Old Scam, New Twist: Local Man Almost Falls Victim to “Fake Check Scam”

“If something sounds too good to be true, it probably is,” warns Bill Snyder, a resident of Charlotte Court House.

Snyder recently uncovered a scammer posing as the popular “Monster Energy Drink” company, which offers its prospective victims the opportunity to make up to $300 a week by wrapping their vehicle with the “Monster” logo.

It all started when Snyder received an email on March 7 from a gentleman by the name of “John Morgan.” The email read, “Would you wrap your car for $300 weekly? Reply YES if interested.” Snyder stated that he knew the email looked a little funny, but figured there was no harm in replying, so he did.

Throughout their email exchanges, Snyder said that Mr. Morgan never asked for any personal information that wasn’t public record, so he complied and provided him with details regarding the type of vehicle they owned and their home address. Upon receiving this information, Morgan wrote back saying that a check was on the way. “Information reaching me this morning has it that a check of $1995.00 has been sent to you via USPS with tracking number (9470101699320007003027).”

In Mr. Morgan’s email, he also stated that Snyder was to deduct $300 for his upfront payment and then forward the balance of $1695.00 to the graphic artist that would be wrapping the vehicle with decals via Western Union Transfer. The address provided for the graphic artist was located in Winston-Salem, N.C. At this point Snyder really started to question the motives of this company. “Why wouldn’t they just send it?” Snyder also knew something was strange when Morgan would never provide a number where he could be reached after it was requested.

Snyder said that he began to do a little research online and quickly found out that it was indeed a scam and had been done with many other popular companies before such as Coca-Cola, Rockstar, etc. Luckily, Snyder got to the bottom of things before the check was cashed.

What Snyder encountered is known as a “Fake Check Scam” and according to fakechecks.org “It’s a fast-growing fraud that could cost you thousands of dollars. There are many types of fake check scams, but it all starts when someone gives you a realistic-looking check or money order and asks you to send cash somewhere in return. It’s phony and so is the person’s story, but that may take weeks to discover. Now your bank wants the money back. However, just because you can get the cash doesn’t mean the check or money order is good. Ultimately, you are responsible for the checks or money orders you deposit or cash. That’s how the scam works.”