Officials warn of fake check scams

While a windfall would certainly be nice this time of year, state and federal officials say the large checks arriving in some local mailboxes are nothing but a scam.

"First of all, no one is going to send you free money, there's no such thing," said Cara Smith, spokeswoman for Attorney General Lisa Madigan. "If you get a large check in the mail that you are not expecting, it's probably too good to be true. Every red flag imaginable should go up. We advise consumers not to deposit any check if you don't know why you received it or where it came from."

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