Scam and Fraud

The DeKalb Police Department wishes to remind citizens of a number of frauds that continue to be perpetrated here and throughout the United States.

 The “Canadian (Netherlands, El Gordo Spanish, or other) Lottery” scam begins when the victim is notified that he has won a substantial amount of money.  Initial contact with the victim can be made through email, postal mail, or the telephone.  This alleged lottery win is despite the fact that the victim has never entered a Sweepstakes.  The winnings cannot be forwarded until the victim comes up with some money to cover insurance, taxes, fees, or some other bogus reason.  The newest variant of this fraud makes the offer even more enticing as the con artists include a counterfeit check (which the victim ends up reimbursing his bank for) to help defray the expenses.  The money to cover the expenses is forwarded to the con artist via Western Union or some other untraceable method.  Often it is transferred out of the United States.  Once the victim forwards any money, the con artists will continue to come up with additional reasons why the victim must send more money.  The process continues until the victim either realizes he has been defrauded, or he runs out of money.

The “overpayment scam” is one in which the con artist contacts the victim to purchase an item the citizen has advertised “for sale” either in the newspapers, on ebay, or on the Internet.  The potential victim receives a communication in which the buyer offers to purchase the item with a check written for well over the sale amount.  The crook mails a check to the seller that usually has two serious defects. First, it is counterfeit, meaning it is an unauthorized check drawn upon a legitimate account. Second, it is written for an amount far above the agreed upon price. The crook comes up with a creative excuse as to why the check was not written for the correct amount.  The crook then convinces the victim to deposit the check and then wire transfer excess funds back to the crook.  If the victim wires funds to the crook and/or ships the goods before discovering the check is counterfeit, the scam is successful and the victim is stuck with a large loss. It may take up to 15 days for a counterfeit to be discovered and returned.

Yet another variant of this scam occurs when a citizen responds to a job offer on the Internet.  The potential employer offers to pay the new employee with a check written for well over the amount of salary, with the remainder to be wire transferred back to Russia or somewhere else outside the United States.

A third variant occurs when the victim either responds to a job offer or when the victim is contacted regarding employment he is seeking.  The offered employment will involve the cashing of checks.  The new employee gets to retain 10% of the face value while the remainder is wire transferred somewhere outside the United States.  As usual, the checks are counterfeit and the new “employee” will be liable for the money his bank fronted.

In “gypsy scams” subjects offering to perform some kind of work in the victim’s house or yard will approach the victim, who is invariably elderly.  The offered service can involve tree-trimming, utility work, seal-coating, or almost any other kind of work.  The offered service is only a ruse to distract the victim.  While one of the “workers” distracts the victim his associate will gain entry to the residence.  Once inside, the subjects will locate where the victim hides their valuables.  These subjects are so brazen that they will occasionally enter the residence without being invited in.  What makes these con artists particularly contemptible is the fact that these scams are almost always perpetrated against the elderly.

Residents who have elderly relatives or neighbors are urged to keep a lookout for this kind of activity.  If you see or are contacted by one of these suspects contact the DeKalb Police Department immediately.