Beware of this one folks, it comes in your mail.

Yesterday, we recieved a very official-looking letter, with all kinds of seals and stamps on it. Of course, the real kicker is the URGENT NOTICE! written in large, bold letters.

Basically, the letter states that my wife is "a verified and confirmed recipient of reported cash/prize opportunities totaling over $3,276,450.00" and that it has to be claimed by midnight Oct 8th, 2009. It also states that she has to act immediately by (1) signing the Prize Report Claim and (2) sending a $20 "transfer fee" by cash, check, or money order. And the last line states "ENVELOPE MUST BE POSTMARKED BY MIDNIGHT OF DEADLINE DATE OR YOUR CLAIM WILL BE VOIDED FOR PROCESSING."

Folks - you  NEVER have to pay ANYTHING to claim a prize...EVER!  That's the first tip off.  Second tip off was you had to send it to a P.O. box in Las Vegas, even though the letterhead said, "State of Washington Commissioners of Registration".

A quick search on Google not only revealed there is no such entity, but provided a ton of scam information on this company, including federal prosecution by the FTC and the Nevada attorney general.  Somehow this scammer still continues to do his deed and lure in greedy, unsuspecting (and dumb) victims.

So tell every idiot you know to thow the letter away if they get it in the mail.  And send them this link if they don't believe you:

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&source=hp&q=prize+information+bureau+scam&aq=2&oq=prize+inform&aqi=g5g-m5

My firewall works pretty well, but for some reason my lottery

winnings sneak through. A couple of months ago I won 8.5MM

pounds in Great Britain; a few weeks ago $3.5mm in Nigeria.

I don't remember buying a lottery ticket, so I didn't open the files.

If y'all "win" I suggest you do the same.

Several years ago I saw an ad in the "penny shopper" that read:

This is your last chance

Send $20 to P.O. Box.....

I often wondered how many people actually did.

Last summer, we had 2 guys in jump suits asking if they could see the gas meter in the basement, ours is in the yard, while they poked around the yard, I took down their plate # on their "official" caviler ;D, and had the wife call 911, while I grabbed the sks and my banjo . I leaned the sks against the car, while I sat on the hood I played my banjo. 5 minutes later the sheriff showed up, and what do you know? They pulled the same stunt on an elderly couple down the road, took everything that wasn't nailed down.