New Nigerian Scam Surfaces

MERRIT ISLAND, Fla. - (05/13/05) -- A local real estate agent wascharged last week with being the agent of a new Nigerian bankingscam. Todd Teague, 25, was charged with fraud for allegedlydepositing a fake $125,502 check into his account at Kennedy SpaceCenter FCU, then using the check to make withdrawls. Tellers at thecredit union became suspicious last week when Teague tried totransfer $120,000 to another account in Japan. Police said the scamis similar to so-called Nigerian banking scams because it usescounterfeit checks mailed to a middleman who then get get acommission of the proceeds for depositing phony checks andforwarding the funds to a third party.

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