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September 24, 2009

Police warn residents to beware of check scams

By Donna Hales

Wagoner police are alerting area residents to a check scam that is costing residents instead of adding to their riches.

A 64-year-old Wagoner man is in debt $3,850 to the bank because of a scam that he thought was a good deal that would net him $250, said Wagoner Police Detective Paulette Caskey.

The victim’s first dealing with the scammer was over the Internet, she said. The next day he was sent a $3,850 check via FedEx. He was asked to cash the check, wire $3,516 to a Robert Seusert in Bolivar, Mo., and keep the balance for his trouble, Caskey said.

The check was drawn on ACS Construction out of Charlotte, N.C. The routing number on the check was that of the construction firm, so if someone called to see if the check was good, they would be told it was, she said.

Because the Wagoner man cashed the first check, he was sent another one the next day.

By the time it arrived, the man’s bank knew the first check was bogus and wouldn’t cash the second check, the detective said.

The man didn’t have the money to pay what he owed the bank, so he will have to pay it back through a monthly check he receives, police said.

“I’ve got a whole drawer full of scam checks,” Caskey said. “People need to remember — If you think a deal is too good to be true, it probably is.”

Reach Donna Hales at 918-684-2923 or Click Here to Send Email

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