Beware of Scams

In recent weeks, the Dalton Police Department has received many complaints about different types of scams.  That's why we want you be aware of these scams, so you can avoid being a victim. 

Here are some of the most common scams:

1.  Lottery Scam - This involves someone sending you a money order for a specific amount of money.  They then ask for approximately half to be sent back to process your lottery winnings.  The money order is no good but the account number is real.  The bank does not immediately determine it is a scam based on the real account number.  The scam is generally not discovered until the money order is returned as having non-sufficient funds.  By this time it is too late as your good money order is already on the way to them.

2.  Scams involving you selling something - This involves receiving more money than your asking price and then sending the overpayment back to them in the form of a money order.  The problem with this is the original money order you received is counterfeit.  Again, the account number is usually good so it is hard to identify it as part of a scam until it is too late.

3.  The third scam that is going around involves getting an email from someone posing as Paypal or Ebay.  According to the email, they notify you that someone has obtained your information and is using it.  They ask you to submit your personal banking information for verification.  Once they have your banking information, they can steal your money from that account.

So, how can you know if an offer is a scam?  If you can answer "yes" to any of these questions, you may be a target of a scam:

• Are the check proceeds for an item you sold on the Internet such as a car, boat, jewelry, etc.?
• Is the amount of the check more than the selling price of the items?
• Have you been instructed to "Wire" funds out of the country as soon as possible?
• Is the check from an individual you have communicated with via Email?
• Is the check drawn on a business or individual different from the person buying your item or product?
• Have you been informed that you were the winner in a lottery that you did not enter?
• Have you been asked to assist in the distribution of money from another country?

If you have any doubts about concerning a financial transaction or a solicitation, we ask that you contact law enforcement authorities or your financial institution for assistance.

Comments

[Gloria Gregory]

I just wanted to add to the scam information from the DPD.

Another scam that is circulating in this area is a fake check scam. This particular scam starts by sending the victim a letter stating that an out-of-country lottery has been won. There is also a fake check that accompanies the letter. The letter asks the victim to call an agent to verify the information in the letter and that the check is for a processing fee. The agent will ask the victim to deposit the check and send the funds via wire transfer to another person. This is to be done within 5 to 7 business days. What the victim does not know is that the check is not real and by the time the bank finds out, the victim is out of $3000 or more dollars.

My advice to anyone who knows that they have not entered any lottery via the internet, email, etc.--- get as much information on the company that sent the letter. If you have to call them, do that, it will speed up the investigation and the halt to these scams. Report the scam to the local authorities and to fraud.org or fakechecks.org

Please be safe and never share your personal information with anyone that you are not completely familiar with.

[David Morris]

As a rule of thumb, avoid ANY unsolicited request from an unknown source asking that funds be wired through a cash office (such as Western Union), for any reason. Such transfers are one of the favorite methods for scammers to separate victims from their money. It's virtually a "cash" transaction, offering none of the fraud protection and/or traceability of bank wire transfers, credit cards, or even check transactions. All it takes is someone with a fake ID to walk in and receive the cash wired to a fake name -- there's no other accountability and no way to reverse the transaction once completed.

Note that bank wire transfers work differently and are much safer, since typically the sender and receiver must have established bank accounts on either end to source/receive the funds, and thus their identities are subject to more rigorous scrutiny. When people speak of wire transfer fraud at the consumer level, they're almost always talking about "walk-in" cash office transactions.