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Shay Consulting
Internet Fake Check Scams

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Any time someone wants to pay for services or merchandise with a check and they send you lots more than you were asking, BEWARE. 
They will ask you to wire the extra money back to them. 

This is a scam that happened to me. 
Let me tell you what happened.

I ran add on Craigs List for computer repair services in our local area. I received an email through them asking for my services to fix 8 laptops. Notice when you view the email that their were many misspellings and very bad punctuation.

Click here to view the email I received. 

 

They wanted a quote for my services and I send them one asking for about $800. 

I didn't hear from them for about a month.  Then I received email saying they were sorry that it took so long to get back to me and that I would receive payment by UPS in the next few days.

I received a check for$3,800.  They asked me to put the check into my account and wire $2,000 through Western Union to a person in Florida.    They said the extra $1000 was for all my trouble.

The check looked real and had a real bank's name.  I took the check, UPS packing, and a copy of all my emails to and from the scammer to the local Sheriff's Office.  The officer told me that these kinds of scams are happening more and more often lately.  He said that its very hard to track down and prosecute these kinds of criminals. 

Don't ever cash any checks like I received and report it at http://www.ic3.gov with any information you have.  The Internet Crime Complaint Center with take your report and if they think you need to report it to the authorities.