Fraudulent letter sent to victim with check.
Investigators note: The motive here may have been two fold, certainly the goal was to gain access to the account, but, I believe that the intent in this case, was not only rob the victim of her money but to gain 'legal' access to her account and to use it to launder or access other illegally gotten funds without leaving behind a paper trail to the suspect.
Victim received letter and Check for $5000.00 from fictitious corporation illegally using the name of a real company. The check was real check with a real signature and would have at least been accepted for deposit at a bank.
Letter told victim she had won $1Million and the check they were sending her was so she could pay the appropriate taxes in the amount of 5k.
Letter instructed victim to contact them with her bank account information so they could 'authenticate' the check she received, it also told her not to tell anyone about the check.
When I called the number on the letter I was told that the check would only be 'authenticated' upon receipt of my checking account information.
Upon further questioning I was told that they only needed me to authorize them to access my account to deposit the check and pay the taxes.
When I asked why the letter said I was being sent the the check to pay the taxes, they told me that it was a legal formality.
When I identified myself as a police officer I was put on hold and eventually hung up on.
The moral of the story, if it sounds to good to be true it probably is.