Connecticut Attorney General Alerts Shoppers On Craigslist, eBay, Other Sites To Beware Of Check Scams

June 15, 2007 -- Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal today urged extreme caution to consumers who buy and sell products on website forums that may be used by scam artists to prey on unsuspecting victims.

Despite warnings on websites such as Craigslist and eBay, which provide forums for people to buy and sell items directly, Blumenthal has received several complaints from consumers victimized or targeted by "check overpayment" or "money wiring" scam artists on these sites.

In the most common scam, a "buyer" - often from overseas - offers to send a check for more than an item is worth and then asks the seller to deposit the check and return the overage, often by money wire. The seller agrees and, after returning the supposed overage, the original check bounces.

Blumenthal urged several steps for consumers to protect themselves, particularly avoiding any transaction that requires the seller to send or return any money to a buyer.

"The cloak of the Internet makes fertile ground for fraud in these purchasing forums," Blumenthal said. "An informed and cautious consumer is the front line defense against Internet scams - virtually the only defense, because it is often impossible to track down and identify a person through an email address. No transaction should require a seller to send money to a buyer. When it comes to buying or selling online, it's buyer - and seller - beware."

Blumenthal recommended the following consumer protections when buying and selling on the Internet:

* Don't assume a check is valid just because it looks legitimate.

* Know whom you're dealing with - independently confirm your buyer's name, street address, and telephone number, if possible. Be especially wary of selling something to a person who appears to be in a foreign country.

* If you're selling something over the Internet or through a newspaper ad, say "no" to a check for more than your selling price, no matter how tempting the plea or convincing the story.

* Don't wire money back to anyone. There is no legitimate reason for someone who is paying you or giving you money to ask you to wire money back.

Consumers victimized by such scams should report it to Blumenthal's office at Attorney.General@po.state.ct.us.

For further assistance, consumers should also call:

* The National Fraud Information Center/Internet Fraud Watch, a service of the National Consumers League (NCL) or telephone them at 1-800-876-7060.

* The Federal Trade Commission at 1-877-FTC-HELP

* The Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3). The IC3 is an alliance between the National White Collar Crime Center (NW3C) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). IC3's mission is to address crime committed over the Internet. For victims of Internet crime, IC3 provides a convenient and easy way to alert authorities of a suspected violation. For law enforcement and regulatory agencies, IC3 offers a central repository for complaints related to Internet crime, uses the information to quantify patterns, and provides timely statistical data of current trends.

Source: Connecticut Attorney General