Beware of Computer Scams

We've all seen those ads in the "Help Wanted" sections of The Pennysaver and The Yankee Trader. Sometimes we come across them on craigslist. Others find them delivered as unsolicited e-mails.

The ads claim to have a great need for "secret shoppers" who will earn good money by making some undercover purchases and then filing reports about the service, the store and the quality of the goods being sold. Inevitably interested persons are directed to websites and are asked to fill out a form.  One of the questions concerns your personal bank account.  Hmm… why would they want that information?

As someone who actually filled out the form, I can attest that the reason for this question is because the company who wants your services tells you they need to have you report on the local Western Union location and will be sending you not one, but TWO money orders totaling $1,580 that they want you to deposit in your personal account. You are to keep $300 for your time, withdraw the rest from your account and send a money order for $1,580 to someone in London. Of course, this has to be done quickly.

Three hundred dollars for that little work?  It sounds too good to be true.

"If it sounds too good to be true, it is too good to be true," are the words of Detective Sgt. John P. Cowie of Suffolk County's Computer Crimes Section.  The money orders that I received were bogus, although Cowie comments that "they're pretty good copies" but they lacked the embossing that most money orders feature in the "amount" space.

Also, the name and address of the purchaser on the money order were completely different from those of the person who sent them to me by Federal Express. They supposedly came from two different states. Without a doubt, this was a fraud and I could have been out almost $2,000 had I not caught on. 

The whole scam depends on an unsuspecting applicant and an equally unsuspecting bank teller, who would deposit the fake money orders into your account and then allow a withdrawal of $1,580 that gets sent abroad.  When it's discovered that these are not authentic money orders, the applicant is out over fifteen hundred dollars.

In a conversation at Police Headquarters in Yaphank, Sgt. Cowie and Detective Rory Forrestal, tell the story of an elderly lady who was very trusting and didn't notice the red flags that were to be found in the scheme.

"It was a somewhat different scam, resulting in her losing tens of thousands of dollars," the sergeant remarks. "It was tragic."

What should a person do if they think they've been scammed?  Cowie states, "It needs to be reported.  You can do this at the local police or on-line to the Internet Crime Complaint Center (the "IC3"). There's just so much spam and so many people looking to take people away from their money."

Forrestal adds, "It's very important not to respond at all.  By responding you basically tell them that your e-mail address is alive. Once they know it's alive and someone is reading the spam they're sending, they'll hand you off to the next fraud desk." 

Cowie adds, "Now they can come back to you with more force and maybe find a little more info about you. If you don't recognize an address that's come into your Inbox, it is important to delete it. They send you those e-mails so they can get into your computer. That can even lead to identity theft."

Repeating what he said earlier, Cowie remarked, "If it sounds too good to be true, it is.  There's no such thing as easy money.  You need to be extremely cautious."

To contact the Internet Crime Complain Center, click here.