Check-cashing scam targets Vero Beach man via Craigslist

VERO BEACH, Fla - Paul and Linda Kelly’s German shorthaired pointer, Jasper, wanted no part of the shady, fenced backyard kennel his owners built for him, so they decided to sell it for $400 with a free online craigslist ad.

Then a check for $2,500 on the account of an Illinois auto dealership arrived with Paul Kelly’s name on it and a buyer’s suggestion to cash it and wire the balance to a Denver, Colo., address. Paul Kelly figured this was a quick way to get himself into the doghouse and didn’t bite on the offer.

“I thought, ‘This is madness. What’s this all about?’” the Vero Beach resident said.

Sure enough, it was a scam.

The check is a forgery that has been repeated hundreds of times since late April, said Cheryl Pope, controller for the car dealership, Acura of Libertyville.

“Somebody got hold of a check that we sent to one of our vendors and sent it to people all over the country and told them to cash it,” she said. “This has been a nightmare.”

Pope said the account was closed within days, as soon as the last legitimate check was cashed. But the forgeries continued.

The offer to Paul Kelly was the first time that one of the forgeries has surfaced through craigslist, the community-moderated listing of classified ads, Pope said.

She said most of the forgeries she’s been notified about pretend to be payment for market research. The recipient is asked to cash the check for a four-figure sum, “mystery shop” in national chain stores, then mail the balance of what they don’t spend to various addresses — some as far off as France or Spain.

The forged check sent to Paul Kelly was delivered by FedEx using the Phoenix, Ariz., return address of a nationally known aerospace corporation; the scammer asked him to wire cash to a Denver, Colo., address that appears to be non-existent.

He’s reported the scam to the Sheriff’s Office.

He’s now trying to sell the kennel with a print classified ad.

Meanwhile, Jasper still won’t use the kennel.

“He walks in and he walks right out,” Linda Kelly said.