Internet check scam
Date: October 01, 2004Source: ABC12.com
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Mid Michigan – The local office of the FBI is warning consumers about an Internet scam. At least three people in the Tri-Cities area are out thousands of dollars.
How much did they lose? According to the Bay City FBI, one person in the tri cities has lost $9,000. Someone else lost $24,000, and a third person is out $54,000.
Joel Feick explained how the scam works.
According to a local FBI task force, the operators of the scam convince you they need people to help them wire money quickly throughout the world.
Here's how it works: They send you a check for as much as $100,000. It typically arrives via FedEx. Then you agree to wire transfer $95,000 out of your account.
You get to keep the $5,000, right? One big problem: The check they sent you is fraudulent, stolen and forged. It never clears and you're left holding the bag.
The company operates under the name Xian Energy Sot. It goes out of its way to tell people they're a valid business and they even have the documents to back it up. But the FBI says those documents are a bunch of hooey.
People in Mid Michigan are wondering how they got taken for thousands of dollars.
The FBI's Walt Reynolds says there are so many problems with Internet crime that they sent up a special unit: the Mid Michigan Area Computer Crimes Task Force.
They are tracking this particular scam and say it may originate in a Russian bank.
So what do you do if you feel like you've been ripped off on the internet? The FBI has set up an Internet Fraud Complaint Center.
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