HOME   LINKS   SITEMAP    CONTACT US

February 15, 2007

SCAM ALERT: Quality Assurance Analyst

Recently, companies have been advertising to local residents the promise of extra income in return for evaluating businesses that operate locally.  After responding to the advertisement, residents are contacted by mail with what looks to be a legitimate cashier’s check and instructions to evaluate a money wiring service.  The resident is asked to quickly deposit the check, send money through the wire service of the business noted, and then evaluate the customer service of that business.  The cashiers check sent with the instructions, it said to cover both the cost of the money order and payment to the resident for the evaluation.  Little does the resident know, the cashiers check is fraudulent and the money they have sent by wire transfer is being picked up by a thief.     

This scam has been brought to the attention of the Washington County Sheriff's Office and while some of the details have been changed, the basic scam remains.  If you receive a cashiers check in the mail and you do not personally know the sender, always treat it as if it were fraudulent.  Take the cashiers check to your personal financial institution and have them check the validity of the check.  This process does not take long and can save you thousands of dollars.  Remember to beware of companies that pressure you to “act now, think later”.  It is very easy for people to ignore red flags that would normally alert them to a scam when the promise of making quick money is offered.  It is extremely important that you take the time to thoroughly research any offer, especially ones that involve money.  Tracking the people responsible for these types of scams has proved to be extremely difficult and sometimes impossible given the lack of paper trail involved with money wire transfers. Taking these very basic steps will help ensure your money stays safe and your peace of mind is not threatened.  “It is heartbreaking when I sit down with someone who has lost hundreds to thousands of dollars in one of these scams”, states Sheriff Haddock.  “We exhaust every lead we have and at the end of day these thieves are professionals at hiding their tracks.  Our best advice is to be alert to prevent this situation from occurring in the first place.”