By Paul Wenske
Kansas City Star

Those lousy lottery-check scams are mutating again and ensnaring more unsuspecting consumers.

But first, folks, you just shouldn't fall for these goofy scams. No honest lottery in the world gives out free money.

That said, the scams are increasing. And they offer sneaky new twists to create a false sense of security. More scams are using counterfeit checks drawn on legitimate bank accounts of real businesses.

Reader Mary Kay Culp of Lenexa alerted me to one bogus check she and her husband got from the National Lottery Co. of New York. The lottery said the Culps could use the check, in the amount of $4,750.25, to pay a 12 percent surcharge required to secure their winnings.

That was the first clue the check was fraudulent. Honest lotteries do not require surcharges or other upfront fees.

But these scam artists veil their ruse by making their victims believe they are doing them a favor. "By law you are not required to pay for your winning on any lottery with your personal money (sic) that's why we enclosed a check to cover your surcharges," the lottery letter said.

The Culps just needed to deposit the check in their bank, then wire a payment to cover the surcharge. What could be easier? In 72 hours they'd receive their $250,000 in winnings

The Culps didn't fall for it — though they did pause over the scammers' ingenuity.

"There is this tiny little voice inside you that says, ‘What if this is true?' But there is a louder voice that says, ‘Of course this is not true,' " joked Culp.

What made the check even more convincing is that, unlike more amateurish efforts, it didn't come from the lottery.

Instead, it purported to come from DDB Worldwide Communications Group Inc., a real company that, in fact, handles marketing for the New York Lottery. And it was drawn on The Northern Trust Co. of Chicago. By all appearances, it is a legitimate check. In fact, it is a good counterfeit, authorities said.

A DDB spokeswoman said her company is not associated with the National Lottery Co. Indeed, authorities said, the National Lottery Co. doesn't even exist.

"It's really sneaky because if you called the bank they would confirm the real company had an account there and they might even confirm there is enough in the account to cover the check," said Susan Grant, head of the National Consumers League, which monitors lottery-check frauds.