County Warns of ‘Mystery Shopper’ Scam
The Armstrong County District Attorney’s office is warning residents about a monetary scam that is finding its way into resident mailboxes.
A new monetary scam is circulating through Armstrong County that could potentially make residents have to pay back thousands of dollars.
In the scam, residents receive a United States Priority Mail envelope with a check and a letter of instructions to complete an exclusive Mystery Shopper opportunity.
After cashing or depositing a $2,790 check and equally sending it to a designated Maryland address – once by way of Western Union and another time via Money Gram –, as well as notifying the company via email that both money transfers have been made with appropriate routing numbers, residents are told they will receive about $225 in compensation, not including $70 in travel expenses.
What the letter doesn’t tell you, however, is that it is a fraudulent check from a reputable international bank and if they don’t get their money back, ‘shoppers’ will be harassed for the full amount.
Chief County Detective Paul Rearick combed through the letter and found subtle clues, including English mistakes and misspellings and mathematical and punctuation errors, that he said should raise people’s eyebrows.
“If you took this to the bank, it looks like a legitimate check,” Detective Rearick said.
Immediately after hearing about the ‘Mystery Shopper’ letter, a banking representative in the fraud prevention department identified it as a scam.
“They change the routing numbers all the time – they pick different banks, and there’s no way of knowing the bank accounts. They make counterfeit checks and send them to people,” the representative said.
The check to one local resident was supposedly issued by a legitimate bank with more than 700 bank branches in the Northeastern United States, as well as tens of thousands worldwide.
The letter also asks residents not to tell banking officials of their intent and to assess the teller how they performed and how long it took them to carry out the transaction in secret. Detective Rearick said some banks will hold on to large monetary checks to double-check on its authenticity and protect its customers.
“It says to note all that information, but it never asks you to send it to them. If you’re supposedly evaluating your bank, why aren’t they asking you to send them this information?” Detective Rearick said. “It doesn’t matter to them.”
Rearick advised residents to simply throw such letters away since the senders can not be tracked.
If any residents receive questionable letters, concerns can be addressed to the District Attorney’s office
Local News | KP NewsDesk March 18, 2015
