[COLOR="Red']SCAM ALERT[/COLOR]

[Boxlicker101]

Scam Alert

A scam was attempted against my wife. She was trying to make a few extra dollars and responded to an email that called itself "Mystery Shopper" and the contact person was named Smith Morgan. Supposedly she would "shop" Westen Union. The idea was that they would send her a cashier's check for $5,450 and she would cash it and keep $300 and wire the balance through Western Union, then contact "Smith Morgan" with the time sent, etc. We don't trust people any more than we have to, especially people on the internet, so we checked up on the check.

It was # 797694290-6, dated 10-09-06 and was issued against M&T Bank, Buffalo, NY. I googled them, and it is apparently a valid bank. After that, I called them and they referred me to an 800 number. When I called the 800 number, I found out the cashier's check by that number was cleared in 2003. Apparently, they made copies and changed the date and the payee's name, and are tying to scam people out of $5,150 apiece. If we had taken the check to our bank, they would probably have accepted it, but M & T Bank would have dishonored it. Our bank then would have come after us for the amount of the check they would have cashed.

I hope nobody here will be scammed by these lowlifes.

I also have a fax number and, after I post this, I will fax the same info to that number, along with the address on the FEDEX envelope that contained the bogus check and the name and address of the payee. This is an attempt at grand larceny, using interstate commerce, and maybe we can put them out of business and into jail.

 

[3113]

Yikes! That's one nasty scam. I can see how people would fall for it as unlike other scams it doesn't ask you for any money--or seem to ask you for money. Good for you for tracing it down and reporting it. And I hope you're posting this warning where ever you can to keep people from falling for it.

 

[Boxlicker101]

Yikes! That's one nasty scam. I can see how people would fall for it as unlike other scams it doesn't ask you for any money--or seem to ask you for money. Good for you for tracing it down and reporting it. And I hope you're posting this warning where ever you can to keep people from falling for it.

I thought it was an unusually nasty one too. Most internet scams try to get people to do something dishonest and get a lot of money. This one has a veneer of respectability to it, and is aimed at honest people.

 

[Elianna]

These scams are rampant. I've seen them on Craig's List and anytime you're looking for a roommate, or selling something online. Somehow these people get your email and send you emails like this. I remember one from when I was looking for a roommate. They would send me $3000, where I would cash the check, keep a certain amount and send them the remains.

Anytime someone asks you to cash a check, I say "STOP." You should NEVER have to cash a check. Furthermore, if you must, cash it at THEIR bank, not yours. Take the hit with the fee. Otherwise, unless your account is insured, you're screwed.

 

[kromen]

Maybe Madoff is trying to pay his legal fees? I read one story recently where a woman wired over 45, 000 dollars over a long period of time because she thought that she would be paid millions. She kept asserting that she wasn't a sucker.

 

[oggbashan]

I have experience with scammers on magazine small ads.

I was advertising a motorcycle for sale for £500. Within hours of the magazine hitting the newstands I had three offers of more than twice the asking price asking me to ship it to an address in Scotland, or Wales, or Northern England.

The "buyers" would send me a banker's cheque for say £1,500. I could keep the £1,000 and please would I send them a cheque for £500 to an address that wasn't where the motorcycle was to be sent. Apparently the motorcycle was to be a present to a young relative.

I checked the validity of the addresses to which the motorcycle should have been sent. Each one was nearly correct but didn't actually exist e.g. House number 47 in a road that had only 46 houses. The addresses to which I had to send my cheque were accommodation addresses - places that would recieve post and forward it on, in another envelope, to the person who paid the accommodation address service.

I knew that each was a scam and had no intention of complying with their instructions BUT their bids were recorded on the magazine's web sales page as genuine and deterred any real buyers.

If I had paid for the motorcycle to be delivered it would have been returned (at my expense) as undeliverable. Meanwhile the fraudsters would have cashed my cheque and vanished. The "banker's cheque" would have been dishonoured when received at the issuing bank, either as a forgery, or because of insufficient funds.

The magazine knew of this scam but apparently couldn't do anything about it. Eventually they stopped accepting emailed bids and reverted to snail mail. The scam still continued but didn't deter genuine enquiries.

Og