Police warn residents of money-order scams

By Greg Jones, staff writer

Local law enforcement officials are urging the public to be cautious of money-order scams being perpetrated on some Valley residents.

There have been two unsuccessful attempts to defraud people from Graham County after they tried to sell items on the popular Internet auction site Ebay.

Two individuals, one selling a motorcycle and the other selling a car, received notice from international buyers wanting to send money orders for the vehicles.

Both individuals eventually received the money orders, and both were very suspicious because the amount of the money order was far greater than the item being sold. They were told to cash the money orders, keep 10 to 15 percent for themselves and wire the money back.

If it sounds too good to be true, that's because it is, Safford Police Chief John Griffin said.

"Of course, those money orders are counterfeit," he said. "It's a fraud. Someone else is making money, and you ain't."

The scam is a variance of the "Nigerian Letter" or "419" fraud schemes -- the name comes from the fact that most letters of this kind originate in Nigeria, and 419 refers to the section of the Nigerian penal code that addresses fraud.

While the specifics of the different schemes vary, there are several similarities among them.

According to the U.S. Secret Service, victims are often convinced of the authenticity of the forged or false documents because they are on apparently official Nigerian government letterheads with fake seals and are sometimes accompanied by false letters of credit, payment schedules and bank drafts.

Thatcher Police Chief Mike McEuen said people who fall victim to the money-order scam can lose thousands of dollars. He said they cash the money orders into their bank accounts and send money orders back to the con artists, but when the bank can't verify the legitimacy of the original money orders, the money is deducted from the victim's account.

According to a Secret Service fact sheet, "A large number of victims are enticed into believing they have been singled out from the masses to share in multimillion-dollar windfall profits for doing absolutely nothing.

"The goal of the criminal is to delude the target into thinking that he is being drawn into a very lucrative, albeit questionable, arrangement.

"The letter, while appearing transparent and even ridiculous to most, unfortunately is growing in its effectiveness. The fraudster will eventually reach someone who, while skeptical, desperately wants the deal to be genuine."

Griffin and McEuen said the success of the scam depends entirely on people's desires to make a quick, easy dollar.

"It works on greed," McEuen said. "We want people to know if something looks too good to be true, it probably isn't true."

He said the scheme is alarming, and usually the money lost cannot be recovered, either because the perpetrator can't be located, or because the foreign government on whose soil the crime originated is unwilling or unable to prosecute offenders.

Griffin and McEuen cautioned Valley residents not to let greed cloud their judgment.

"There ain't no free money out there," Griffin said.

To contact Greg Jones, call 428-2560 (ext. 234) or e-mail him at gjones@eacourier.com.