Olympia - The Internet has proven to be a rich field of operation for con artists, and now fraud reporting organizations are warning Internet sellers about a scam that involves “over-payment” by check for expensive items such as cars, boats, or antiques. Often, the fraud involves foreign money exchanges via Western Union, which may give the victim some sense of protection but no real security.
In a typical scenario, the seller is sent a fraudulent check in payment for goods and then asked to return the “change,” which may be thousands of dollars more than the actual price of the item. Usually, the seller’s refund to the buyer is also in the form of a check – a legitimate one – and only later does the seller find out the original check was bogus.
The over-payment scheme is also being used in a variation of the infamous “Nigerian Letter” fraud, which attempts to get banking information from individuals in the U.S. on the pretext of using them to transfer large amounts of funds to this country. In the newest twist on this old scam, the victim is sent a large check by someone in Nigeria (or other foreign country). The victim is asked to cash the check, keep part of the money as a commission and return the rest. Again, the victim finds out too late that the original check was no good.
For more information about Internet fraud, visit the Internet Fraud Complaint Center at www.ic3.gov.