Sanborn County Sheriff Tom Fridley would like county residents and readers of the Sanborn Weekly Journal to be aware of some dangerous scams coming through the mail system. Recently, a county resident received a letter (pictured lower right) that appeared to be from a legitimate bank. With the letter, the person received a check (pictured upper right) that also convincingly had the appearance to be a legitimate document; however, neither document was from the bank they said they were from.

After some investigating, Sheriff Fridley found the bank that the letter and check were supposedly from, and he determined that the addresses on the mailed documents were one number off in the zip code of the bank’s address. Additionally, a huge indicator that the letter and check were sent from a scammer is the fact that the recipient is asked to pay a processing fee in order to process the check. Sheriff Fridley reported that he checked with First National Bank of Omaha in Woonsocket, and a bank employee stated that it could take three to 10 days to process a check that is brought to them to deposit or cash. That time frame can cause problems for the bank customer who received the check because by the time the bank contacts them to let them know the check is a scam, the customer has already spent the money and then has to pay the money back to the bank. Sheriff Fridley stated that this has happened to someone who then had to take a small loan out to pay off the debt to the bank.

…Learn more about the story in this week’s issue of the Sanborn Weekly Journal!