Advance Fee Fraud 101:

• The check a company sends WILL clear at FIRST.
• You will then send money BACK to the company via wire transfer
• Then the bank will discover that the check is fake.
• Then you WILL owe your bank whatever amount of money you wired.

This information is all over the news, but people still fall for it every day.

How dangerous are these scams?

Here’s what Lynn Edgington of EagleResearchAssociates.org had say when I asked him for help in a situatin where a man had already deposited a bogus check into his account:

“He can thank his lucky stars he hasn’t wired the money from his bank account.  He needs to know that he could still be charged with wire fraud even though all he has done is deposit the check into his bank account.  That doesn’t mean he would have been charged, but they could if they wanted to charge him.  That’s how dangerous this all is, and he is the only one they know, and where to find him.

He has received a bogus check, and was cashing it.  That is stealing, and depending on the dollar amount of the check will depend on which degree of felony it is.

He would be classed as an accomplice in an illegal act to defraud a bank.  Since the party who issued him the check is not a real entity that can be traced, he is the one they arrest.

By his not wiring the funds, he has reduced the charges they could bring against him.    As I said, I doubt if they would, but they could if they wanted to do so. Just like the dollar amount of the check, what his role is also plays a part in what charges they might bring.  That is why this is so scary and people have no clue they are committing  fraud, wire fraud, and also could be charged with money laundering.”

What should you do if you have ALREADY deposited  a fake check?

Here’s what Lynn Edgington of Eagle Research Associates says you need to do if you’ve already deposited a fake check:

• You need to tell the bank
• Report it to the police
• Report it do the District Attorney
• Report it to your State Attorney General – you can find the contact details from this list
• If possible get the check back from the bank and make for law enforcement. If you do online banking, you maybe able to get a photo copy of  the check from your online banking and just download it to your computer and print it out for law enforcement.
•  Make copies copies of the E-mail you’ve received that he answered for him to receive this check.
•  If you are to receive any goods shipped to you that you are to ship to another address, you should refuse the shipment and have it returned back to the shipper.  This keeps you from being a recipient of stolen goods.

Here’s a fairly typical scenario where you can end up losing a lot of money or worse:

 Note: Sometimes scams use names of real companies in their scams to fool their victims. So, if there is a real MSP4 LLC it has nothing to do with this.

MSP4 LLC Secret Shopper Scam Step 1: Here’s a version of the initial email they will send:

From: tom <thomasmild11@gmail.com> NOTE: I’ve redirected that email address to an error page on the WorkAtHomeTruth site in case anyone clicks on it.
Sent: Wednesday, April 1, 2009 5:27:59 PM
Subject: Job near you…

.
This Job is a great way to supplement your income. It is a fun and exciting opportunity, but it is not for everyone! Applicants should have the following: 

* Access to convenient transportation 
* 
Personal / home office: 
o 
Computer and ability to check e-mail often (the library or friend?s computer will not cut it) 
o 
Telephone (Home and Mobile phone).
* 
Good writing skills
* 
Deadline driven 

Compensation: Competitive salary, bonus, and benefits
EDUCATION and/or EXPERIENCE
Applicant must be 18 yrs older 1-2 years related experience; or equivalent combination of education and experience.
Contact the Hiring manager for more details.

DETAILS:
We turn the information (you gave us) over to the company executives and they would carry out their own duties in improving their services.
Most companies employ our assistance when people give complaints about their services or when they feel there are needs for them to improve their customer service. Your Identity would be kept confidential as the job states (secret shopper). You would be paid $100 for every survey you carry out ,bonus on your transportation allowance and funds would be given to you if you have to dine as part of the duty.
Your job will be to evaluate and comment on customer service in a wide variety of shops, stores, restaurant and services in your area. No commitment is made on this job and you would have flexible hours as it suits you. 

If you are interested do send in your:

(I)Your Full Name:
(II)Your Residence address:
City:
State:
Zip Code:
(III)Present work address:
(IV)Home and mobile Phone numbers:
(V)Email address:
(VI)Your Age and Current Occupation:
(VII)Your Gender:

So we can look at your distance from the locations which you have to put your service into, and your address would also be needed for your payments. 
Thanks.

Hiring Manager
MSP4 LLC
Thomas
  
Examples of details you would forward to us are after your shopping experience are:
1) How long it took you to get services.
2) Smartness of the attendant
3) Customer service professionalism
4) Sometimes you might be required to upset the attendant to see how they react to clients when they get tensed (under pressure).

MSP4 LLC Secret Shopper Scam Step 2: If you reply you will get the following “assignment”:

DEAR SECRET SHOPPER,

I WANT TO INFORM YOU THAT PAYMENT HAS BEEN SENT TO YOU THROUGH usps (usa postal service) COURIER SERVICE AND YOU WILL GET THE PAYMENT TODAY ,HERE IS TRACKING NUMBER

       [you will see a USPS tracking number here]

YOU CAN TRACK IT AT www.usps.com

YOU ARE TO CASH THE CHECK AT THE BANK OR DEPOSIT THE CHECK IN YOUR BANK ACCOUNT,AFTER THE CHECK HAVE BEEN CLEAR, THEN USE THE  FUNDS TO CARRY OUT THE EVALUATION OF WALMART AND MONEY GRAM .

Thereafter we will be expecting an Incisive and detailed report from you via email using the pointers given as guidelines for your evaluation reports for both Wal-mart or Macy store and Money Gram evaluations.
 
You are to include the Money Gram reference code (number) and Wal-mart or Macy store receipt(TC#) number in your reports as it is required for Company feedback purposes on service delivery.
 
You will have deduct $50 for shopping at Wal-mart and also As we are Evaluating transactions above the $1000 mark, you will be sending $1000 at two Money Gram Locations.

Please remember what we are really after are the lines of question stated below. Those are guidelines to what you will lookout for during your visits to wal mart and Money Gram.

GUIDELINES