Fraud Prevention
An important notice from Crate and Barrel regarding a mail scam.
Crate and Barrel is not currently and has never participated in or sponsored any form of a cash prize lottery within or outside of the U.S.
It has just come to our attention that an international money scam is being perpetrated whose mission is to steal money under the guise of a sweepstakes lottery. The felons committing these crimes notify recipients by email or fax that they have won prize monies in the tens and hundreds of thousands of dollars from a company-sponsored lottery that was held outside of the United States. To make the scam appear credible, these criminals use the names and reputations of well-known and respected Fortune 500 companies, including Crate and Barrel, among others.
To receive their cash prizes, winners must first pre-pay the U.S. taxes on their winnings by money order to a fictitious “tax agent.” Following this payment, a counterfeit prize check is sent from a location outside of the country to the “winner,” who learns of its worthless nature when banks will not honor the check. As a result, innocent people are sending in their savings to pay taxes on these fictitious prize winnings. At this point, we know that letters containing counterfeit checks bearing the Crate and Barrel name have been postmarked from Canada, but the country of origin could easily switch by the time you read this.
Crate and Barrel is not and has never participated in or sponsored any form of a cash prize lottery in or outside of the U.S. We regret that the Crate and Barrel company name is being used fraudulently, and we are actively taking strong measures to end this. We ask that if you or anyone you know receives any documents using the Crate and Barrel name or logo on lottery prize letters, emails, faxes or checks, that you first contact us immediately by email at tmarcolini@crateandbarrel.com, by toll-free phone at 866.808.0800, or fax at 847.272.1208. In addition, it is critical that you send us all of the original lottery documents and checks you may have received to our Corporate Headquarters address:
Crate and Barrel
Attn: Tim Marcolini
1250 Techny Road
Northbrook, IL 60062
Thank you for your understanding and for helping us put an end to this deception.
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