August 18, 2005
Media Contact: Jenn Meale
Phone: (850) 245-0150
Crist Warns of New Scam Involving Bogus Government Checks
TALLAHASSEE - Attorney General Charlie Crist today warned Floridians to avoid a new scam that has surfaced in Florida and at least 17 other states over the past week involving forged documents that appear to be official checks issued by the State of Arkansas. The scam can victimize individuals or businesses that cash the checks, costing the victims several thousand dollars.
The scam targets individuals who post resumes online, primarily at the Careerbuilder.com website. These individuals receive email messages that purport to be from a European computer company interested in hiring them. The "company" claims to do business with clients in the United States but needs someone in the U.S. to help process checks it has received from those clients. One of the supposed clients is the State of Arkansas.
If the target agrees, he is sent two forged State of Arkansas checks made out in his name, one for $2,800 and the other for $2,400. The checks are high-grade forgeries of an actual State of Arkansas check and may not be detected until they are rejected by a bank, by which time it is too late. Unlike a more common check-cashing scheme, in which victims are instructed to deposit a check into their own account and then wire money from that account, in this scam the recipients are told to cash the checks and then wire most of the money to the "company."
One sure sign of the scam, Crist said, is that the recipients are directed to avoid banks and instead use check-cashing businesses, liquor stores or similar businesses willing to convert the "Arkansas" check into cash. As a result, Florida businesses that agree to cash the bogus checks risk losing the entire amount when the State of Arkansas treasury refuses to honor them.
"This is yet another example of scam artists targeting trusting citizens in order to steal their money," said Crist. "This scam takes the public's confidence in checks issued by the government and turns it on its head. Floridians and Florida businesses should be diligent to make sure they are not victimized by this audacious scheme."
According to the Arkansas Attorney General's Office, the scam appears to be based in Turkey, with possible connections to Latvia and Russia. Arkansas is working with federal authorities to investigate, and has determined that so far the scam has quickly spread throughout the nation. While reports of check sitings in Florida have surfaced, the Attorney General's Office has not yet received complaints from any victims.