‘Too good to be true’: Scammers send man fake check in the mail

By Michelle Bandur

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    SACRAMENTO, California (KCRA) — A Sacramento man is warning others to not fall for a financial scam.

Helder Peralta said he almost took the bait.

When Peralta opened his mail, he was elated to see it wasn’t a bill.

“I saw the check that was like, ‘Oh my gosh,’ something good happened.

But then Peralta took a closer look at the cashier’s check made out to him for $1,795 allegedly from a real bank, State Employees Credit Union.

“It almost got me,” he said.

Included with the check was a letter that starts with a headline: Whole Foods market customer service evaluation assignment and a congratulations on “your first secret survey assignment.”

The secret survey assignment is to buy gift cards worth $1,300 and then keep the rest for a bonus.

They want you to email the gift card numbers and answer some customer satisfaction questions as part of the ruse.

“It said for me to deposit the check into my bank account and then do a survey,” Peralta said. “I was confused. I didn’t know what to do with it.”

The scammers get you because the fake check will bounce, leaving unsuspecting victims, like Helder, to pay for the deficit.

KCRA 3 texted the number and was told “to kindly proceed and complete the task assignment to activate your bonus.”

We also sent an email asking questions about the job and for an interview for this report.

The person again responded to finish the assignment to get the bonus.

Peralta is raising the red flag for others who might get the same letter and need the money.

“When you’re vulnerable and you’re desperate for money, you see something like this, and you want to go through with it, don’t, don’t. If it’s too good to be true, it is too good to be true,” he said.

Sacramento police said this is just one way to commit financial fraud.

Police say never give out personal information from unsolicited requests.

Call the police and your bank if you did cash the check.

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