New Scam Has Police On Alert
Christopher Torres is a father of five, a college student and devoted husband.
He was looking for a job to help get money to buy gifts for the kids this Christmas.
?We were hoping it was legit,? said Torres.
The posting on Craigslist.org was for a housekeeper for a family moving to Colorado. ?Of course I can clean, I can cook and pretty much do anything under the sun as far as housework,?said Torres
Torres never met the person who was hiring him because they were overseas, but they did send him a check to run some errands.
He said the $930 check came in the mail, and his first assignment was to cash it.
He was supposed to help the employer with buying a chandelier, according to email he provided to TARGET 13.
He was to cash the check, keep $300 for his work and then send the rest via Western Union to the Philippines.
?In my mind, I thought, ‘Is this legit?'” Torres said. But, he wanted it to be real, so he drove to Walmart to cash the check.
He said everything seemed OK until the police showed up.
“The first officer walked up and said, ‘Do you know there is a problem with your money order?,'” said Torres. “I said, ‘No, but since you’re here, I am assuming something is wrong,'” he told TARGET 13.
Police told him that the store had another check with the same dollar amount that was bogus. He thinks police assumed it was him passing the bad checks.
Torres said after explaining to police where he got the check, they told him he was lucky that he didn?t cash the check.
The Better Business Bureau of Southern Colorado said this is a common scam; people cash the check, send the money and then when the bank realizes the checks are no good the victim ends up paying back the back.
