Couple Almost Falls Victim to Work Scam

A Caledonia couple notified police this week to report they nearly fell victim to an employment scam after answering a "Help Wanted" ad in the newspaper.

Officers responded Tuesday to a call from a woman who said her husband is unemployed so he answered an ad for a personal driver for a man who said he would be “relocating to town in a few weeks.”

After the man supplied his name, address and telephone number, he received two blank checks – one for $2,880.10 and one for $2,980.45 – issued from a company in Virginia. The man was told to deposit the checks in his bank account via ATM, and, once the deposit was made, the man would receive instructions to pick up two vehicles for his new employer.

Instead of depositing the checks through an ATM, though, the man went instead to a local bank, and tellers there told the man the checks were fake. More, he was told that had he deposited the checks, any available cash in his account would have been sent to whomever issued the checks. Investigators discovered the company listed on the checks has also been a victim of fraud.

Further investigation revealed the man had supplied his bank account number to his new “employer” so police advised the man to change his account number immediately.

Because addresses and phone numbers associated with the case were from jurisdictions in Virginia and Illinois, Caledonia police continue to work with law enforcement in those communities.