January 18, 2006
[b] www.KLFY.com
Check Cashing Evaluation Investigated

People in Acadiana are the latest targets in an international scam.

Boston, Massachusetts banking officials say the FBI is now investigating the case.

Police say scams are a crime that many people feel ashamed to talk about.

Luckily, we caught up with a man here in Acadiana who picked up on the scam before he lost money.

Jim Pitts of Carencro says over the past month he's been picking up a few jobs as a mystery shopper. Mystery shoppers are often paid to evaluate a retailer's sales staff. That's why he wasn't too surprised when a package arrived from UPS.

The package contained a check for nearly $4,000 and instructions to evaluate a money gram office located inside Acadiana Wal-Mart stores. It even contained an evaluation form.

This is how the scam works. The person is supposed to cash the check and keep $400 for their time. They then take the remaining $3,600 to the money gram office and wire it back to the business in Canada. But, according to two Lafayette check cashing companies, the check in this case is bogus.

Pitts called the secret shoppers number in Canada. The person who answered the phone told him the operation is legitimate.

Pitts says the check contains the name of a real bank in the Boston area. But, he says officials with Randolph Savings Bank tell him the scam has been circulating around the country for the past two weeks.

TV 10 contacted officials with Randolph Savings Bank about this case.

Bank officials say they are working with the FBI in Boston to catch those responsible for the scam.

They say calls about this scam have come in from all over the country.

The bank has even put a fraud alert notice on their website concerning the secret shoppers case. It is www.randolphsavings.com.

We also tried contacting the Canadian company at the heart of the case.

We were hung-up on twice and our calls were not answered after that. Imagine that.

http://www.klfy.com/Global/story.asp?S=4381015