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'Net users should look out for scams

• Albany job seekers should be wary of being targeted by an internet scam.

Susan McCord

ALBANY — The dead and missing from a Minnessota bridge collapse may be the latest fodder of Internet scammers, officials said.

The FBI, which is assisting with an investigation of the bridge collapse but stated that terrorism is not suspected, issued a warning Monday that the event may prompt individuals with criminal intent to ask for contributions “for a good cause.”

Local law enforcement said they weren’t aware of a bridge scam in this area but weren’t surprised.

“Any time there’s a disaster, it goes out on the Internet, whether it be Katrina, a hurricane,” said Dougherty Police Sgt. Danny Ball, who oversees online investigations for the county police.

An Internet scam that has been reported locally that targets people who are looking for work and post their resumes on a popular job site, Ball said.

Using the personal information that is posted, the scammer sends an e-mail or mailing offering temporary work, sometimes as a “secret shopper.”

The victim is expected to cash a “money gram” for funds to spend while shopping, keep a portion and return the rest, Ball said.

Unfortunately the check or money gram is fraudulent.

“If they actually send the money back,” Ball said, “they still owe the bank (where) they cashed the check.

“If they can’t prove that they sent the money back, then they’re committing a crime.”

Another scam reported locally offers job-seekers up to $500 to relabel packages and ship them overseas, he said.

Not only is the check for payment worthless, the individual enlisted to relabel and ship the packages is a “middle man” who helps fraudulent companies import stolen goods, Ball said.

By the time the scam is observed the goods are gone and the perpetrators are nearly impossible to track, he said.

On the other hand, local identity theft with stolen credit cards or checks is becoming much easier to track and prosecute, he said.

Seen most often are Internet “phishing” e-mails that request personal or account information.

Banks don’t request such information by e-mail, Ball said. Customers in doubt about any communication should immediately call their bank, he said.

The Secret Service handles securities thefts and fraud.

Resident Agent-in-Charge Stan Burruss of the Albany office said the fraud is very difficult to prosecute.

“It’s a new one every day,” he said. “The best thing to do is educate the public.”

The Internet is a fantastic place to perpetrate fraud because individuals can pretend to be anyone, in any geographic location, said Burruss.

“When you’re talking or communicating with someone over the Internet you never really know who you’re talking to.”

Area individuals have reported meeting members of the armed forces in online chat rooms who ask them to cash postal money orders for them, he said.

The contacts are not service members, and the money orders turn out to be fake, Burruss said.

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