A local woman told police Tuesday that when she failed to fall for a scam involving a fraudulent cashiers check, the con artist threatened her with arrest by the FBI.
The woman said the con artist contacted her via e-mail in response to her effort to sell puppies. The con artist then sent her a cashiers check for $2,850, with instructions to cash the check, keep the money for the sale of a pup and send the rest of the cash to England. Her suspicions were confirmed when she took the check to her bank. The check was counterfeit.
But the con artist’s efforts didn’t end when it was learned the intended victim had outsmarted him or her.
The local woman said she then received several e-mails from several senders. In the e-mails, the woman said she was threatened that because a cashier’s check was involved, she would be arrested by the FBI for not sending the cash to England.
She said when the e-mail failed to produce results, she received a phone call. The caller also threatened her with arrest by the FBI. When the woman said she told the caller to send the FBI to her home and she would be happy to speak with agents, the caller hung up.
Capt. Kevin Woods, Ardmore Police Department Criminal Investigation Division, said while this is a case of the fraudulent cashier’s check scam, the con artist tried to disguise it with a new twist.
“Threats of arrest by law enforcement is just a new trick. People should not be intimidated, It’s just a ploy,” he said.
Woods said fraudulent cashiers checks remain a popular scam being operated by persons in other countries.
“It is primarily being operated out of Nigeria, but we have had cases involving people in Canada and now England,” Woods said.
Area residents are urged to remain alert to any attempts to get them to cash cashier’s checks or money orders and then return the cash to senders.
