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USPS targets check fraud
By BRIAN PORTER, Staff Writer
Families are feeling the crunch from rising prices at the pump, higher prices in grocery stores and rising costs of home utilities. When there seems to be no relief in sight, a financial windfall comes as a blessing.
It often comes in the form of a fraudulent check, officials with a new national alliance say, and what appeared to be a windfall may indeed lead to financial hardship or even bankruptcy.
The U.S. Postal Service has joined with U.S. Customs and Border Protection and the U.S. Attorney to combat check fraud, but they need the help of citizens across the nation.
Mailings through the U.S. Postal Service and through various means on the Internet are costing Americans billions of dollars, officials said Wednesday in the unveiling of a website to address fraud. Locally, $740 million in counterfeit checks have been seized since the alliance was formed in April 2007.
There have been 188 search warrants issued for foreign mail entry through Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport since April. A majority of the correspondence comes from Canada, Germany, Great Britain and Nigeria.
“This is a scam,” Papageorge said. “It can come in various means n online, through someone posing as a prospective roommate, mail, email and even in lonely hearts chat rooms. Regardless of the pitch, the result is you will receive a fraudulent check.”
That’s where the scam begins. Many consumers cash the checks and then follow instructions to send money to the original sender of the fraudulent check. Days and sometimes weeks later the checks are found to be fraudulent and consumers end up losing out on the scam.
“For the past 25 years, I have seen people victimized by fraud,” said Richard Roper, U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas. “The good thing about this initiative is it is crime prevention. These counterfeit check scams have got to stop.”
Through FakeChecks.org, the national alliance is hoping to further combat fraudulent checks received by consumers. Information pertaining to fraudulent checks is provided, along with an opportunity to file a complaint online for fraudulent checks received.
Combating the issuance of fraudulent checks through the mail is not as simple as just removing those parcels. Mailings with first-class postage cannot be removed by the postal service.
“We can’t open it,” Papageorge said. “A lot of times we depend on consumers to contact us. A lot of this contact doesn’t come through the mail initially. The Internet brings anonymity and so it is being used.”
A first indication that the check could be fraudulent is overseas postage, Papageorge said. She also indicates that consumers should keep in mind that winning a lottery they did not enter is also an indication that the check is fraudulent.
The Internet is also being used to begin the fraudulent mail scheme. Many of the parcels of mail determined to be fraudulent are under the guise of being from American companies which are household names with their letterhead. Some which were uncovered were from insurance companies and professional sports organizations. Many of the mailings include grammatical and typographical errors, which give them away, Papageorge says. All of the mailings promise money and all require money to be sent back to the sender.
“It may look real,” Roper said. “People should think twice when they open something in the mail. Some of these people are on fixed incomes that are being targeted and $2,500 to $5,000 lost could be the difference in whether they can eat or not.”
While the program is specifically aimed at education, Roper is asking consumers to remember elderly neighbors, friends and family members and courage them to exercise caution. More information is available at FakeChecks.org.
Contact Brian Porter at bporter@acnpapers.com.
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