NORWICH – New York State Police are warning of a developing mail scam that has already victimized a number of local residents.

Sgt. Elizabeth R. Wonka reported Tuesday that area residents had been filing complaints with the troopers over a letter scam involving false international lottery checks being mailed to victims.

Wonka offered an example taken from a recently-seized letter.

The scam often claims that you need to cash this check for a certain amount, let’s say $5,000. The letter will say that you need to pay the non-resident government service tax before you can collect the rest of your Canadian lottery winnings, which is always a larger amount, $400,000 or whatever it might be. The letter requests that you cash the advanced check for $5,000 and mail a large portion of it to a third party so they can pay the tax and send you your winnings.