According to the Better Business Bureau, the victims are receiving checks for as much as $2000 from the Blanchester School District in Ohio with the district’s address, routing number and bank account number.
Many of the victims are selling items on let.com, a website where you can buy and sell old items.
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The scammer tells the victim he has paid to much for an item and asks for the seller to wire the rest back to him. The scam artist usually goes by the name of David Ray and has targeted people in several states across the country.
He has already swindled cash out of victims in the fake check scheme.
Melanie Duquesnel, President and CEO of the Better Business Bureau is warning the public about the scam. “So usually what happens is the person will deposit the check. Then send another check or a wire or something to the person who sent them a check initially,” said Duquesnel. “The original check will bounce a couple of days later and they will be out… not only the money they were initially depositing but the additional money they were sending to the original sender.”
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There are also occasions where the victim has never used the website. “There has also been some situations where they have never been toletgo.com but they still want to cash the check because goodness its free money, it’s great,” said Duquesnel. “The difficulty is that if it is free and you have never done any business with that organization, it probably is not free. It’s probably going to cost you money.”
The BBB advises people to be cautious when shopping on online classified websites and to be leery when a buyer overpays for anything you are selling and ask you to wire the difference. If you get a check from Blanchester School District, don’t cash it.
Call your local police.
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Original article published on WXYZ.com.
