I read in USA Today that there is a problem with Check Scams. The scammer pretends that you won a Sweepstakes or will get a lot of money, then sends you a bad check and then asks you to return a percentage of the money as a "tax or fee." The check deposit arrives in your bank account so you think it's real. Then, shortly afterwards, it bounces - but you've already sent money back to the scammer. The newspaper advised people not to fall for this one and that there is no reason you would need to send a percentage of money back to someone. Has anyone heard of this practice?
I've gotten this twice, first time the check was made out to "Don T Call" and of course I was tipped off immediately that someone got my name from a website I opted into at one point or another. The second one I got was made out to my husband, not sure how they got his name. The points to look for that is usual with these is #1 - the postal stamp is from a different state or even different country than where the check is written from. That's a tip off right there that something isn't right. The other thing is that you should be able to look up the company from who it says the check is from and verify if anything is real, which it usually won't be because it's a forged check. Remember, if it doesn't feel right, it probably isn't so dig in and find out before you find yourself out of thousands of dollars. Karen Umstattd
