Posted: 11/22/05
ìSecret Shopperî scam hits Minnesota
by T.W. Budig
ECM capitol reporter
People are looking to make a little extra money before Christmas ó so are scam artists.
State and U.S. Postal officials are warning Minnesotans not to fall victim to a secret shopper scam that has been active in Minnesota.
According to state Financial Crimes Task Force Business Coordinator John McCullough, over the past four days seven major complaints have reached his office from Minnesotans caught up in a scam ó six lost money, said McCullough, speaking at the Capitol press conference on Thursday (Nov. 17).
Scam artists use radio, the Internet, newspaper ads, tack signs to telephone polls to lure their potential victims, he explained.
One Waconia woman enmeshed in a secret shopper scam in late October responded to an ad in a metro daily.
The unsuspecting victim received a legitamate-looking packet ó a packet that included a code of business conduct and ethics page ó and a cashierís check for $2,830.
They could earn $200 for completing a probational training assignment, they were told.
The victim was to pose as a customer to evaluate the effectiveness of the ìMoneyGramî payment system.
As part of the evaluation, they were to cash the enclosed check and wire $2500 to an address in Canada.
The problem was that the enclosed check was worthless.
The Waconia woman discovered that at the bank.
But according to McCullough, many of these advance worthless checks, which appear with legitimate banking numbers on them, are often successfully cashed.
It can take more than a month for these checks to work their way through the banking system and be returned, he noted.
Donít become a fallguy ó a check cashing service ó for the bunko artist, McCullough warned.
ìThatís essentially what youíre doing,î said McCullough. ìYou become a check cashing store,î he said.
Either the bank or the victim takes a loss when such a scam succeeds.
ìYouíll never hear from them again,î McCullough said of the scam artists.
Scam artists, criminals, take Americans for billions every year.
In 2003 it was estimated that 38 percent of the money grams going into Canada were fraudulent.
Yet international scams are run from many different countries, said McCullough.
Indeed, criminals will communicate with each, tipping one and other off which cities theyíre working.
ìIf youíre wiring money out of the country, and youíve never heard of the party, chances are youíre going to lose your money,î said McCullough.
Sen. Satveer Chaudhary, DFL-Fridley, warned Minnesotans to remember that if something seems too good to be true, it probably is.
Chaudhary, who has been active in the field consumer protection, called the Capitol press conference.
Caledonia Argus
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