Amoco

Online Safety and Security

Counterfeit Check Scams

Ever received a letter with a cashier's check enclosed in the mail from someone you don't know nor have ever heard of? The letter starts something like this "We are pleased to inform you that you are one of the winners in the USA Mega Draw held on Jan. 1st, 2010. The 'Entry Slip' or 'Attached Ticket' with serial number 736-2746-276 attached to your name matched the first five lucky winning numbers ##-##-##-##-##, and subsequently won $500,000.00." This letter probably ends with something like this: "Enclosed is a certified check in the amount of $4950.00 which is provided to you to help pay for the taxes or 'Tax Clearance Fees'. Please contact your claims agent before acting on this notice" They then will ask you to send the funds western union or money gram to the specified "agent".

There is only one problem with this great news. It is a scam; the "Certified Checks" are counterfeit. This type of scam is on the rise for a couple of reasons, consumers want to think that they have just won some "lottery" and are fooled into thinking that it is real after speaking to their "claims agent", scammers have almost zero risk of being caught because they are operating across the U.S. border, and it is a very inexpensive scam that provides high returns even with a very low success rate. These letters are almost always from Canada, yet the checks are always from a U.S. company and drawn on a U.S. bank. The scammers mail them out in masses to anyone that they can get an address on and U.S. Consumers lose $120 million a year responding to these solicitations. If you deposit these checks and then send funds to the claims agent, you will be responsible when the check is returned as counterfeit.

There are other variations of counterfeit check schemes. The Check Overpayment Scam is one in which the scammer purchases something you have for sale usually online, and sends you a cashier's check. They make the check in excess of what the actual purchae amount was, usually with some sort of reason why, and asks for you to send the excess money back to them. There is the Secret Shopper money transfer service. They are given a check to cash and told to then wire the funds to a specified individual (again normally in Canada). Once the funds are sent out, the consumer is liable for the funds once the fake check is returned to their financial institution.

How Can You Protect Yourself:

• Throw away any offer that asks you to pay for a prize or gift. If it's free or a gift, you shouldn't have to pay for it.
• Resist the urge to enter foreign lotteries. It is illegal to play a foreign lottery through the mail or by phone, and most foreign lottery solicitations are phony.
• Never wire money to strangers, unless you are willing to give the money to them.
• If you are selling something, don't accept a check for more than the selling price, unless they are giving you more money than you requested.
• If you feel you have been targeted by a counterfeit check scam, please report the scam to the Federal Trade Commission at www.ftc.gov, and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service at www.usps.gov/websites/depart/inspect or call your local post office.

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