What's New: Check scams on the increase

Check scams have become so prevalent that the U.S. Postal Service has undertaken its largest ever anti-fraud campaign to warn consumers. According to the National Consumers League, counterfeit checks rank #2 as the most common Internet fraud and #1 as the most common telemarketing fraud. The average loss to victims is $3,000 to $4,000 per incident.

In one typical check scam, the con artist contacts an individual who has posted an ad on a online auction site. The thief says he/she wants to buy the item and says a check will be sent for more than the sale price. The seller is asked to wire the excess amount to a third party to cover shipping of the item being purchased. But the check is counterfeit, and by the time the seller finds that out, the money has been transferred out of the country and the seller is on the hook for the loss.

Don't fall for one of these scams. Trust your instincts and apply a healthy dose of skepticism to out-of-the-ordinary requests when you're dealing with people you don't personally know.