Fake check scams are becoming more and more common in America. Scammers have come up with many permutations of the same con, but the basics of the schemes are this: You get a check for a relatively large amount of money and are asked to refund or pass on a portion of the amount to the sender or a third party. By the time you find out that the check is fake, your money is long gone.
“Fake check scams are an equal opportunity fraud,” says John Breyault, director of the National Consumers League Fraud Center. “Scam artists are savvy, networked and know every button to push to get consumers from all walks of life to fall for their schemes.”
Consumer experts have been warning about this growing con for years. And yet, the crooks are so clever and convincing that they are believed to have conned more than 1.3 million people. Here are the five most common ways that they do it, and the tip-offs that help you know it’s a scam:
Mystery Shopper
You’re looking for a job and answer an advertisement for mystery shoppers. The company sends you a check supposedly to cover the items you’ll be buying and to “test” Western Union’s services. You get to deduct your pay from the check too.
Tip-offs that this is a scam?
1. The check is for more than $1,000 and the company says you can keep a $200 or $300 fee for the job. Real mystery shoppers get paid $10 to $25 per job.
2. They paid in advance. Legitimate mystery shopping jobs pay only after you’ve turned in your review.
3. Review Western Union? If the con artists were to be believed, Western Union would be the most mystery-shopped company in the world. They want you to use Western Union because sending this draft is the same as sending cash. Once it leaves your hands, it’s gone.
Sweepstakes
You have won an international lottery! Congratulations! Here’s a $20,000 check for just a portion of your winnings. To claim the additional hundreds of thousands of Euros or dollars that you’ve won, all you have to do is send a personal check for the taxes due on your winnings.
Tip-offs?
1. You didn’t enter an international lottery. ( You would remember if you did.)
2. Taxes are collected after you receive income, not before.
3. Governments collect taxes, not lotteries. Read the full article »
