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What is this?
Natchez man avoids getting scammed
Published Tuesday, September 30, 2008
NATCHEZ — When Chris Jackson received a check in the mail for $4,875 it seemed too good to be true — it turns out it was.
The check, issued by Mutual of Omaha Bank, was supposedly the award for a Visa and MasterCard sweepstakes. The check was to be used to pay the taxes on the winning. Jackson was then supposed to contact the awards committee and tell them the bank account information so they could deposit the rest of the money.
“It looked legit, it really did,” Jackson said. “I’ve entered sweepstakes. I was excited, I was shocked really. And that’s when I thought, ‘let me check this out.’”
The contest letter listed several major sponsors, including McDonalds, Target and Walgreens. A bank employee also told him the check looked real.
“The thing that made me doubt it was, they said ‘have you used your Visa in the last eight months?’ and I haven’t had a Visa in two years,” Jackson said. “When I called Mutual of Omaha they said, ‘Oh no, don’t cash that check.’ They said it just happened to another lady in Florida the day before I called here.”
After the scammers got bank account information, they would begin making withdrawals, bank representatives told Jackson. They would take out the original $5,000 and then continue to make bad withdrawals until the account was frozen, causing major credit problems.
The letter came in a plain white envelope with the name Omaha Corporation, LTD. It also listed the phone number, 1-647-219-1858.
If someone gets one of these letters they should contact the police, their local bank and the banks that issued the check, a representative of Mutual of Omaha Banks said. They could also simply shred the check.
“They’re definitely investigating on our end,” the representative said. “We’ve seen some of that here in the last month or so. I think as our name went national, people took advantage of it.”
Natchez Police Sgt. Craig Godbold said that if one of these checks comes in the mail, it should simply be thrown away.
“If they get a check for nothing, that’s usually what it’s worth — nothing,” he said.
Comments
Posted by annuity (anonymous) on September 30, 2008 at 8:15 a.m. (Suggest removal)
When they find out who did this, have a quick trial and public execution in the town square either by hanging or firing squad.
Posted by bellesouth (anonymous) on September 30, 2008 at 8:30 a.m. (Suggest removal)
It might be better to put a big fat VOID on that check and then save it for evidence later.
Posted by Fonzarosa (anonymous) on September 30, 2008 at 8:37 a.m. (Suggest removal)
They live in Africa
Posted by Teach4Peace (anonymous) on September 30, 2008 at 8:56 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Good call Chris. Scams only work on people who want something for nothing and are WILLING to be gullible without following through on the legitimacy of the sweepstakes. In this case Chris knew he hadn't had a Visa in 2 years, this is what tipped him off.
Posted by cchat123 (anonymous) on September 30, 2008 at 10:12 a.m. (Suggest removal)
PEOPLE: NO ONE SENDS FREE MONEY...NO ONE .PLEASE LEARN ONE THING. YOU DON'T RECEIVE FREE MONEY(PERIOD)
EVEN WHEN YOU GAMBLE FOR IT ...YOU FIRST MUST PAY WHETHER YOU PUT YOUR CASH IN A SLOT MACHINE, DOWN ON A CARD TABLE OR PAYING FOR A LOTTO TICKET. YOU PAY-YOU MAY GET PAID.
SO WHEN YOU GET A CHECK IN THE MAIL AND YOU KNOW YOU HAVEN'T PAID FOR IT OR WORK FOR IT...PUT THE CHECK IN THE
TRASH. END OF THE LESSON
Posted by grrbrts (anonymous) on September 30, 2008 at 10:21 a.m. (Suggest removal)
I agree with you, "bellesouth."
Shred the check!
Are you kidding?
That is indeed, evidence!
Posted by happybunny (anonymous) on September 30, 2008 at 11:22 a.m. (Suggest removal)
This happens almost daily and in many variations. The amounts are generally between $4-5 thousand and the checks look very real.
The banks should be aware of this and if they tell you it's a fraud, be thankful they saved you from being scammed.
As far as saving the checks for evidence...this is pointless. These folks are all over the globe and there are simply to many fraudulent checks out there to investigate.
The best thing to do if you receive one, is to go see you bank officer and let them research it for you. I guarantee they have seen it before, many times.
Posted by obamayamama (anonymous) on September 30, 2008 at 12:04 p.m. (Suggest removal)
That Craig, he's such a joker.
Posted by cooper3k1 (anonymous) on September 30, 2008 at 2:27 p.m. (Suggest removal)
It has happened to us from trying to sell a set of professional drums on Ebay. The person sent a cashier's check for more than $3000 above the asking price and they wanted us to send the difference back to them. HA! We definitely did not do that! We just kept the check and sent them an email letting them know that knew they were scammers. The address for person sending the email was different than where they said it was being sent to, and also the address from where the check was mailed from was different. We have had this happen several times since then and we can always tell a scammer. They always offer to send someone to pick up the merchandise. There are so many scams going around that I doubt that they will ever catch all of them before they financially hurt someone.
Posted by meluvcookies (anonymous) on September 30, 2008 at 3:22 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I get emails oftentimes from Africa and elsewhere stating that Mr. such-and-such has died and has no family to leave his huge bank account to and would like to send it to...none other than us! Ha!! It goes on to say to click on the link for more information. We never click on the link because we know they'll be asking for our bank account information in which to "deposit our inheritance". I simply delete it but it's amazing that this has happened several times! People, use your heads. If it sounds too good to be true, it is!
Posted by presby (anonymous) on September 30, 2008 at 7:48 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Don,t trust anybody that calls on the phone or sends you something free in the mail. Don,t give out any info. Your bank doesn,t need it,they already have it and don,t give account info on the phone to anyone.
Posted by babygotback (anonymous) on October 1, 2008 at 4:19 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Way to Go! Stop them in their tracks!
Posted by humorme (anonymous) on October 1, 2008 at 4:37 p.m. (Suggest removal)
For Sale: Bridge linking the cities of Natchez, MS & Vidalia, LA.
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