We have a guy on our aerodrome selling a run-out 172 for around $40K...
So, he gets a check written from a legit business for $80K (double the sales amount) in the mail instructing him to CASH it and provide the "ferry pilot" with the additional $40K in cash. Hmmm.
Instead of doing that, my buddy wisely called the FBI. The guy disappeared, the check was a FAKE check from a legitimate business than MIGHT have been cashed (unlikely, but possible) and the FBI is now too busy to do anything about it.
Lesson to All: Scammers are out there using very creative and tempting tactics. While no one here reading this would ever fall for this, it happens to people in other sales and acquisitions ALL THE TIME.
We used to say "BUYER BEWARE." Now we have to say BUYER AND SELLER BEWARE."
Those crooks are getting more and more creative. A few months ago, a small cafe shop in Topeka received a call about an hour before closing from a guy claiming to be with the Secret Service investigating counterfeit money. The guy asked the shop owner which dollar denominations were in the cash drawer at that time and how many of each. Then the guy said he would come by to inspect the dollar bills, and since he was wokring undercover he wouldn't be wearing a uniform. The shop owner wisely called the Topeka Police Department. TPD staked out at the shop and arrested the guy when he showed up, for impersonating a law enforcement officer.
The FBI won't investigate unless certain thresholds are met. It's about spreading their thin resources wisely.
My IT business has a contact at the local field office who we can call when we are aware of cybersecurity issues. But the sums/losses that we are reporting have to be a lot more than the check Mike's story reports.
It can get very frustrating when we have a "live" crime going down and we know that the big picture NATIONALLY meets the threshold but our LOCAL piece of it doesn't so all the agent can advise is to call local law enforcement. Who on hearing it involves crossing state lines - tell us to call the FBI.....
I still have a very authentic looking cashier's check for $10,000. The instructions were cash it and just send me $2,000 and keep the rest. Needless to say.....!
The tragic part is law-enforcement is spread so thin nothing will come of this...the bad guys will just keep doing it...
It's amazing they even picked up the phone for it!
I live in a relatively SAFE small town in rural PA.
We have TWO police cars in our township....maybe 6 officers? That is thin.
We have a volunteer Fire Dept - we pass the hat, attend chicken dinners and buy raffle tickets...and we have a private ambulance. (you get the bill later, and hopefully people pay)
We are basically "on our own" out here as that is all we can afford...
For all of that, we still have it pretty good here. There is a good "social contract" here in place where people come to the aid of each other, as we know very little is coming from anywhere else!
Do you really want law enforcement wasting time and resources (read, taxpayer money) on these pathetic civil fraud schemes? I'm sorry, there's much bigger fish to fry.
Life requires a certain amount of personal responsibility. If one is too ignorant to not fall for a completely unrealistic scam (hmm, somebody wants to pay me 4x my ask price for my plane>?????!!!), it's not the duty of society to protect them.
Do you really want law enforcement wasting time and resources (read, taxpayer money) on these pathetic civil fraud schemes? I'm sorry, there's much bigger fish to fry.
While I hear you - there is also an element of "look out for the pennies and the dollars will take care of themselves".
Meaning if it is unacceptable at a small level - people are less inclined to try it at a bigger level.
And while the big guys are happy to arrange that the small guys take the hit. If you keep taking out small guys early on - there will be fewer turn into big guys.
--
Like graffiti - immediately remove the first bit and more of it is less likely to appear to mimic the first bit. You actually spend less cleaning up.
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