Other LanguagesAccording to the Consumer Federation of America, 1 in 3 American adults has received a counterfeit check, and of those, 2 percent actually deposit the checks and send money to the scammers.
"That's about the same response that a legitimate direct marketer would get," CFA's Susan Grant told KOMO TV. "And that means that at least 1.3 million people in the United States have been victims."
Consumer reporter Connie Thompson reports on 10 ways that phony check scammers track you down so they can then try to lure you into cashing a check and sending them money.
Among their tactics:
- Phony sweepstakes, lotteries and prize drawings compel you to fill out entry forms.
- Telemarketers coax you out of information to build mailing lists.
- Respond to your classified ads.
- Get you to respond to bogus surveys online.
- Pretending to be your soul mate on dating sites.
- Friending you on social networking sites.
- Government grants.
- Job offers.
- Fake charity appeals.
- Work at home schemes.
{UPDATE: Since so many readers have asked about where to report fake check scams, I'm adding these resources:}
- MAIL FRAUD: U.S. Postal Inspection Service, call 1-800-372-8347 or file a complaint online.
- TELEMARKETING FRAUD: Phonebusters, the Canadian anti-fraud call center: 1-888-495-8501, www.phonebusters.com
- SPAM: The Federal Trade Commission, spam@uce.gov
- INTERNET CRIMES: FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center, http://www.ic3.gov/complaint/
Submitted by Holly Martinez on