Email Scam cons by pleading for help with taxes
Photo by: Mac Sokulski
An email scam was recently uncovered in Santa Barbara when a resident filed a complaint with the Sheriff’s Department for attempted Grand Theft. The email presented its sender as a company trying to cut corners by getting around the tax regime in China.
The Lompoc Valley resident, who wished to remain unidentified, said the email came out of the blue. It pleaded the resident for help in reducing the company’s tax burden. The recipient could help by encashing a few checks locally and forwarding the money (after deducting a generous commission, of course) back to the sender.
The victim showed interest and responded; accordingly, the email was quickly followed by checks from the fraudsters. The first whiff of the email being a scam sank in when the check was deposited at the bank for clearing. The bank refused to clear it revealing that it was a fraud. It, perhaps, slapped charges on the depositor for he/she went back to the scammers on the issue.
The scammers empathized and offered to compensate the victim for all the trouble. They offered to send him/her a $120,000 check, but asked the victim to send them a check for $478 first.
But the victim now had had enough of the email scam and instead of sending the money, turned the scam over to the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Department.
Investigations, so far, have not made much headway. Officials though presently suspect the email scam to have origins in the United Kingdom.
Source: The Lompoc Record
Related posts:
