Chief warns of scam letter
</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[Harrisburg Police are warning residents of a scam involving a sweepstakes that gives the appearance of being sponsored by several legitimate companies.
A Harrisburg resident provided the letter to police that indicates the contest is approved by the Better Business Bureau and sponsored by State Farm Insurance, Reader's Digest, Wal-Mart, K-Mart, Macy's, Sears and others.
Smith said the letter claims the winner is to receive $145,000 if they write the company a check for $4,970 to cover insurance for the exchange. Smith's intuition is that check will be cashed and the letter recipient will receive nothing.
He said one red flag a proposition is a scam is the letter gives the figure as "$145,000 US," which is a phrasing indicative the letter was generated overseas.
Smith also asks no one receiving a suspicious phone call regarding sweepstakes or other questionable propositions give an age.