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Scam Artist Strikes Senior Citizen With Fake Bank
Check in Mail
Are small towns becoming targets for sophisticated
scam
May 7, 2005 - A check for more than $4,700 made out to an elderly
Poplar Bluff, Missouri, woman may have looked official, but it wasn't,
according to a story by Michelle Friedrich, Associate Editor of the
Poplar Bluff Daily American Republic.
The 65-year-old woman, according to Poplar Bluff
Police Capt. Jeff Rolland, was a victim of a scam, writes Friedrich.
"She received a letter from Colonial Trust, which
is located in Toronto, Canada," Rolland explained. "The letter contained
a check for $4,725."
The letter instructed the woman to call an account
representative to collect a larger sum of money, but "you don't have an
account manager," Rolland said.
"Like all scams, it starts off pressuring (the
person) by saying this is the second and final notice," Rolland said.
"That leads people to believe if they don't act immediately, they'll be
out money."
Rolland said the letter further said Colonial Trust
had secured for the woman, through its financial sponsors, the required
money to pay taxes and service charges required with winning, "saving
you the trouble of trying to raise the necessary required amount."
The woman, according to the letter, was one of 25
to split $2,689,698 and was to receive a "total pay-out" of $48,903.65,
which was to be wired into the her bank account.
After receiving the letter and check Monday,
Rolland said, the woman did the right thing by contacting authorities.
The check indicates it was issued by Commerce Bank
of Arizona in Tucson, Ariz.
The generated check, according to Rolland, appears
to be an "authentic document from a company, but you are to call them
and provide information to them."
Detective David Sutton, who is the lead
investigator on this case, called the telephone number included in the
letter, Rolland said. When Sutton told the person who answered at the
number why he wanted information, the person hung up.
Further, Sutton contacted bank officials at the
Commerce Bank of Arizona.
Rolland said Commerce Bank officials there said
they have been inundated with calls from numerous law enforcement
agencies across the country about similar checks.
"They said it's a forged check and it is not
authorized or issued by the bank," Rolland explained. "They, in turn,
notified the FBI."
Rolland described this scam as being a variation of
a telephone scam where a caller asks for personal and bank account
information because the person has won a contest and the information is
needed in order for the prize to be claimed.
Rolland suspects this letter was one of probably a
mass mailing sent across the country.
"They've forged a check to get personal information
and account numbers so they can to steal your money," he said. "Multiply
it by the entire country and the odds of receiving information greatly
increases."
With a legitimate sweepstakes, lottery or charities
holding contests where they raffle cash as prizes, "you are not required
to provide personal bank account numbers or money to claim the prizes,"
Rolland explained.
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