Victim Location 75028
Type of a scam Fake Check/Money Order
Today I got a Priority Mail from someone named José Manual in Puerto Rico.
I opened it up and I was congratulated on being chosen for a Secret Shopper. There was an instruction sheet and a Cashiers Check for $2900.42! All I had to do was deposit the check, and go buy $2500 worth of eBay gift cards at grocery stores, Best Buy, drug stores…anywhere that sells eBay gift cards.
I then had to scratch off the silver block on the back revealing the PIN and scan front and back of the cards to a web URL, answer some questions about where I bought the cards and keep the $400.
Cynic that I am I looked at the check, which was drawn on a St Louis credit union. No indication of the account owner on the check.
I went to WHOIS on the web to check the URL where I was to report this. It was 2 months old and owner is in the Netherlands.
I called the credit union, and they told me "Yes, this is a scam, we have people calling from all over the world about this."
The check is bogus, and if I had deposited they would probably make the funds available immediately since it says it is a cashier’s check.
The letter also says that if I complete the assignment within 24-28 hours I will get a bonus check for $150. If I had then spent $2500 on gift cards, and sent the info to the URL, they then could have used the gift cards by the time the banking system debits it back out of my account as bogus. I would still out the bucks when they disallow the deposit.
Victim Location 74008
Type of a scam Fake Check/Money Order
It was a mystery shopper scam. They said i would receive a $400 payment plus expenses. I was texted to see if I had received the package in the mail. I received a priority package in the mail which contained a sheet telling me to deposit the check that was enclosed. The check was for $2900.42. Then they wanted me to go buy $2500 worth of eBay gift cards. Then they said report on the stores service and the cashier. They instructed me to scratch off the silver on the back of the cards and take a picture of the front and back of the cards and email it to them but told me to keep the cards to use in my next assignment. I called the bank listed on the check which was St. Louis Community Credit Union and the lady told me the check was not real. The guy that texted me said he wanted me to complete the assignment today and was pushing for me to deposit the check through mobile deposit. I asked him what was the rush. He claimed he was just trying to help me get a bonus of $150. He said his name was Steven Rodgers. Phone number is 612-470-2168. One of my friend’s LinkedIn account was hacked and I received the initial email supposedly from him.
Victim Location 81008
Type of a scam Fake Check/Money Order
I received a check for $2900 to buy eBay gift cards in amounts of 2500 the cards were to be used for a later assignment complete an email and keep 400