Carroll County Sheriff Tony Burns has received information from the Howard County Sheriff's Department warning area residents of a lottery scam.

Several households in Howard County have received letters informing them that they have won a shoppers sweepstakes lottery. A fraudulent check is included for $4,785. The "winners" are instructed to cash the check and transfer $2,875 via Western Union to a tax agent. "Winners" are assured that after the required taxes are paid they will collect additional winnings that are in excess of $100,000. People who respond to the telephone number provided on the mailings are informed that their name was selected at random because they shopped at one of several major retailers.

"They name off several stores and most people will have shopped at one of the several named retailers," Howard County Sheriff Marty Talbert said. "The check is bogus and once you wire the tax money it is gone forever and you're on the hook for the bad check. It is all a great big scam perpetrated during hard economic times when folks are vulnerable."

The mailings are from Fidelity Financial Links, Inc. of Toronto, Canada. The fraudulent check is issued from Genlabs of Chino, Calif., which is a legitimate company and can be located on the Internet. One of their company checks has been "washed" to make the fraudulent checks.

Talbert said that he has spoken to the company and they are receiving calls from people all across the country who have lost money.

"Remember, you never have to pay money to win money," Talbert said. "Taxes can be deducted from your winnings."

Genlabs has traced the telephone number listed for Fidelity Financial Links to a Toronto based cell phone.

"Genlabs has contacted local police and the F.B.I. but when these scams originate from another country such as Canada it limits the reach of U.S. law enforcement." Talbert added. "Citizens have come into our office to see if this is legitimate. They want to believe it is real, but it is not."

If anyone receives a mailing from Genlabs, contact the Carroll County Sheriffs Department at (765) 564-2413.