DETECTIVES WARN OF ONGOING ON-LINE SCAMS IN EL PASO, TX
3850 Justice El Paso, TX 79938 
NEWS RELEASE
Contact: Deputy Jesse Tovar / PUBLIC AFFAIRS
Direct: (915) 538-2119
Pager: (915) 533-0733 (#5370)
EMAIL: jtovar@epcounty.com
EPCSO.ORG
Release Date / Time: Wednesday, October 28, 2009 11:40 AM
SECTION: El Paso County Sheriff's Office (CID- White Collar Crimes)
EVENT: Detectives investigating several on-line scams
LOCATION OF OCCURRENCE: El Paso County, TX
DATE / TIME: Present Day Crime Trend
RESULT: Investigations Continue
EL PASO, TEXAS- Sheriff’s Office White Collar Crime Detectives are warning the community / residents of El Paso, TX of a trendy internet scam that has recently hit our area.
Over the past several weeks / months, Sheriff’s investigator’s 
have been getting an influx of complaints dealing with internet scams, namely with Craigslist, where bogus payouts are promised. The scam occurs when the checks are sent out, then they are over drafted for quite an amount. The victim is asked to cash the check, keep their portion and return the rest via Western Union. The checks are in the name of different entities, such as trucking companies, hospitals, and even individuals. None of the return addresses are local, they are often addresses from various locations across the country.
The scam starts as the victim applies for an on-line job posting such as “MYSTERY/SECRET SHOPPER” and then they are sent a reply email confirming employment, conditional on one returning the remaining money from the check they receive. Or in other cases, a person posts an item to sell on-line & when someone makes the purchase, the victim receives an over drafted check. The bogus company convinces victims that this is the only way they can pay since it’s a company account they are using. They ask the victim to cash the check, keep a portion of the money & then return the remainder via Western Union & also send them the items purchased.
Sheriff’s Detectives warn it is difficult to catch the offenders, since they are bouncing accounts throughout the US. Sheriff’s Office Detectives are continuing several investigations and want to make the El Paso Community aware of these on-going scams. They are also hoping any information provided by the general public could lead to solving these difficult cases. If anyone has any information regarding these types of scams- they are encouraged to call the Sheriff’s Office at (915) 546-2280. If callers want to remain anonymous, they are urged to call Crime Stoppers of El Paso at (915) 566-TIPS (8477).
END OF NEWS RELEASE
The El Paso County Sheriff’s Office in March of 2001 was the first Sheriff’s Office in the State of Texas to be Internationally Accredited from CALEA and is now the recipient of the First CALEA Tri-Arc award in Texas (4th in the Nation) to have accreditations in: Law Enforcement, Communications, Training Academy.