Officials with the Iowa Attorney General’s office said they usually see a spike in scam attempts during the holidays.
DES MOINES, Iowa — With the holiday season in full swing, a usual Scrooge is back —holiday scammers.
Des Moines resident, Judi Coppock decided to sell her late father’s mobility scooter. She posted an ad online, using Facebook Marketplace and Craigslist. After originally having no luck, someone finally reached out, But the would-be buyer set off some red flags, Coppock said.
“He said that he was going to send us a cashier’s check for more than the amount because he would have to have some to give to his shipper,” Coppock said.
Coppock said she was wary of the buyer from the start but wanted to see how far he’d go, so she told him where to send the check. When it arrived, more warning signs came with it. The buyer kept asking about exactly when she intended to deposit it.
When Coppock brought that check to the bank, the teller confirmed her suspicions; the check was fraudulent, and there could’ve been some serious consequences for depositing it.
“If I had deposited that check, somehow he would have had a way to figure out how, where it got deposited, and then he’d have my bank account information,”…
