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September 23, 2008

Two fall prey to scam

By BOB GIBBINS

TAHLEQUAH DAILY PRESS — At least two Tahlequah residents have fallen prey to an Internet scam wherein they attempted to cash fraudulent checks they received in the mail.

One person – Tara F. Sczurek, 31 – went to the Cherokee County Detention Center, but not for trying to cash the fraudulent check. Sgt. Steve Young checked Sczurek for outstanding warrants and learned she was wanted in Cleveland County for failing to appear on a previously filed case. The Department of Corrections Web site indicates Sczurek also has convictions in Oklahoma and Garvin counties.

Sczurek and John Candy went into the Check Into Cash store on Daisy Drive on successive days last week, police reports state. Both attempted to cash checks they were told were fraudulent.

Sczurek’s check from Paragon Controls Inc. was for $2,950. When a representative of Check Into Cash called the bank the check was drawn on, she was told several of the checks were going around and was directed to retrieve the check.

Sczurek told Young she had been completing online surveys and was told via e-mail she would be getting a check. She was to cash the check and send a certain amount back by Western Union to a place known as “Joanna’s Jewelry.” Sczurek was to keep 10 percent of the $2,950 and return the remainder.

Lt. David Huffman spoke with Candy when he tried to cash a $4,800 check made payable to him from a California company. Candy told officers he’d been told he had won a sweepstakes. He was to call a certain individual after receiving the check, and the check would be “activated” by that person. After cashing the check, Candy was to get a Money Gram for $3,650 and send it to a woman in Nova Scotia, Canada.

Huffman went with Candy to his residence, confirmed the information, and called the specified number. A man answered and began to curse Huffman when he told him he was the police and that the check was a fraud. The number Huffman called checked to a residence in New Westminster, British Columbia.

Police warn against local residents trying to cash checks of this nature. Anyone who receives one should contact the Tahlequah Police Department or the nearest law enforcement agency.

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