Thread: Scammers Cashing Bad Checks, Valid DL's Or Not?

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Scam artists target Caldwell

Joshua Harris, Local News Editor, jharris@newstopic.net

A band of scam artists are cashing bad checks at grocery stores and already hit the Lowes Foods for a couple thousand dollars, and a local detective is warning merchants to be wary with unfamiliar people wanting to cash unfamiliar checks.

Lenoir Police Det. Jeff Dick said a few scammers cashed close to $2,000 worth of bad checks at Lowes Foods on Dec. 8 in about a five-minute period, and Dick believes they could hit other grocery or convenience stores in the area.

In November, the N.C. State Bureau of Investigation sent out an alert to law enforcement about a group of 15 Hispanic males who the SBI said cashed $45,000 worth of counterfeit checks in a bank in Jefferson. The men had 127 checks from a local employer who had an account with the bank, so the tellers didn't check for identification, according to the alert. At the time, Dick said that authorities had warned local banks about the scam.
However, it seems the criminals have moved from banks to grocery stores, Dick said, and likely any other business that will cash payroll checks. The Food Lion company lost more than $100,000 to this group, Dick said.

“They're good too,” Dick said. “They are using a pretty reliable ID, because the clerk who took the checks said they had good ID.”
Dick said it's been difficult to track these men down because the businesses don't realize the checks are bad until the banks do. Dick wants the community, business owners and tellers to aware of this group.

“If these guys walk into another grocery store, at least they can be detected,” Dick said.

Dick said the men counterfeit checks to look like checks from the Noble Corporation, which owns Golden Corral. The checks may also have the BB&T name.

The group will target a business when it's busy, normally a payday between 3 p.m. and

4 p.m.

“They'll present what appears to be a valid driver's license, maybe not a North Carolina license, maybe South Carolina, maybe Virginia,” Dick said.

And, the names on the checks will match the driver's license or ID because the group makes fake IDs as well, Dick said.

Dick said it's important for merchants to remember that they do not have to accept checks from anyone. If the teller is suspicious, the teller can tell the customer to go to a bank to cash the check. Dick said merchants should use common sense when cashing checks for people they don't know.

“Why would someone from Hickory come up to Lenoir and cash a $450 check?” Dick said.

If the check is from someone who says they live out of town, Dick said ask them why they are cashing the check here in Caldwell County. Tellers can also call the employer and ask them if the name on the check is someone who works for them.

Dick said if the teller knows the person, they are probably safe to cash the check. But if someone they've never seen is trying to cash a payroll check from an out-of-town business or address, they should be wary, he said. If businesses continue to get scammed, they are simply going to have to stop cashing those checks, Dick said.

“Or they are going to take big losses,” he said.

There was a similiar group caught in Cookeville, Tn. doing the same thing. All were illegal.