HAYDEN LAKE - Doris Yoder had a gut feeling she hadn't really won $100,000. Still, the letter that arrived in the mail Tuesday looked authentic. It sounded like maybe, just maybe, she might have a windfall coming her way.

The notice mentioned something about an "unclaimed settlement" of $100,000 and it was hers.

All she had to do was call a guy named Michael in Quebec, then deposit the enclosed $2,265 check to pay the taxes on her winnings into her bank account.

Simple.

Yoder, while suspicious, thought there was no harm in depositing the check and calling this Michael. He even gave her a cover story about it if the bank questioned it, then said to call him back the next morning at 10.

"I wanted to see what was going on here," the Hayden Lake woman said.

The next morning, she called her bank, explained where the check came from and asked if it was legit.

"Doris," an employee said. "It sounds like it's not forthright."

Exactly what she thought.

"I had a sick feeling about this," she said.

She heard from Michael again, too, around noon.

"Why didn't you call me at 10?" he asked.

"Because you told me to lie to the bank," she answered.

Michael hung up and hasn't called back.

Yoder worries other seniors might get taken in.

"I just don't want anyone to fall for this and think they've got this money," she said.

Yoder, who worked in the Kootenai County treasurer's office for 23 years, said she learned a lesson.

"Did I ever," she said, chuckling. "Listen to your gut. I got a sick feeling and listened. That's always been my saving grace about anything."

Another Coeur d'Alene woman wasn't quite as fortunate.

She told police that earlier this month, she received a check for $2,190 from a company that was allegedly paying people to shop in stores and rate their service.

She deposited the check, and the next day withdrew $1,800. She was told to "test" the Western Union service and send $1,600 to the company. Her second test would be to go to a store and purchase items, then complete and fax a survey.

According to the police report, the woman, "felt this employment was valid because her son had a store and had been notified secret shoppers had been in his store."

However, last week, the woman received a phone call from her bank informing her the check was fraudulent.

The woman called police. She "understands she may not get her money back but she would like to pursue criminal charges."