True Fraud Stories: Check Cashing Scams

Transcript of the conversation can be found below.

MIKE
Jodi, I understand there was a recent fraud attempt at your branch.

JODI
Yes, we did, down in Stratham. We had a woman come in with a fraudulent check trying to cash it.

MIKE
What did you notice first? What tipped you off to the fact that something was amiss?

JODI
We had seen the girl walking into our parking lot. And it was weird because our parking lot was empty. She was coming over from the CVS. So that was kind of the first clue. She presented the check to Sharon and Sharon immediately picked up on different fonts on the check. And she kind of slid it over to me and I was helping a customer. So I was trying to look and see what was going on. And I knew something was up by the way Sharon was acting. I finally look over and I can see the check is drawn off of a sub shop up in York, Maine. And we’re in Stratham, New Hampshire, and the payee lives in I believe it was Tewksbury Mass. Some things just were not adding up right. Why is she here? This doesn’t make sense. And why is she getting a $2,200 check from a sub shop?

MIKE
So what happened after that?

JODI
I had pulled up the account. And I noticed that Chris Kehl was the officer of the account. So I immediately Skyped him, and he got right back to me. And he’s like, Hold on, let me call my customer. And he Skyped me back within two minutes, and definitely fraud. “Absolutely do not cash that check.” So now, the girl is getting a phone call. “I really gotta go. I gotta — You know what’s going on?” And Sharon was doing her thing, letting her know, “We can’t get in touch with customer yet, you know, just give us a minute.” That was when she’s like, “Oh, no, I’m okay.” And she started to reach over the counter to grab her IDs. And as much as we wanted to keep the IDs. It just was not worth it. But we did manage to keep the check. Most important. So we saved our customer from losing $2,200. And it was great.

MIKE
So what should customers be on the look out for to prevent this type of scam?

JODI
Customers should always be looking at their accounts, checking it daily. If you have the mobile app, it’s convenient, you have your phone, check it, check your accounts. If you notice something is not right. Call us and let us know immediately.

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