OPINION: Fake checks can take weeks to be discovered

Don’t assume you’re witnessing the kindness of strangers if an unknown someone sends you a check in the mail — as a prize, as a payment to purchase an item on Craigslist or as a down payment on something or other.

Albuquerque reader David Northrup encountered this kind of scheme while trying to sell a $100 bike on Craigslist.

An interested — but fake — purchaser wanted to buy the bike and sent Northrup a check by mail, asking him to deposit it immediately.

The immediacy was necessary, the faker said, because his assistant had mistakenly added to the check some costly moving expenses unrelated to the bike. He needed a refund on that money quickly and asked Northrup to hurriedly deposit the check and send back the extra money.

“I am Putting all my trust and faith in you, both of which are becoming less prominent these days,” the fraudster wrote in a characteristically ungrammatical email. “I pray that God will also send you an Angel where you least expect.”

Northrup became suspicious about the whole thing and insisted he would only accept cash for the bike. He refused the check when it arrived and cancelled the whole deal.

Smart move.

It can take a few days for a check to clear, so Northrup would not have learned from the bank that the check had bounced until after he had already sent the scammer money to cover the supposed extra moving expenses. The scammer would never be heard from again, and Northrup would have been out the money.

“Fake checks can take weeks to be discovered and untangled,” the Federal Trade Commission says. “By that time, the scammer has any money you sent, and you’re stuck paying the money back to the bank.”

Happy ending: Northrup made a legitimate sale on the bike — for cash only.

Hospice care scams

Sad to say, but those who need hospice care or are helping to arrange such services for a dying relative have become targets of scammers trying to steal their identity, according to the FTC.

This kind of fraud takes the form of calls, texts, emails, fake ads and even knock-on-the-door visits, offering to set up services like free cooking, cleaning and home health care.

“They want to commit fraud by signing you up for Medicare hospice … care,” the FTC says. “Then, they can bill Medicare for all kinds of services in your name.”

This whole scenario is impossible. Only a doctor can certify eligibility for hospice care, a specialized service for those whose life expectancy is six months or less.

If you are signed up for hospice but don’t need it or aren’t eligible, your Medicare coverage could be affected in the future.

Here are some things to remember, courtesy of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services:

• Never accept perks or gifts in return for hospice service enrollment.
• Medicare will never provide “free” services like housekeeping.
• Be suspicious if someone offers you freebies like housekeeping or cooking in return for your Medicare number.
• Medicare will never come to your home.

To report potential fraud, call 1-800-MEDICARE (1-800-633-4227).

Contact Ellen Marks at emarks@abqjournal.com if you are aware of what sounds like a scam. To report a scam to law enforcement, contact the New Mexico Consumer Protection Division at 505-490-4060. Complaints can be filed electronically at nmag.gov/contact-us/file-a-complaint/