Sheriff's Office Warns of Sweepstakes Scam

Local residents are being advised to watch out for letters and checks from a bogus sweepstakes company.

The McCracken County Sheriff's Department says they were contacted Monday by a resident who received a letter and check from someone claiming to be from an international sweepstakes company. The letter instructed the person to deposit the check into their account to cover transaction costs associated with receiving the sweepstakes winnings, while returning part of the money back to the sweepstakes company. Deputies say the check was forged to appear for the account of a machine shop in Texas.

The Department reminds everyone to be suspicious of any unsolicited funds received from unknown parties, as well as any type of instruction to return a portion of the funds to an unknown party, as they are most always scam related.