Check scam hits eBay, Craigslist
After receiving several complaints from victims of scam artists on buy-and-sell Web sites Craigslist and eBay, Attorney General Richard Blumenthal has issued a warning urging consumers not to be taken in by "check overpayment" or "money wiring" appeals.
The unsuspecting victims were duped in spite of explicit warnings posted on Craigslist, eBay, and other Web sites that allow direct purchases and sales, Blumenthal said.
In the most common scam, a "buyer," often from overseas, offers to send a check for more than an item is worth and then asks the seller to deposit the check and return what's left over, often by money wire. The seller agrees, and, after returning the supposed overage, the original check bounces.
Blumenthal urged several steps for consumers to protect themselves, particularly avoiding any transaction that requires the seller to send or return any money to a buyer.
"The cloak of the Internet makes fertile ground for fraud in these purchasing forums," Blumenthal said.
"An informed and cautious consumer is the front-line defense against Internet scams, virtually the only defense, because it is often impossible to track down and identify a person through an e-mail address."
Blumenthal recommends the following steps when buying and selling online:
* Don't assume a check is valid just because it looks legitimate.
* Know with whom you're dealing. Independently confirm a buyer's name, street address, and telephone number. Be especially wary of selling to people who appear to live in a foreign country.
* When selling something over the Internet or through a newspaper ad, refuse to take a check for more than the selling price, no matter how tempting the plea or convincing the story.
* Don't wire money back to anyone.
...
For further assistance:
* Contact the National Fraud Information Center/Internet Fraud Watch at
www.fraud.org
a service of the National Consumers League, or call 800-876-7060.
* Contact the Federal Trade Commission at 877-382-4357 or at
https://rn.ftc.gov/pls/dod/wsolcq$.startup?Z_ORG_CODE=PU01
* Contact the Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) at
www.ic3.gov
The IC3 is an alliance between the National White Collar Crime Center and the FBI to address crime committed over the Internet and is designed to provide an easy way to alert authorities of a violation. For law enforcement and regulatory agencies, IC3 provides a central repository for complaints related to Internet crime, uses the information to quantify patterns, and provides timely statistical data of current trends.
In the most common scam, a "buyer," often from overseas, offers to send a check for more than an item is worth and then asks the seller to deposit the check and return what's left over, often by money wire. The seller agrees, and, after returning the supposed overage, the original check bounces.
Blumenthal urged several steps for consumers to protect themselves, particularly avoiding any transaction that requires the seller to send or return any money to a buyer.
"The cloak of the Internet makes fertile ground for fraud in these purchasing forums," Blumenthal said.
"An informed and cautious consumer is the front-line defense against Internet scams, virtually the only defense, because it is often impossible to track down and identify a person through an e-mail address."
Blumenthal recommends the following steps when buying and selling online:
* Don't assume a check is valid just because it looks legitimate.
* Know with whom you're dealing. Independently confirm a buyer's name, street address, and telephone number. Be especially wary of selling to people who appear to live in a foreign country.
* When selling something over the Internet or through a newspaper ad, refuse to take a check for more than the selling price, no matter how tempting the plea or convincing the story.
* Don't wire money back to anyone.
...
For further assistance:
* Contact the National Fraud Information Center/Internet Fraud Watch at
www.fraud.org
a service of the National Consumers League, or call 800-876-7060.
* Contact the Federal Trade Commission at 877-382-4357 or at
https://rn.ftc.gov/pls/dod/wsolcq$.startup?Z_ORG_CODE=PU01
* Contact the Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) at
www.ic3.gov
The IC3 is an alliance between the National White Collar Crime Center and the FBI to address crime committed over the Internet and is designed to provide an easy way to alert authorities of a violation. For law enforcement and regulatory agencies, IC3 provides a central repository for complaints related to Internet crime, uses the information to quantify patterns, and provides timely statistical data of current trends.
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