- How can I prevent becoming a victim?
- What if I deposited or cashed the check or money order but haven’t sent the cash yet?
- What if I have already sent the cash?
- What are law enforcement agencies doing?
- What are the Web sites that scammers use to find victims doing?
- What are financial institutions and money transfer and delivery services doing?
- What are legitimate sweepstakes companies doing?
- What can I do?
- What are some other popular scams?
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10. How can I prevent becoming a victim?
- Think about it. There is no legitimate reason why anyone would give you a check or money order and ask you to send cash anywhere in return.
- Be aware that just because you can get the cash quickly – usually in one to five days – doesn’t mean the check or money order is good. Crooks take advantage of the fact that counterfeits can take weeks – even months – to discover. By then you’ve sent the money and have to pay it back to your bank.
- Only cash a check or money order for a close relative or someone you’ve met in person and known for a long time, since you’ll be responsible if it’s phony.
