Internet fraud strikes in Tioga County

Date: February 20, 2004
Source: The Daily Review


The Pennsylvania State Police want to make the public aware of a fraud being perpetrated via Internet chat rooms, according to a press release from the Mansfield barracks.

The perpetrators of this fraud are often in another country, police said.
In this fraud, victims are engaged in conversation by the perpetrator, who eventually asks the victim if he or she would be willing to accept the delivery of a cashier's check, the press release states.
The victim is told that this cashier's check cannot be cashed in the perpetrator's home country, and asks if the victim will cash the check.
The victim is promised that he or she can keep a portion of the money from the cashed check, as long as he or she sends the remainder to the perpetrator.
The victim is asked to send the remaining cash via wire transfer.
The cashier's check is then mailed to the victim.
The victim cashes the check, keeps a portion, and sends the rest to the perpetrator via wire transfer.

It is only later that the victim discovers that the cashier's check is counterfeit, and the victim becomes responsible for repayment of the entire amount of the check to the bank.

Two separate incidents of this type have occurred in Tioga County within the past week, involving the amounts of $6,000 and $4,800, police said.
State police said they wanted to warn the public about this fraud, so that they may be better prepared to deal with it if they encounter it.

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