By Staff
Cass County Sheriff Joseph M. Underwood Jr. has advised that his office is investigating a number of fraudulent check cases that have occurred within the last three months.
When your personal information is found in the hands of criminals, you can become a victim. Be informed and protect your identity.
Individuals are gathering information such as bank routing and account numbers from victims' checking accounts and then printing fraudulent checks that they are then passing to businesses, Underwood said.
Along with checking your bank statements for items that you never ordered, the sheriff has a few other suggestions to keep personal information private.
Do not leave outgoing mail with checks in them in your rural mailbox. Take your bills to a post office drop box for delivery;
Along with not giving out your checking account information, the Better Business Bureau has some other tips to remember;
You haven't won anything! Sweepstakes and lottery scams abound. Resolve to never, never, never send money to collect prizes – legitimate sweepstakes and lotteries do not require winners to pay any money in advance. If you receive a check and are told to deposit the "winnings" or "commissions," then withdraw them from the bank and forward the money to another country, don't do it! The checks will bounce and you will be responsible to pay back your bank;
Be alert to scam artists. They run advertisements for bogus loans, work-at-home promotions, 'miracle' weight loss schemes, false lottery notices and other tempting offers;
Never succumb to the hard sell, "one day only" offer. Resolve to avoid sales or investment pitches demanding you "act now" or lose the opportunity forever;
Get everything in writing. Always insist the statements in contract provisions match what the salesperson said. Read and thoroughly understand every provision in a contract before you sign. Most contracts do NOT have three-day cancellation provisions. It is usually not the law;
Resolve to resist work-at-home promotions from unknown overseas companies promising commissions for a few hours of part-time work. This is also true of ads from lenders "guaranteeing" a loan regardless of your income, credit history or financial situation;
Resolve to safeguard your personal information. Don't give out your credit card, bank account, driver's license or Social Security numbers to telemarketers claiming to be from your bank or phone company. Ditto for e-mails claiming to be from your credit card company or bank. These are scams;
Resolve to always deal with reliable merchants. Ensure they have a permanent address and phone number.
Anyone who believes they are a victim of check fraud should contact the Sheriff's Office at (269) 445-1560 to file a report.