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Beware: Nigerian Check Scam Strikes Again

Victims Cash Bogus Checks, Mail Money Overseas

Posted: 11:57 a.m. CDT May 18, 2004Updated: 12:44 p.m. CDT May 18, 2004

A decades-old scam has a new face and is targeting a new group of people. The Nigerian check scam is focusing on Internet sellers.

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Kirk McFate was selling his Porsche online when he said a potential buyer offered him the $7,500 asking price. The buyer mailed him a check for $14,000 with the catch that he was supposed to cash the check and wire back the difference.

Carolyn Schultz ran across the same scam selling her horse. Both sellers realized the checks were fake, but many people don't.

"People have taken the check and asked the bank if it was a legitimate check, and (the bank) said, 'Yes.' Then after the check bounced, the bank made the consumers pay the money back," said Glen Loyd of state Consumer Trade and Protection

The U.S. Secret Service Financial Services Division takes 100 calls a day on the Nigerian check scam. It's one of the top 20 scams in the country.

If you've lost money or even received correspondence about depositing money into an account, and then sharing or "reimbursing" someone overseas, you should go to the Wisconsin Trade and Consumer Protection Web site and file a complaint or call (800) 422-7128.

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