I think as a practical matter, nobody is likely to be charged by a bank when they are the victim of this popular scam. I was approached by this scam once and called the bank, they told me all about how it works -- even weeks after the check "clears" it can bounce. I'm surprised more people haven't learned about this scam. Anyway, you're not likely to be persecuted, but neither is anyone else in this matter. A lot of these things are organized crime scams. I dealt with a car giveaway contest associated with magazine subscriptions that, judging by the accents of the people I was speaking to, were the Jamaican mafia. All I had to do was pay a $200 processing fee to collect my millions of dollars ... and a car .. and the Brooklyn Bridge.