You should never shell out money to claim a prize

Q. My mother-in-law received a cashier's ("official") check for $2,856.99. A letter along with the check said she had received a grant in the amount of $50,000. As soon as the fee of $2,856.99 has been deducted, along with a commission fee of $5,000, which would be deducted from the grant, she would receive a check for the balance of $45,000. Is this a major scam happening nationally?

Stan Grzybek, Topsfield

A. Check scams have been around for a long time. It is the kind of scam that can even tempt people who might otherwise filter out a potential rip-off.

The names of the companies will change and so will the temptation. It could be a "grant" like the one your mother-in-law got or a prize for a lottery you never entered or a reward or just about anything else.

The lure is that what appears to be an actual check shows up in your mailbox. It looks real. The bank might even cash it. Federal law requires banks to free up deposited funds quickly. But in a few days or a week - or more - you will find the check has bounced or has been determined to be fake or forged. Easy come, not easy go.

By then, if you've followed the rules that will lead you to your hoped-for windfall, you will have wired away money of your own to cover the supposed commission or other fees that you're assessed. You have to pay these smaller amounts to get the bigger ones.

That initial check supposedly covered the fees to create the appearance it won't actually cost you. But it will. Once the check is found to be worthless, you're out of all that money you thought you had deposited and the money you shipped out to get the bigger check.

Many scams are based on this advance fee concept. This one gets people to fall for it largely because of the illusion created by the initial check.

If you get a check in the mail claiming you have won a contest you never entered or telling you that you're the recipient of a grant you never sought - with instructions about you sending money so you can cash it - rip up the check and toss it in the trash. It should never cost you to "win" something.

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