Scammers have been mailing fake Pima Federal Credit Union cashier's checks across the nation to unsuspecting consumers who were selling products or applying for secret shopper jobs on Craigslist.

No one knows just how many consumers have been duped, but at least $117,000 of the fake cashier's checks were cashed. However, the $466 million Pima said it mitigated more than $100,000 of the bogus checks, according to Laura Ward, vice president of risk management for the Tucson, Ariz.-based cooperative.

“We're probably getting five to 10 (fake checks) a day and it seems to be picking up momentum,” Ward said. “We're trying to get the word out because we are trying to mitigate the number of victims.”

The mail fraud was reported by local media Monday and the Better Business Bureau issued a consumer warning. The credit union also posted a fraud alert at the top of its website's home page to ensure members and others would see it.

According to Pima's statement, consumers reported receiving fraudulent Pima checks in the mail via two-day priority mail. In addition, the checks that surfaced so far contain check serial numbers starting with 750xxx or 751xxx, with varying amounts, i.e., $1,994, $2,742 and $2,892, and have the forged signature of Interim President/CEO Eric Renaud.

“I think what we are seeing could happen to any local credit union,” Renaud told CU Times Tuesday. “They could have visited our website and pulled our logo. It is a little bit of a surprise for us because my signature on our cashier's checks is only recent, so I've only had my signature on there since the end of October.”

Wood said the blue marbled fake checks were mailed to consumers in at least 16 states including New York, California, Illinois, Kansas, Maryland, Florida, Pennsylvania, Arizona, Alaska, Ohio, North Carolina, Michigan, Washington, Louisiana, Arkansas and Georgia. She noted many of the worthless checks came from California.

Pima became aware of the fraud on Friday, Jan. 8 when Wood received a phone call from a woman in New York who reported that she received a bogus check. Then, on the same day, Wood received other calls from people in other states and realized something bigger was happening.

The credit union immediately filed a police report with the Pima County Sherriff's Department, and started working with the U.S Postal Service and the BBB.

According to Ward and the BBB, the scammers contacted people selling products on Craigslist and mailed them, for example, a Pima check for $2,000 even though the product only cost $150. The scammers then instructed the seller to send the $1,850 balance via MoneyGram to an individual or individuals.

The scammers also hired consumers via Craigslist to work as a secret shopper, mail them a check for $3,000, for example, tell them to take $300 for their first secret shopping assignment and MoneyGram the $2,700 balance to an individual or individuals.

According to the BBB, the schemers also texted victims to confirm they received the fake check with instructions on wiring the excess funds back to individuals who were presumably involved in the mail fraud.

In some instances, the scammers asked consumers to send a $15 money order as an “urgent donation” to a children's charity, Wood said.

Wood said postal officials believe the people running this fraud scheme are based out of Jamaica, although they are using New York, California and Arizona return addresses.

“The first ones came out of The Bronx and then it started expanding to other areas,” she said.

It is unknown why the scammers targeted Pima.

“The postal service tells us that they pick a place that they think is good and reputable, and that they think will have less difficulty in getting these checks cashed,” Wood said. “But that doesn't make us feel any better.”

Instant Insights /

Pima FCU Hit by Cashier&rsquo;s Check Scam

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