I talked to someone from American Sweepstakes Network that…

There are many scam reports about the American Sweepstakes fraud. Here's just one of them. I can find you many others:

https://www.ripoffreport.com/reports/consumer-protection-bureau/nationwide/consumer-protection-bureau-and-american-sweepstakes-network-officer-michael-white-sweeps-1238681

The fact is that when you really win a sweepstakes, the prize is already yours. YOu NEVER have to pay a cent out of your own pocket to collect it, no matter how logical the reason. That upfront money request is the #1 sign of a contest fraud.

Any legitimate contest would take any transfer expenses out of your winnings on their end and just give you a check for the rest. But with a scam contest, they will ask for money up front for taxes, insurance, courier or transfer fees, or they will give you a partial check and ask you to deposit it and use the money to pay a third party. There's no need for any of that when a contest is real.

Here's what else you need to know about contest scams:

Scammers want you to believe that you can be picked out of thin air and become a contest winner. You can't. You must always enter a contest to win it.

Lottery winners are paid out of the proceeds of lottery tickets. If you don't buy your ticket you can't win, and you must present a valid ticket to claim your winnings.

Sweepstakes winners must complete an entry form and sign up for the contest. Sweepstakes also require you to submit your half of the entry form as proof before you can claim your prize. The numbers on your half of the form must match the numbers that the company has on the other half of your winning entry form that was drawn.

I hope you haven't deposited any checks or sent off any money to these thieves yet. If you have paid these folks anything, consider it gone and consider yourself the victim of a crime. If you can find out who these people really are and where, you can sue them or seek to have them prosecuted, but finding them will be a job for law enforcement or a private investigator.

Report them to the FBI online at their Internet Crime Complaint Center at IC3.gov