ONYX

Be Alert For Check Fraud

What do Alcoa, Welch’s and the Bank of America have in common? They all have had their corporate identities stolen and placed on fake checks in a new scam to rip off consumers! The average victim of this type of con – in which people trade their own cash for a counterfeit check – loses from $3,000 to $4,000, according to the National Consumers League (NCL).

There are several versions to the scam, which is spreading, probably because technology allows crooks to create convincing counterfeits. In one case, a potential victim gets an unexpected check from what looks to be a trusted source – like one of the corporations mentioned above. The check is labeled as an award, prize, lottery or other windfall.

The “lucky winner” – it could be you – is instructed to deposit the check into your personal account and then send back a portion of the funds to cover fees, taxes or other charges. Once you have sent in your money, your bank finds that the check you received is a fake! By law, the person who deposited it – once again, that could be you – must repay the funds.

In another version, a person selling an item on eBay or through an online classified ad is contacted by a potential buyer who offers to pay by check. The catch? The buyer insists on sending a check for more than the purchase price, and wants the extra amount sent back, probably by wire. The seller who agrees to this deal later learns the check is no good.

Or scammers may recruit you as a secret shopper. You are sent a check and instructed to cash it and wire some of it back to the sender. You’re told to keep part of it as payment for rating the performance of the clerk who processes your purchase. The check, of course, is no good, and you have lost your money!

Fake corporate checks are so real-looking that they fool even bank tellers. Counterfeit cashier’s checks are also popular with these con artists, who are savvy about bank rules. In many cases, the amount of a cashier’s check must be posted to a depositor’s account by the next business day, before anyone is likely to verify its legitimacy.

According to the NCL, from 2005 to 2006, fake check swindles went from 5th place to 1st place on its list of the most common telemarketing scams. According to Steve Baker, Director of the FTC’s Midwest region, “We became aware of these schemes about three or four years ago, and lately the incidence is really going up.”

How do you protect yourself?

• Throw away offers from sources that ask you to pay fees, taxes or other charges to claim a prize. No legitimate company would do that.
• If you are selling something, never accept more than the sale price.
• If you accept payment by check, ask for one drawn on a local bank or on a bank with a local branch. Then you can personally verify the check’s validity.
• And remember, if something seems too good to be true, it usually is!