Protect Yourself and Others from Scams, Fraud, and Bad Business!

Less than 6 months ago, I came into possession of $2,700 in counterfeit money. I am not a criminal, I am a homemaker. I am as normal as normal can be, whatever normal is. However, I ended up in possession of something that I am pretty sure could land me prison time if not handled properly. I came into this money because I fell for a scam, and it was something I had never heard of before.

I was trying to sell a kitchen table on a local classified ad website. Somebody showed an interest in the table... and I believed I had made a sale. However, there is an area of confusion that should have been a warning sign... but since I was unaware of what was really happening, I fell for it. (Almost.)

The 'potential buyer' asked if they could 'cut down on expenses' and send me the money orders... trusting me to deduct the price of the 'product' (my kitchen table) and then forward the rest of the funds to their shipping company. I hadn't really considered much into this. As I mentioned earlier, I am a homemaker so I had other things on my mind aside from the sale of the table.

About 6 weeks later, I recieved an envelope containing 3 money orders, each valued at $900. Now I am an honest person, and I had every intention of taking the $300 I was asking for the table and then sending the rest of the money to the address requested. Even if that amount was ridulously large, I still hadn't fully realized that this 'strange' situation was a scam.

Of course, there was another thing I wasn't aware of yet. Money orders, over a certain amount, can't be cashed at your local Western Union. They have to be deposited into a bank account and cleared, just like a personal check. When the nice cashier at Western Union explained this to me, she also warned me about the latest scam.

I was furious to learn about this scam. In my opinion, it preys more on innocent people... but basically anyone who cashes these counterfeit money orders (from Nigeria) will be the ones who take the fall.

Now I never thought I would fall for a scam. I also did not know what to do next! I wanted to spread the word to other 'normal' people like me, but I couldn't find a way to do that. I called the local police station to explain what had happened, and to ask what I should do with the money orders. I did not want them in my house. The police station had heard of this scam before, but they had no other advice to offer other than an FBI fraud division website I could report my incident on. I did this, and never heard anything back. I had an address to offer, where I had been told to forward the rest of the money. I thought it might help.

If anything like this ever happens, you may find how hard it is to get the word out to warn others. Not anymore! I have found a website, and I am proud to bring you a sponsored review of what this website does!

Complaint.TV is a free service that links consumers with local tv news stations. This site exists to help you report consumer fraud, scams, and anything of that nature. This site is not only helpful for those like me, who want to help other innocent people like myself prevent being 'tricked'. This site is also helpful for anyone. I strongly recommend everyone sign up for the free newsletter.

Be informed about these things! Not only can you prevent yourself from falling prey to a scam, you can also be aware of 'bad business' reports.