[StBernard] St. Bernard Sheriff's Office warns residents of check fraud scams

Westley Annis westley at da-parish.com
Mon Mar 31 09:09:19 EDT 2014


St. Bernard Sheriff's Office warns residents of check fraud scams
Print Benjamin Alexander-Bloch, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune By Benjamin
Alexander-Bloch, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune
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on March 28, 2014 at 1:02 PM

St. Bernard Parish Sheriff Jimmy Pohlmann warned residents on Friday
afternoon of check fraud scams that apparently have cropped up in the
parish.

"The key is the victim is led to believe they have been hired to do a
legitimate job of comparison shopping,'' Pohlmann said. "Don't be fooled by
these scams, which sometimes start as an advertisement in want ads where
people are looking for jobs."

"They want you to send them your money and leave you holding a fake check
that you will be responsible for when it becomes clear the check or money
order is bad.''

The sheriff said a check-cashing business in St. Bernard has reported fake
checks being brought in by residents who in turn have said they got those
fake checks from "mystery shopper enterprises."

The scam allegedly works by having someone, claiming to be with a legitimate
company, handout a large counterfeit cashier's check, money order or even a
check drawn on a credit union account, the sheriff said. The victims then
are told to cash it, perhaps by putting it into their personal checking
account, and they are told to wire the majority of the funds via MoneyGram
or Western Union and then keep the rest as their payment.

Banking rules require banks to make funds available on cashier's checks and
money orders within 1 to 5 days, so the scammers are counting on the victims
receiving the funds and going through with the wire transfer before the
check or money order actually has cleared the bank, Pohlmann said.

"By the time you find out the check is not legitimate, you are out the money
you sent and will be held accountable for the bounced check by your
financial institution," Pohlmann said.

Pohlmann said to be leery of checks received in the mail.

The Sheriff's Office ask that anyone who receives such a check to call the
office at 504.271.2501. People can also file a report with the Internet
Crime Complaint Center at www.ic3.gov and the Federal Trade Commission at
www.ftccomplaintassistant.gov.

Pohlmann also advised parish resident to watch for over-the-phone tax frauds
as the April 15 federal income tax deadline nears.

He said one common scam works by people calling resident and claiming to be
with the Internal Revenue Service. Often, those callers will ask for
residents' bank routing and account numbers, saying that they will deposit
tax refunds by direct deposit into residents' banks.

"Never give out such information to strangers,'' Pohlmann said.




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