Police warn of Internet scams

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DeKALB - Police are again notifying the public of various Internet-based scams after three DeKalb residents reported Tuesday they had been defrauded out of thousands of dollars. "We had one come in in which a guy puts a résumé on Monster.com," DeKalb Police Lt. Jim Kayes said. "He gets contacted from some company out of Russia to work for them and the work involves processing checks. ... He funnels bad checks into his account and he Western Unions (cash) and now he's stuck to the tune of $10,000." In another instance, Internet auction site eBay was the starting point for an unrelated scam that cost a DeKalb man $800. Kayes said the man expressed some interest in purchasing an item on eBay, but he didn't win the auction. He was later contacted by someone who offered to sell the victim the item at a set price. "He makes the transaction. He Western Unions $800 out and of course he gets nothing," Kayes said. The information provided to the victim appeared to be from eBay but was fraudulent, Kayes said. In a third instance, a DeKalb woman was taken by an overpayment scam. The woman, who runs a tutoring business, was contacted through her Web site by a supposed customer in Europe who said he wanted his children tutored. The man sent the woman a fake cashier's check for $6,600 to cover the $1,200 tutoring fee, and the woman sent the change back through Western Union. "Now she's out $4,800," Kayes said. He said potential victims should be wary of anyone who asks them to send money by Western Union. "As long as you have the code word you can pick it up anywhere," he said. He said there likely are more victims of these kinds of crime, but they don't all get reported. Although no one has reported being victimized by it, an elderly DeKalb resident did report being the target of an apparent bank examiner scam in which the perpetrator poses as a bank employee who needs a customer's bank account number so that problems with the account can be fixed. Kayes said no one should ever call and ask for personal information, such as a Social Security number or a bank or credit card account number. "Anyone who gets a phone call like that should be extra vigilant," Kayes said. "Legitimate businesses don't do business that way." Information about these and other scams is available at www.fraud.com.