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Washington, D.C.—Scams in which con
artists trick consumers into accepting phony checks or money
orders and wiring some of the money in return are increasing at
an alarming rate, according to the National Consumers League (NCL).
Today, NCL, America’s pioneer consumer advocacy organization,
has joined the Postal Inspection Service and other partners to
form the Alliance for Consumer Fraud Awareness and launch a
public awareness campaign aimed at helping consumers recognize
fake check scams and avoid becoming victims.
Since the National Consumers League added a fake check category
to its Fraud Center database in late 2003, these scams have
become the top telemarketing fraud and the second most common
Internet fraud reported to NCL. By September 15, 2007 NCL had
received more reports about fake check scams than in all of
2006, a 60 percent increase. NCL’s Fraud Center transmits
reports about telemarketing and Internet fraud to law
enforcement agencies in the U.S. and Canada.
Victims of fake check scams are losing an average of $3,000 to
$4,000, the cost of a used car or other major household
expenditure. The full extent of this fraud is unknown, but in a
telephone survey of 2,000 adults recently commissioned for the
Alliance, 35 percent of respondents said they had been
approached by someone who sent them a real-looking check and
asked them to send money somewhere in return. The good news is
that not everyone who is approached in a fake check scam falls
for it. According to NCL, only 28 percent of the consumers who
report fake check scams to its Fraud Center say they have
already sent the money. But if 35 percent of the adult
population in the U.S. is being exposed to fake check scams, and
if just 28 percent of those people were to send the money, more
than 21 million victims of the scam would be living in the
United States.
Because consumers are
responsible for the losses if the checks they deposit prove to
be phony – a fact that only a third of the respondents in the
Alliance survey got right – it’s crucial for them to know how to
recognize the hallmarks of this ever-changing fraud. NCL’s new
www.FakeChecks.org Web site, a focal point of the public
awareness campaign, features descriptions of the most common
variations of the scam and provides FAQs, tests that consumers
can take to gauge their vulnerability, and humorous videos to
get the key messages across to consumers.
“The most important thing consumers need to know to protect
themselves from fake check scams is that there is no legitimate
reason why anyone would give you a check or money order and ask
you to wire money anywhere in return,” said Susan Grant, NCL
Vice President, Public Policy. “No matter the details of the
scheme—whether they’re trying to purchase something from you,
asking for your help moving money around, or saying you’ve won a
foreign lottery—it’s a scam.”
NCL is pleased that many
major financial institutions have joined in this public
education campaign. Banks in particular are the first line of
defense in these scams, and NCL encourages them to communicate
better with their customers by explaining, when they ask if the
check has cleared, that just because the funds are available
does not mean the check is good and that the customer will be
responsible if it turns out to be phony.
NCL applauds the efforts
that law enforcement agencies are making to stop fake check
scams. The Postal Inspection Service announced today that more
than $2.1 billion in counterfeit checks bound for the U.S. were
recently seized and 77 arrests were made in the foreign
countries from which these scammers typically operate.
Consumer protection
agencies, organizations, and educators may access materials for
consumers, including an electronic campaign launch media kit,
from the home page of the site. To learn more about the schemes,
watch campaign videos, or learn how to report a suspected scam,
visit
www.fakechecks.org. |
