Accomack County Sheriff Todd Godwin Warns of Fraud Scheme

According to Sheriff Todd Godwin, the Accomack County Sheriffs Office has recently received reports of a fraud scheme involving residents who have received mailings implying the recipient is a sweepstakes winner.

Most of these schemes originate outside of the United States and many times have misspellings in the body of the letter. These schemes typically contain a letter which explains the procedure to collect the supposed winnings.

A check may be included and payable to the recipient with instructions to deposit the check and send a portion of the funds back to pay for taxes or other costs associated with the supposed winnings. The check may appear legitimate on its face, however it is typically counterfeit, and if the recipient deposits the check, they may be held liable for the face value of the check by their own bank.


Anyone receiving any unsolicited correspondence such as these mailings may contact their local law enforcement agency for assistance, or verify the validity of the check at their financial institution prior to cashing or depositing the check.

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