A young, single woman recently received a letter in the mail congratulating her on winning the lottery. Her prize winnings totaled $50,000!  Enclosed with the letter was an initial check for $4,750. She was instructed to wire $3,000 to an individual in Texas who would arrange the payment of her taxes and insurance fee for sending the remaining amount.

This is a true story of a WPCU member. And while many of us would be excited to be the recipient of lottery proceeds, in this member’s case, it was a scam. The member wired the money as instructed and spent the rest, only to find out later that the check was counterfeit. She now owes WPCU $4,750. 

This member’s story is one of many “sudden riches” counterfeit or fake check scams. The lottery angle was just a trick to get the member to wire money to someone she didn’t know. Other popular counterfeit check scams use the angles of foreign business offers, charity requests, classified ad or online auction overpayments, and work from home offers. While the angles are different, the one similarity between all of the scams is the instruction for the victim to wire on a portion of the funds.

Consumer protection organizations like The Federal Trade Commission and the National Consumers League want you to know that counterfeit check scams just like this one are on the rise. These counterfeit check scams are not new. What is new is that with modern technology, scammers are able to make the fake checks so realistic that tellers are being fooled. Even at WPCU, these scams are costing our members and the credit union thousands of dollars.

Tips to Protect Yourself from Check Fraud
For a few practical tips you can use to help protect yourself from being the victim of a similar counterfeit check scam, please click here.

Examples of Fraudulent Checks and Letters
To view examples of actual fraudulent checks and letters received by Wright-Patt Credit Union members, click here.

Testimonials of Check Fraud Victims
Click on the links below to view true stories of innocent people just like you who have had their life turned upside down by becoming a victim of a check fraud scam.

Jill Parker
Julia Melton
Rebecca Woodworth
Susan Jones
Linda Kelly
Shannon Callahan
Adam Hollier
John Doe

These videos are courtesy of the National Consumers League. This non-profit consumer organization has developed a website to help educate consumers about check fraud scams. We highly encourage to you to visit this site by clicking here.