Quick Cash Scams Can Leave Your Identity Shattered

In the new age of digital technology, an old scam has been introduced with a new twist. There has been an increase in e-mails from foreign countries that promise a large amount of money for doing a relatively simple thing- cash checks.  

Most messages generally sound like this:  “We are an electronic sales company based in the U.K. We need someone to act as a sales representative by cashing our client’s checks. All you have to do is cash the checks and keep ten percent as a commission. If you have forty five minutes per week and a bank account, then you can earn thousands per month.” 

Here is the real deal. One such individual chose to take this “deal of a lifetime.” The checks arrived at the individual’s address. She received instructions to cash the checks and send the amount, less the commission via money transfer to “person A.” She took the checks to the bank and cashed them. She proceeded to wire $2,000 (as the commission was withheld). The next day, the bank notified her that the checks did not clear. She hurried to the place where the money was wired. Thankfully, the funds were not released, as the recipient could not identify the sender. All was saved, less a few bank fees for the bounced checks, but clearly the situation could have ended worse. She would’ve had to pay the lost money back to the bank and her credit would have been destroyed. True story. 

Protect your identity and your money by never receiving checks from unknown sources. Most of these scams are originating in Eastern Block and Soviet countries, as well as Nigeria and other parts of Africa. The scam artists receive information from career sights where resumes are posted. The sad part is there are no international laws to protect from such a scam.  

Don’t be fooled by opportunities to make easy money, for it will only result in loss of money and poor credit. Be careful as to where you post your resume and how you post it, as there are ways to post it without offering your e-mail address to others. Don’t offer your address, phone number or real name to any strangers that you do not know. There are ways to use these items to steal your identity. Protect yourself before the crime, rather than waiting for someone to do something that leaves you asking yourself, “why did I do that?”