Man discovers fake lottery

"This check was for $9,990.90," he said.

Can you imagine, a check for almost 10 grand? Krein was thrilled because a letter along with the check said this Mesa resident had actually won $500,000 from something called the Direct Link Lottery.

The check he received was reportedly his first installment and before Krein could collect the rest of the funds, he had to follow the instructions that came with that check.

"There are shipping, handling and delivery fees that amounted to $8,000 and some hundred dollars," he said.

Krein says he didn't enter a lottery but called the phone number listed in the paperwork for more information.

While he couldn't get through on his mobile phone, Krein kept thinking about all that money he reportedly won.

And the more he went through the paperwork, the more he was convinced it just might be real. After all, there were lottery offices not only in London, England but also Austin, Texas.

But there was also some kind of code in the paperwork and that code bothered Krein.

"The one thing they did tell me is you don't want to tell anybody what that code is," he said.

Krein thought about cashing that $9,990 check as he was instructed to do, so he could pay all those fees, but it was his wife Janice who told him not to do it.

"I said, 'Before you do anything, you call Gary Harper.' He says, 'Get his number,'" said Janice.

Turns out, the check is, in fact, a fake.

Remember, Marlow was supposed to deposit the check into his own account and forward funds back to the lottery company to cover those fees.

But by the time his bank realized the check was fake days later, he would have been out all of that money.

By the way, 3 On Your Side dug a little deeper and discovered that so-called lottery office located in Austin, Texas is nothing more than a single-story home.

Marlow says he sure is glad he didn't fall for the scam and wants others to be warned too.

"You don't get something for nothing," he said.

Whether it's a lottery or a drawing or anything similar, just remember if you have to send in money in order to get your winnings, it's a scam.

Click here for information about lottery scams from The Federal Trade Commission.