I received a hard copy letter that said I had been selected to participate in a market research project to evaluate the effectiveness and efficiency of a payment system called "MoneyGram" at my local WalMart.
The letter offered to pay me $120 to send $840 via a MoneyGram to a person in Ontario Canada. The letter included a cashier's check for $980 (allowing for the $20 MoneyGram charge). The idea was for me to deposit the check into my bank, send the MoneyGram and keep the difference.
They also provided a form for me to fill out desribing my experience that had to be faxed in within 48 hours of receiving the letter and check.
Fortunately, I had heard of this kind of scam on the radio just the other day. Here is how the scam works. The check looks just legitimate enough for the bank to take it as a deposit, BUT it takes more than 48 hours to come back as bogus. So you get bit for the $840 plus the MoneyGram charge of $20.
Needless to say, I did not follow the instructions in the letter.instead I contacted the post office mail fraud division, the bank the check said it was drawn on (Huntington Bank in Columbus Ohio), Wal-Mart and the FBI.
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