Cops Raid $1.2 Million Counterfeit Check Scam

BALDWIN, Mich. – Authorities raided a local home Wednesday and found almost $1.2 million in bogus checks from five banks and credit unions, apparently used in a variation of the “Nigerian letter” scheme. The checks, drawn on such national banks as AmSouth, M&T, National City–as well as Atlanta-based Associated CU–were being sent in various amounts to unsuspecting victims, who were asked to keep a portion and send the remainder of the funds on to one of the scheme’s participants, according to Det. Jeffrey Chamberlain of the Lake County Sheriff’s office, which participated in the raid with the U.S. Postal Service and Secret Service. The checks, including the credit union’s, all appeared to be authentic. "They even had the proper authorizing signature," Chamberlain told The Credit Union Journal yesterday. The scheme appears to be a variation of the Nigeria letter, in which a fraudster–sometimes from the African continent–sends a phony check to a victim and convinces the victim to forward part of it as payment, in exchange for promises of a greater payment later on. A woman who was occupying the house is expected to be charged in the scheme, he said.