the
sweepstakes is a scam.