Canton, Cherokee County, Ga. September 28, 2007- The Cherokee Sheriff’s Office wants to warn residents about recent financial scams. The perpetrators, usually Nigerian, are contacting victims via the Internet, phone, and through the mail. There are many different types of scams but they all generally revolve around the suspects having a check or money order that they want to send to the victim. The suspects ask the victims to deposit the funds into the victim’s account and to send a portion of the funds back to the suspect. The victims are generally fooled into believing they are helping the suspect and their reward is being able to keep a portion of the funds. Many times the victims are told they have won the lottery in another country or that a distant relative has died and left this money for them.

When the victim receives the check or money order they deposit it into their personal account. After sending a portion of the money back to the suspect, they learn that the check or money order was counterfeit and they are now responsible for the funds that were sent to the suspect as well as funds they have spent from their take of the deal.

Recently a 27 year old Cherokee County man was befriended by persons online whom he thought lived in Maryland. With no intentions of making any money, he agreed to help the persons by cashing some money orders. Money orders were sent to him in the mail. He deposited the money into his Regions account and then purchased Moneygrams from the Wal-mart in Canton. The victim then relayed the reference numbers to the suspects. After receiving the reference numbers, the suspects could obtain the funds anywhere in the world. This mistake cost the victim $3,500.00.

Detectives with the sheriff’s office Financial Fraud Unit warn citizens that if they are faced with any circumstances similar to the ones described above it is likely a scam. Unfortunately, these crimes almost always go unsolved because the suspects live outside the United States. If you have any questions about these scams or other financial crimes please call the Criminal Investigation Division at 770-928-0239.