Woman alerts sheriff to scam

MONTICELLO – A Grahamsville woman, who signed up online to work at home became suspicious and alerted the Sullivan County Sheriff’s Office when she received a DHL overnight envelope last weekend.

The package contained four blank American Express gift checks in the amount of $500 each. The instructions in the envelope told the woman to fill out the checks, cash them, keep $200 for herself as 10 percent, and wire the rest via Western Union to a city in China.

To say the least, the woman became suspicious and called the sheriff’s office. While it is virtually impossible to trace the origin of the email, authorities said the woman did the right thing by calling them.
“If it seems too good to be true, it is,” warned Chief of Patrol Arthur Hawker.

First of all, American Express doesn’t sell gift checks in $500 denominations, and secondly, the red flag should go up if the so-called business wants you to send cash to China, he said.

This is the second time since January that a Sullivan County resident received phony Amex gift checks with instructions like this.
And the checks appeared real authentic, right down to watermarks and embossed seals.

Detectives are working with American Express, DHL and Postal inspectors in an effort to crack the case.