Three Men Arrested For Allegedly Trying To Pull Off Check scam
2006-07-20
By Jim Phillips
Athens NEWS Senior Writer

The Athens Police apparently made a rare catch Tuesday when they arrested three men for allegedly running a well-worn fake check-cashing scheme out of an Athens hotel room.

"It is a very rare opportunity... to actually find somebody participating in (this type of scam)," Athens County Prosecutor C. David Warren told Municipal Judge William A. Grim.

He spoke during initial court appearances Wednesday of Timothy M. Deangelis and James P. Deangelis of Pennsylvania, and Thoma E.S. Terry of Athens.

Warren asked Grim to set a $1.9 million cash bond for each man. Without a very large bond amount, he argued, "they won't show up, I guarantee it."

The judge went slightly better, placing bond at $2 million for each defendant, though allowing either cash or surety.

Timothy and James Deangelis, 41 and 43 years old respectively, are brothers, and gave their home addresses as Stroudsburg, Pa. Terry, 53, gave his address as Columbus Road in Athens, and said he has lived here for many years, though he has a Los Angeles driver's license.

Warren noted that scams of this alleged type are typically run over the Internet, with the perpetrators miles away from their victims.

The three men, who were arrested at the Ohio University Inn with the help of an alleged local victim, are each charged with one count apiece of theft from the elderly and engaging in a pattern of corrupt activity, both second-degree felonies.

The victim, a part-time employee of the Athens Messenger newspaper, claims to have given the men nearly $30,000 after they told him they needed $50,000 in processing fees to release a check to him for $250,000.

This type of scam is increasingly common in recent years. It is widely associated in the public mind with Nigerian perpetrators who solicit victims via e-mail, though it has expanded into other nationalities. The most recent permutation of the "Nigerian" scam involves e-mailed deal solicitations from U.S. military personnel in Iraq and elsewhere overseas.

Warren said evidence found in the men's hotel room suggests they were involved in a wide-ranging scheme to defraud people around the country by various means.

Among the evidence seized, Warren reported, was a 2005 Lincoln Navigator, some $20,000 in U.S. cash, uncashed checks for $110,000 and $1.9 million, and "a handful of Iraqi money, brand-spanking new," some of which may or may not be fake.

Police found evidence that the men had established computer connections to foreign bank accounts, Warren said. They also found signs of some connection to a Web site promoting investments in precious metals, though it's not clear what that connection is.

"All of this seems to indicate to me that we have a widespread scheme here," Warren said.

The prosecutor said the Deangelis brothers both have criminal records, including federal counts, for activities such as illegally reproducing computer disks and conspiracy to commit mail fraud. He said police did not report to him any past record on Terry.

None of the men was represented by legal counsel Wednesday, and didn't really need to be, as an initial municipal court appearance on a felony charge is largely a formality, in which the defendant doesn't enter a plea. (Warren has suggested the cases will be dismissed from municipal court and taken before a county grand jury.)

Both Timothy Deangelis and Terry did comment on their cases to the judge, however - probably unwisely.

When Warren raised the issue of the Iraqi money, Deangelis said he could explain its presence.

"I know the way it sounds, but it's nothing like that," he said. "That's give-away money." Deangelis said he provides the money as a "collectible" to some clients, and that while some of it is genuine, some of it he produced himself.

"It's worthless," he insisted. "I give that away."

Warren promptly responded by asking for a transcript of the defendant's remarks, which he suggested may support a further charge such as counterfeiting.

Timothy Deangelis urged the judge not to grant Warren's request for a $1.9 million bond. "Keep it low enough that I can get out and try to fight this case," he said.

Warren said he based his bond request on the size of one of two checks police allegedly found among the men's possessions. He said after the hearing that the two checks - for $110,000 and $1.9 million - were signed by one of the two brothers, with Terry as payee.

Terry allegedly tried to cash the smaller check at an Athens bank, Warren said.

Terry denied this, telling Grim he took the check to the bank to deposit it, but the bank raised questions about it, so this transaction didn't occur.

"It was never deposited," he insisted. "I didn't try to make the (money from the) check available. I just took the check to the bank."

Warren pounced on this statement, too, asking for a transcript of Terry's remarks to possibly back up a further charge against him.

Only James Deangelo kept quiet before the judge, responding "no comment" when asked his opinion on a bond amount.

Warren said police were tipped off by the Messenger employee, who began to suspect the three men after giving them more than $29,000. The prosecutor said the men had apparently been in Athens only about a day when they were arrested, and added that he did not know why they came here.

Authorities tend to forfeit the cash and automobile seized in the case. As for the allegedly defrauded local man getting any of his money back, Warren said, "We hope. We always hope."

Source: The Athens NEWS

By CHRIS COLLINS
ccollins@bakercityherald.com

Certain words or promises of easy money are a tipoff that an offer that comes in through the mail, over the phone or by e-mail message might not be as good as it seems.

That might include a work-at-home job that pays you simply for depositing a money order in your bank account and sending most of the cash to Nigeria while keeping a percentage for yourself. Or grant money you're told will be deposited into your bank account as a reward for being a loyal taxpayer if you'll simply provide the caller with the name of your banking institution. Or lottery winnings being awarded in a contest you didn't enter.

Baker City Police detective Jay Lohner advises residents to rely on common sense when deciding whether an offer is on the level.

"If somebody's going to call, e-mail or mail you an offer that seems too good to be true — there's a problem," he said.

And the word Nigeria is a definite red-flag scam warning.

"The Nigerian scam has kind of exploded back up," he said after having died down for awhile. "It's just run rampant. It's 90 percent-plus what we hear about."

That scam usually works like this, according to the Federal Trade Commission:

Claiming to be Nigerian officials, business people or the surviving spouses of former government leaders, con artists offer to transfer millions of dollars into your bank account in exchange for a small fee. If you respond to the initial offer, you may receive "official looking" documents. Typically, you're than asked to provide blank letterhead and your bank account numbers, as well as some money to cover transaction and transfer costs and attorney's fees. The scam ends when "emergencies" come up, requiring more of your money and delaying the transfer of funds to your account while the scam artists disappear.

Lohner even receives solicitations for similar scams on his office computer at the Baker City Public Safety Building.

Unfortunately, there's not a lot the police department can do to help community residents, other than to educate them about how to protect themselves from scams.

"It's one of the really poor areas of enforcement for us," Lohner said. "We feel tied up that we can't do anything."

The police will refer victims to the Oregon Department of Justice, which is connected to a national database.

Here is just a sampling of scams offered recently to Baker City residents:

Check overpayment/Nigerian scam

Charles Brown was hoping to put his computer to use earning money to supplement his monthly disability check when he signed up for a work-from-home job over the Internet.

Instead, his plans to increase his earnings cost him $3,320 — money he sent to Nigeria as an "employee" of Susan Bryant Art World.

Now, instead of buying school clothes for his children, he'll be repaying his bank after the money orders he deposited from the firm were determined to be bogus.

While embarrassed by his own gullibility, the 48-year-old Brown is anxious to help others avoid being caught by a similar scam.

"If it sounds that easy, beware of it," he advises others. "Nothing's for nothing."

Here's how he lost his money:

After responding to an Internet solicitation to work at home for Susan Bryant, he was informed that the company was having trouble cashing money orders in England. It would be his job to deposit the U.S. Postal Service money orders sent to him in his Baker City bank account and then to wire the cash via Western Union to Bryant's employees in Nigeria. Bryant said in an e-mail to Brown that the workers are employed to buy African hardwood for her sculpting and framing business.

Following instructions, Brown took the three $1,000 money orders to FirstBank Northwest, where he's been a dependable customer since 1997, where he said he cashed them easily. He and his girlfriend, Dorla Doud, 38, each wired $1,500 to Nigeria as instructed. They kept $320 as their 10 percent payment for completing the transaction, which Brown said he used to pay bills.

The next day, another e-mail arrived informing him that $10,000 would be arriving soon and he should follow the same procedure to send the money along to the employees in Nigeria. Ten $1,000 postal service money orders arrived.

Then the bad news arrived.

"The bank called and said ‘I hope you didn't spend that money,'" Brown recalled.

But he had. And now he and the bank have worked out an installment plan through which he'll repay the loss.

Brown didn't deposit the $10,000 in money orders.

"I'll probably frame them and put stupid on them or ****er or something," he said.

"My biggest thing is it's got to be put out there so somebody else doesn't get hurt like this.

"This is more money than I could afford to lose," he said. "Everything we do is for the kids. Now people in Africa have $3,000 and our kids don't have shoes."

Baker City Postmaster Mike McGuire urges anyone who receives postal service money orders through the mail in connection with a business deal to check with postal employees before cashing the documents.

The money orders Brown received looked official to the untrained eye, complete with watermarks. But there are subtle differences that postal employees have been trained to recognize, McGuire said.

McGuire says he's heard of 30 or 40 others who've been taken in similar scams that involve returning a portion of the money obtained after cashing a check or money order.

"It's really too bad," he said. "It's sad that people are like that out there — that you can't trust people."

But he joins Brown in the belief that "if it's free money, it's not a good deal."

"Unfortunately, I don't know of anyone who got their money back," he said. "And I haven't heard of anyone getting caught."

McGuire asks that bogus postal money orders be turned over to the post office to be forwarded to postal service investigators.

Faithful taxpayer reward

Diane Snyder of Baker City avoided this scam because she thought it sounded too good to be true:

A man called her home to say she'd been chosen to receive $5,000 as a reward for being a faithful taxpayer.

All he needed was the name of her bank, he said. Don't worry about scams, he said. He didn't need her account number or Social Security number, he assured her.

Recalling a newspaper article about possible telephone scams, the 40-year-old Snyder declined to name her bank and the caller didn't press her further. She thought that was the end of it.

But she received another call on July 3 and this time the caller was even more persistent in trying to find out where she banked. And he was professional and convincing in his pitch, she said.

He identified himself as Harris Wilson and gave her his "ID number," and a phone number and office address of 472 S. River Road in St. George, Utah.

Snyder called the Federal Trade Commission July 3 to report the second call.

"We don't give grants out over the phone and without application," she was told.

Snyder and her husband, Mike, moved to Baker City in September and had not yet been placed on the national do no call registry. They will be soon, to avoid similar scam phone calls, Diane said.

Information about how to be included on the national registry is available at this Web site: www.donotcall.gov.

Lottery winner

Sherri Tilton, 55, also avoided losing money when she chose not to respond to a letter from Spain advising her that she'd won $715,810 in the Euro Lottery.

To claim her prize, Tilton was instructed to complete the enclosed form and send a photo copy of her identification along with it. The funds would be returned as unclaimed if she failed to respond by July 28, the letter said. A tax clearance fee also was required for non-European residents.

Although Tilton said she traveled to Germany in September and to Canada in July, she had not entered a lottery during either trip.

"I knew it was bogus, and I called the police," she said.

An officer informed her that there was little that could be done about the scam and advised her to call the newspaper.

She also called the state Attorney General's office where she was informed that the scam was so common the agency no longer responds to complaints about it.

"I wanted to get something out so people would be warned," she said. "Somebody's going to bite on this."


Source: Baker City Herald.com

Thieves find open door through the Internet
Scammers go online to steal cash from unsuspecting victims;
banks warn public about Internet fraud
By CASSANDRA PROFITA

The Daily Astorian

Beware of the people you meet online - and don't offer to cash their checks for them.

The worldwide banking community - including the North Coast - is finding the Internet to be a major new source of check fraud, and the tactics people are using to lure their victims are increasingly devious and effective.

"We've seen a whole lot of individuals that actually believe they're making a friend over the Internet," said Susie Piaskoski, operations manager at the Bank of Astoria. "That person spends up to six months chatting and getting personal. Once they get their trust, then they ask that person to negotiate (banking) items."

Here is one possible scenario: A woman meets a man on a dating Web site. His photo shows him to be very attractive, and he claims to be a wealthy businessman from the United States. After a couple weeks of chatting online, she believes him to be her boyfriend. He says he is temporarily working on a project in Nigeria, and the banks there can't cash this check he just received. If he sends it to her, could she cash it and wire him the money?

Of course, when she does so, it can take a week or more for the bank to realize the check is counterfeit.

Meanwhile, the woman has sent the cash off to Nigeria. When the bank calls her, she finds out she is responsible for paying that money back. The scammer has his money, and she is left with the damages.

Tom Unger, a spokesman for Wells Fargo Bank, said this kind of fraud, commonly called a Nigerian banking scam, leaves the customer at fault, often with no way of identifying the real culprit. It's not like when someone steals your checks, he said.

"If someone steals your personal checks, you don't lose a penny because you will have called your bank and your account is frozen," said Unger. "With a phony money order or cashier's check, when you deposit it, you're responsible for those funds. You're telling the bank you're guaranteeing the item is valid."

Scams are lurking everywhere online - not just on dating or chatting sites. They're on job sites, in banking e-mails and on e-Bay. Scammers keep finding new ways of tricking people into cashing counterfeit items, and when they do, there is little the law can do to repair the damages, which often amount to thousands of dollars. The Internet has become the most common way for predators to find their prey.

Clatsop County District Attorney Josh Marquis said he wasn't surprised people were fooled by a recent Internet scam that claimed to be recruiting secret shoppers.

"It was one of the most clever things I've ever seen," he said.

The scheme offers people money to become secret shoppers. They are sent what appears to be a cashier's check for around $3,000. After the shoppers deposit the check in their bank account, they are told to write a check for a lesser amount, about $1,200, and send it through a money-wiring service.

The check they're sent is, in fact, fraudulent, but it looks so good it's almost always initially honored by the bank. When the check bounces, weeks later, the bank debits the person's account for their $1,200 check and they discover the money they sent came out of pocket. If they call the police, they are told there is little that can be done.

"With the Internet, it's nearly impossible to track these guys down," said Marquis. "If somebody did it in Astoria, yes, we could prosecute them if we could identify them. But these people have anonymous e-mail addresses that are, in fact, being filtered through another country. The Internet is a wild frontier. It's very difficult to police."

The only way to combat these schemes is for people to be very skeptical, he said.

Piaskoski said her bank has seen a couple cases of what she calls "advance fee schemes," another way fraudsters use the lag time between when a check is deposited and when it is identified as a fake to trick people out of thousands of dollars. A Canadian lottery scam has fooled a lot of people, she said.

"They say you've won the lottery, and they say, 'We know you didn't enter the lottery. We randomly chose names, and you were chosen,'" she explained. "Then they say, 'You have to pay taxes on that money. We'll give you an advance of your lottery winnings. You wire us $3,000, and then we'll send you your lottery winning.'"

What they send looks like a cashier's check but it's counterfeit, and the bank customer loses whatever he or she pays out to cover the supposed taxes. The lottery "winnings" never arrive.

Other people are looking for jobs over the Internet, said Piaskoski, and a company offers to "hire" them to negotiate checks for businesses overseas. They are promised a percentage of the money in the check in exchange for cashing it, but when the check turns up counterfeit they end up losing all the money they wired.

Banks have been running ads, sending out fliers inside their customers' statements and posting information in their lobbies to warn people. But there are always new tricks.

"Every time we think we know what's going on a new scam comes about," said Piaskoski. "Some of the fraudsters are writing letters telling people it is very important to keep their story confidential because their taxes would be raised if anyone found out. It's no longer even good enough for us to ask our clients questions about it. They've been told by the bad guys on the other side not to tell the truth."

Marquis said he himself was nearly victimized by an Internet phishing scam recently. Phishing is when a scammer will send out a phony e-mail from a national bank, hoping the recipient will have an account there. The e-mails tell customers they need to update their bank account information. The e-mail takes them to a replica of the real bank Web site. When the customer puts their information onto the page, the scammers have everything they need to hijack the bank account.

"The site looks almost exactly like the real bank site, but what you need to do is look at the URL, the Internet address," said Marquis. "This one had the bank name but it also had the words juniordesign.ro at the end. RO is the country code for Romania."

A lot of Internet scams originate in Eastern Europe, he said, in Romania, Bulgaria, Ukraine and Russia.

"Be really leery," he said. "If anyone is trying to give you money, be suspicious. No bank will write you out of the blue saying we need information like your Social Security number or your account number."

Unger said phishing is a big problem at Wells Fargo Bank because the company is so large and it has so many customers that could be targeted by a mass e-mail. He said Internet sales are another source of scams.

"Don't do business with sellers you can't identify," he warned. "Make sure you get paid before you ship anything."

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