Beware the Nigerian Scam!

So, first things first. The card in today's post was done with one of my all time favorite sets - Cart Postale. This set was in the SU Winter Mini Catalog, and I am really hoping that it will reappear in the new catalog available July 1st. But let's go on to the warning that is the purpose of this post.


I was minding my own business yesterday afternoon, putting away supplies from an awesome stamping event at my neighbor's 10th birthday party (by the way, 10 year old girls are the BEST - they listen to directions and don't trash your stamps!). Anyway, the phone rang and a gentleman introduced himself as a service agent from a Southern CA branch of my bank. He wanted to know if I had written a huge check (in excess of $4,500) to someone I had never heard of. Ummmm- no, not me. Then this gentleman from the bank wanted the last 4 digits of my social security number so that he could be sure that he was talking to the right person. Well, NOBODY gets my social security number, so I told him that no, I could not do that.


So, here is the part that YOU need to know to protect yourself. NEVER give any identifying information over the telephone to anyone. It is possible for the bank to find a way to identify you without giving any information. I told him that I had no way of knowing who he was, so he had to find another way of identifying me. He proceeded to ask me to respond to a series of statements that could be answered yes or no. He included wrong information in the there, and when I said no, he would repeat the statement with right or wrong info until I answered yes, then he would go on to another statement. When he was satisfied as to who I was, I asked him to look on his computer screen and tell me who I wrote my last 4 check to, the dates and the amounts (the bank has this information in their computers and should be able to give this information to you - if they say that they can't, then you are more than likely not talking to anyone from your bank!)


So, after 30 minutes and a couple of back and forth phone calls, it seems that I was a victim of the Nigerian scam. Someone that I had written a check to at some time in the past had sold my name, address and account information to a scam ring in Nigeria. The scammers sent a computer generated check to some guy in Southern California that responded to an e-mail that wanted him to cash a check to help them get money out of the country - he could keep some but needed to send the rest back to Nigeria, Since the checking account was compromised, we went down to the bank to close that account and open another. But you can be sure that I will be doing far fewer transactions with checks. The husband of a friend and co-worker is an undercover cop that works the fraud division, and he told us that it is possible to take a check and dip it in brake fluid to "wash it" - it is held upside down during the washing so that your signature remains, but all of the rest of the check that you wrote (who paid to, date and amount) disappears and can be filled in again.


So, I lost a couple of hours on a Saturday, but it is far better than losing money to a scam. Be vigilant and remember to not give any identifying information over the phone.


Returning to stamping/scrapping tomorrow - stay tuned!