WOODSTOCK — The Shenandoah County Sheriff's Office is warning residents not to be taken in by a phony lottery scam.

"We've received three reports here at the Sheriff's Office today," Sheriff Timothy C. Carter said Tuesday. "That indicates to me that there are probably several others out there that have been mailed to ZIP codes in our area."

The mailings tell recipients that they've won a sweepstakes lottery in Canada. They're told to cash a $4,825 cashier's check and then mail a portion of it back to cover taxes, Carter said.

Those cashier's checks are fraudulent, he said.

According to the Sheriff's Office, the letter claims to be from Liberty Financial of Montreal, Canada, or San Dimas, Calif.

The information is being forwarded on to federal authorities, Carter said. Anyone getting such a mailing should report it to local law enforcement, he said.

Carter advised that banks can advise their customers whether checks are legitimate.

Daily Staff Report