Check overpayment/money wiring scams are becoming more popular and more clever. The set-up for the scam can be different every time: sometimes the scam artist contacts you to buy something you advertised for sale in the paper or on the Internet, sometimes he sends a personal or a cashier's check to pay you for work you did at home, sometimes he offers you an "advance" on a fake sweepstakes or lottery you have supposedly won. But, all of these scams end the same way - with you losing your money.

Here is how the scam operates: the people you are doing business with send you a check for more than the amount they owe you, and then instruct you to wire the difference back to them. Or, they send you a check, with instructions to deposit it, keep part of the amount for your own compensation, and then wire the rest back to them for one made-up reason or another. The checks in these scams look real but in reality, they are fraudulent.

The results are always the same: the check eventually bounces, but not until you've wired them the money. They've disappeared, and you're stuck, out the full amount, including what you wired to the scammer.

Tips for avoiding check overpayment scams:

• Don't be fooled by a fraudulent check, just because it looks legitimate. Call the issuing bank and ask to verify the validity of a check.



• Know who you're dealing with - independently confirm your buyer's name, street address, and telephone number. Be wary of selling something to a person who pays for a purchase with a check and appears to be in a foreign country.



• If you're selling something over the Internet or through a newspaper ad, say "no" to a check for more than your selling price, no matter how tempting the plea or convincing the story.



• Don't wire money back to anyone. There is no legitimate reason for someone who is paying you or giving you money to ask you to wire money back.

If you've been the victim of such a scam,
call the Customer Service immediately at 1-888-929-2265 (24 hours a day, 7 days a week). If the fake check carries a logo or the name of Armed Forces Bank, Academy Bank or Armed Forces Bank of California, please send the check to Armed Forces Bank, N.A., Attn: Fraud, 320 Kansas Avenue, Fort Leavenworth, KS 66027.

We also strongly recommend that you report fake check scams to the National Fraud Information Center/Internet Fraud Watch at www.fraud.org (or call them at 1-800-876-7060), and the Federal Trade Commission at http://www.ftc.gov or 1-877-FTC-HELP.