These schemes can originate in a variety of ways but are most often encountered by an individual who has advertised an item for sale, either on the internet or even in the local newspaper.  The fraudster will contact the seller and agree to purchase the item.  The fraudster then sends the seller a cashier's check in an amount exceeding the purchase price by several hundred dollars.  The fraudster will usually offer some explanation that he had already purchased the cashier's check in that amount and, rather than purchasing a new cashier's check, wants to use the check for this purchase.  The fraudster will then entice the victim seller by offering to allow the seller to keep a portion of the excess amount if the seller will simply WIRE TRANSFER or send a MONEY ORDER for the difference back to him.  The scam here is that, even though the check appears to be legitimate, it will be counterfeit.  If the seller follows through with sending funds to the fraudster before the check clears, the seller will have lost the amount of money sent to the fraudster.  The check will "bounce" and the victim will have lost the amount paid for the money order or the bank where the check was deposited will hold the victim responsible for the amount of the wire transfer. 

This scheme is also sometimes carried out by sending the potential victim a cashier's check with some sort of notification that the recipient has won a foreign lottery or sweepstakes and that the check represents an initial partial payment of a much larger amount to come later.  The fraudster will then explain that the recipient must pay some taxes or fees in order to collect the remaining prize and that this check should be deposited and the taxes and fees sent to the fraudster.  Again, the goal of the fraudster is to entice the victim to send a wire transfer or money order before the victim learns the check is counterfeit.

These schemes also come in several varieties.  In fact, victims of these schemes can not only lose money or become victims of identity theft, but can also find themselves in a position of becoming a co-conspirator with the fraudster. 

Some employment schemes are simply devised in order to entice a potential victim into providing personal information, including social security and bank account numbers, in the form of an employment application.  Others may defraud the victim in a variation of the counterfeit check scheme by utilizing the victim as a "clearing house" for supposed payments from "customers."  The victim will be sent counterfeit checks or money orders and is asked to deposit these items, keep a certain percentage, and then send the difference to the fraudster.  Again, the checks or money orders will be counterfeit and the victim will have lost the amount forwarded to the fraudster.  Sometimes the checks or money orders may even be payments sent from other victims.  In this instance, the "clearing house" victim is actually assisting the fraudster in laundering the proceeds of fraudulently obtained funds from other victims.

Another variation of this scheme is the "Re-Shipper" scheme.  Here, the victim is "employed" to receive shipments of merchandise and is instructed to re-package and re-ship the merchandise to an address provided by the fraudster.  Most often the merchandise received has been purchased with stolen or fraudulent credit cards and the "Re-Shipper" is actually assisting the fraudster in carrying out his scheme.  

There are a number of identity theft schemes perpetrated today utilizing cell phones and texting.  One of the most common is receiving a recorded phone call or a text message which appears to be from your local bank alerting you there has been fraudulent activity related to your bank account.  You will be instructed to call a phone number in order to "safeguard" your account.  In reality, this is just a scheme devised to obtain personal information such as your social security number, your bank account number, and the PIN number or password for your account.  Remember, never respond directly to these messages.  Call your bank's local phone number and inquire about this message.  It is almost guaranteed this will be a scam.  If there is truly a problem with your account, the person you contact directly at the bank will be able to assist. 

Another recent scam involves the receipt of a phone call from a stranger informing that a friend or loved one has an emergency.  Some of these calls will be schemes to pursuade the potential victim to send money needed to assist the friend or loved one.  Never respond to these calls without verifying the request for assistance is legitimate.

Another variation is the receipt of a phone call informing the potential victim that a friend or loved one may have been arrested or has been in an accident.  The caller will instruct the potential victim to simply dial *72 in order to speak with a police officer or some other authority.  In fact, what this does is activate a call forwarding feature which allows the fraudster to then make long distance phone calls which are charged to the victim's account.  NEVER dial *72 at the request of an unknown caller.