Police warn of online cheats over holidays

By LAUREN DALEY, Standard-Times staff writer

A typical complaint landed on Major Donald LaMarr's desk last Wednesday: a New Bedford woman was out $1,708.32 because of a holiday Internet scam.

The woman, who is about 40 years old, had applied online for a $25,000 loan from an Iowa company. They e-mailed her and said to get the loan, she had to wire them $600.

She did.

Then they called her and said they had analyzed her credit; in order to process the loan, she would have to send another $1,000.

She did.

She never heard from the company again.

"Now this lady says she has no money for rent or for food. She's another victim," said Maj. LaMarr, a member of the Homeland Security Special Operations unit from the Bristol County Sheriff's Office.

"This is an offer she found on the Internet. I'm working with the Iowa police on this now."

He said this type of complaint is all too commonplace — especially during the holidays.

"Ever since Thanksgiving, I've been getting about five or six complaints a day from people in Bristol County," he said. "There are so many of these scams going on that the FBI can only look at cases over $1 million."

"This is the time of year that people start online scams. The Internet becomes the wild, wild West — anything goes. Today alone, I got two more complaints."

He described one case as follows:

A man from Mansfield was trying to sell his vehicle online. A buyer from Canada e-mailed him: "I'll mail you a check for $25,000. As soon as you get it, send $6,500 to the shipper immediately."

The seller received the check, which was counterfeit, and mailed $6,500 of his own money to the shipper.

Maj. LaMarr said this case had two red flags: beware of anyone who tells you to send money "immediately" and beware of doing business in foreign countries.

"Don't buy in Canada; you have nothing to fall on. At least in U.S., there are other police departments. And (scam artists) always emphasize speed. If they say, 'Do it right away,' they're hoping to slip through the cracks."

He said he also gets complaints about lottery scams. The scam artists find your name randomly on the Internet, he said.

"They mail you check for $4,600 and say, 'This is only part of the $200,000 you won. Mail $2,750 to Western Union or MoneyGram.' They hope that you wire the money before you realize the check is bad."

He said recently, a man who works at a credit union in Bristol County received three such checks — he knew they weren't real because of his job.
"It's not a lottery that he entered, but his name got picked somehow out of the Internet, as someone to prey on. The checks all say 'J.P. Morgan Chase Bank,' but this guy knew they weren't real. The routing numbers are all different.

"But these companies hope that if they mail or e-mail 100,000 of these, and just one percent of the people fall for it, they'll make thousands and thousands of dollars. ... If an elderly person falls for this, that could be their life savings. If something sounds too good to be true, it is not true."

According to the state Attorney General's Office, eBay complaints, in particular, have risen drastically over the past few years.

Consumer Complaints received just two complaints in 2002 — in 2006, they received 11, said spokesperson Erika Gully-Santiago.

Maj. LaMarr warned that eBay scams are especially proliferate during the holiday season.

"Let's say your selling a product. A guy buys it, say for $300 or something, he mails you a forged money order for $300, you send him the product and deposit the check. It takes several days to process. You'll never get the product back. That's a goner.

"Or, say you're trying to buy something on eBay. Say you're not the high bidder. Then you get an e-mail saying, 'Hey, you didn't win the high bid, but you were second. The high bidder changed his mind. You want it? Send me a check and I'll send the product out.' Most people will send the money order. Lo and behold, they don't get the product."

He warned that his type of scam happens often with Xbox, Playstations, Tickle Me Elmo or other hot holiday items.

"I had complaints within two days of PlayStation 3 coming out. The scams had already started."

He also received four on "Cyber Monday," Nov. 27.

Halloween, too, was a major time for scams.

He helped convict a man who was offering costumes on eBay, collecting money, but never shipped any out.

Maj. LaMarr also helped find a woman in Somerset who offered to sell dogs on eBay, but never sent them out after a Georgia man bought them.

And he helped a man in Taunton who bought diamonds online from a man in Detroit. When the Taunton man had the jewels appraised, "they weren't what he thought they were. I worked with Detroit police, and we got the Taunton man his money back."

Maj. LaMarr cautioned: "eBay is a great thing, I use it all the time. But if a deal sounds too good to be true, it is. You got to use caution."