A wary, informed eye can thwart ID scams

Nancy Schlangen assumed the letter she received from an alleged national lottery outfit was junk mail.

“I almost didn’t even open it,” the St. Maries woman said.

She became suspicious when she noticed the envelope, sent to her Cottonwood Drive home, was missing a return address.

“For some reason I opened it and before I even read the letter I saw the check and the red flag went up,” Schlangen said.

The check was for $4,750.25. Angry that someone had targeted her for a scam, she took it to her bank and then to the Benewah County Sheriff’s Office.

“It’s a scam and most times they send it to older folks,” said Benewah County Sheriff Robert Kirts. “Don’t deposit it. Destroy it.”

In recent years, the U.S. Postal Service has seen an increase in mail fraud.

“There is a lot of that going around,” said St. Maries Postmaster Ralph Parsons. “With all the identity theft and things going on, it’s a time when we really have to be vigilant with our accounts.”

How the scams work

Scam artists have a number of methods to get personal information, such as credit card and bank account information.

By cashing a check like the one Schlangen received, Kirts said, some personal information will become available to the scammer when the check bounces.

The Internet is another popular method of fleecing users, he said. Phony e-mails ask people to update their credit card information, for example.

“When you do that you’re tattooed,” the sheriff said. “They have everything: your Social Security number, your date of birth and the account of your checks.”

Other flimflams promise wealth through Nigerian oil investments and lottery schemes.

Some victims unknowingly commit a felony by attempting to cash a fake money order they receive by mail, said Parsons.

In less than two years, 15 people have been caught attempting to cash fraudulent money orders at the St. Maries post office, he said.

“They are trying to get something for free,” Parsons said.

Parsons encouraged postal customers to consider the source before attempting to cash a money order.

“Check into things and take some time to think about whether you’re doing something that’s illegal,” he said. “A lot of times when something sounds too good to be true, it probably is.”

How bad is the problem?

The FBI in Coeur d’Alene receives complaints of mail fraud and other scams on a daily basis, said Don Robinson, agent in charge. They comprise most of the complaints logged with the local FBI, he said.

Dealing with the issue can be difficult, Robinson said, because the thieves normally operate outside the country. Authorities have particularly had problems investigating scandals originating in countries like Nigeria, where there is no law against committing a crime in another country, he said.

“They would look at it and say, ‘Sorry, we can’t help you because it’s not a crime in our country to commit a crime in your country,’ ” Robinson said.

In 2005, the Postal Inspection Service made 1,577 arrests for mail fraud, according to James Vach, a postal inspector in the department’s Seattle office.

What can be done?

Both the FBI and the Postal Inspection Service compile information about scams through online complaints. Investigators use the information to monitor the scams, Robinson said.

“The best way for us to attack is if we have a central clearing house,” he said. “If they can identify a common source we will use that as a referral to start an investigation.”

While the FBI in Coeur d’Alene may receive only a few complaints, there may be hundreds more throughout the country.

“Sometimes a $1,000 loss may not be strong enough to start a federal investigation, yet net all those together and all of a sudden you’ve got a couple hundred victims, and that is a case we will take,” Robinson said.