Phony cashier's check used to dupe Jackson couple

Nigerian bandits victimized a Jackson couple seeking to sell a laptop computer by sending them a large phony cashier's check and persuading them to send back most of the money.

The fraud scheme duped Jeff and Deanna Kelm, leaving them with a demand from Bank of America that they repay $5,000 and a closed bank account.

"We didn't question the check," Jeff Kelm said. "It looked authentic. It looked like a real cashier's check."

The con game involving fake cashier's checks, money orders and U.S. Treasury checks is a growing problem for banks across the country. Officials at the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation have issued hundreds of warnings in the past two years for checks drawn against specific banks.

One warning even covered fake FDIC employee expense checks.

"It seems to be almost every day" that a warning is issued "and sometimes two or three in a day," said David Barr, spokesman for the FDIC in Washington.

The Kelms received their first inquiry from Nigeria after placing a classified ad in the Southeast Missourian offering the laptop for $100. The ad was also posted on the Missourian's Internet site.

Tellers at Bank of America believed the check to be authentic, Kelm said. The Kelms told the teller and another bank employee that it arrived in an envelope labeled as originating in Lagos, Nigeria.

"One of them ran it through the scanner and said it was good," Kelm said.

Bank of America didn't put any hold on the money. After receiving the cash, the Kelms sent $4,600 via Western Union to Nigeria. A day later, the trouble started.

A call the next day from Bank of America headquarters in California alerted them that the check was likely a fraud. And after it was confirmed, the account was closed.

Bank of America officials did not return calls for this story. But an official at the bank whose name is on the Kelms' check, Farmers State Bank of Booneville, Ky., said the fake cashier's checks are becoming a huge problem.

"We issue about two or three good cashier's checks a day," said Nelson Bobrowski, bank vice president. "And we get 20 fraudulent checks a day and about 40 phone calls checking on the validity of cashier's checks."

Not such a good deal

The schemes work because people believe cashier's checks and money orders are as good as cash and they are eager to make a few extra dollars. "Ten years ago, a cashier's check was as good as gold," Bobrowski said.

And federal rules governing those kinds of checks require banks to make the money available no later than the day after the checks are deposited.

In request to the Federal Reserve for action, the Association of Community Bankers noted that cashier's checks, treasury checks and postal money orders "have become the tool of choice for conducting fraud."

The Kelms aren't the only local victims, said Jackson police officer Tony Henson. In October, Jackson police received a report that another person seeking to sell a laptop computer was contacted by someone in Nigeria, then received two money orders for $2,500 each.

The victim's bank wouldn't cash the money orders. During the investigation, officers discovered money orders with identical numbers had already been cashed.

Jackson police will be contacting other local law enforcement agencies to compile information, then present it to federal authorities with the hope it will aid in the investigations, Henson said.

Meanwhile, the Kelms are facing a demand they pay the bank within 60 days -- they say they can't and still feed four children -- and they are fending off efforts from other scammers to repeat the episode.

"We wanted to be honest," Deanna Kelm said. "We didn't want to cheat anybody."

rkeller@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 126