June 8th, 2005 - June 28th, 2005

Shelburne Police wish to alert citizens regarding their vulnerability in Internet scams.

Recently, Shelburne Police have investigated a rash of victims who have been defrauded of thousands of dollars via Internet scams.

BEWARE: If you are trying to sell an item on the internet, be aware of buyers forwarding you a cheque for more than you ask, requesting you send the difference in cash via Western Union, etc. for some related purpose. The cheques, money orders, etc. you receive can be counterfeit or altered. Keep in min d, that although you wait 2 weeks at the bank to see if it has cleared, the financial institutions have 90 days to recover their losses if the method of payment is not legit! Therefore, you can become the victim no matter how careful you are!

BEWARE: Be aware of predators on the Internet emailing you requesting you perform some minor act for payment in cash. Again a cheque may be sent requesting you cash it and forward part of it on, usually by Western Union, and you can keep the balance. Greed is usually the motivation here. YOU DON'T GET SOMETHING FOR NOTHING.

These Internet scams are very complex. They are usually untraceable. If a deal looks to good to be true, it probably is.