Identity theft and an overpayment scheme, rolled into one

The latest scheme we have seen involves a combination of several types of fraud. When a victim falls for it, he or she will discover that not only have they been victimized by an identity theft, but they have possibly been taken for several thousand dollars, too! The scheme comes straight out of the “too good to be true” category, but people are falling for it anyway. 

Here is how it works. A man received an e-mail message telling him that he had won an international lottery. He should have given some thought to whether or not he had actually entered an international lottery, but he did not. He replied to the company in order to claim his $50,000 prize. When he did so, he required to submit some personal information to the company. Then he was told that he would receive a cashier’s check in the mail and that he was to deposit the check into his bank account and send the money from the check via wire transfer to the lottery company. He did so at his own expense and awaited the lottery prize that he was sure would come in the mail soon.

Nothing came. Worse, the real-looking cashier’s check that he had deposited turned out to be fake. But he had already sent the money via the wire transfer, so the bank deducted the amount of the check from his bank account.

He was out the amount of the check, plus the amount of the wire transfer, plus the personal information that he had given the lottery company.

This scam works because United States banks are required to provide funds to their customers within ten business days. Unfortunately, it can take much longer than that for some cashier’s checks, especially those drawn on foreign banks, to clear. The bank will release the funds to the customer before they know whether or not the check is good. If the customer has spent the money or transferred it elsewhere in the meantime, they will be required to return the money to the bank.

This scam is turning up more and more often, and it is surprising to see how many well-intentioned people have fallen for it. This scam, like the Nigerian e-mail scam, and the recent increase in telemarketing fraud, takes advantage of the people’s greed. Anyone who takes a few minutes to think through something like this lottery scheme would realize that what they are being asked to do makes little, if any, sense. Why would someone who told you that you had won cash send you a check, ask you to cash it and then ask you to send them the money? Why couldn’t they just cash it themselves?

Consumers are urged to be careful when opening their e-mail. Just because someone tells you that you have won money, you shouldn’t assume that a windfall awaits you. This should be particularly true if the sender claims that you have won some “contest” that you don’t even remember entering in the first place.

There are a lot of scams out there. Be careful.

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