Internet check scam

WILMINGTON — Counterfeit check scams are common crimes on the internet. Muriel
Ledbetter fell for it. “I had nothing to lose, how could a money order be fraud?” she said.

Ledbetter advertised expensive pieces of jewelry on the popular re-sell site Craigslist. She was selling the jewelry at a bargain price around $700. Just a few days later someone was interested, a man named George. “He asked me to remove it off Craigslist immediately and he would pay me an additional amount of dollars to do that.”

That’s when Ledbetter received two $850 money orders — one to cover the jewelry purchase and the second to cash in, then buy a new money order to send the cash to a so-called shipper on George’s behalf. She cooperated and ended up out of the money while he ended up with a real money order. Adding more insult, the bogus money orders kept coming.

“This morning I received a FedEx package with four money orders this time in the amount of $850.”

Ledbetter went straight to the police and they found they were fraudulent. Bank of America says Ledbetter still owes them $1,700.

“There’s no insurance. Apparently the tellers don’t know their job; I feel they should have been able to tell if these were fraud or not. I think it’s terrible that people can prey on someone like this”.

Craigslist posts a disclaimer on the site warning users to be careful.