During recent months, an unknown group of scam artists has been sending invalid checks in the name of Choate Rosemary Hall. Though the scam artists seemed to go on vacation for part of the summer, the beginning of the school brought on a renewed onslaught of criminal activity, starting in mid-August. Choate has received more than fifty phone calls this year from victims who discovered too late that checks they thought to have been sent from the school were actually forged.
The scam group has been issuing job advertisements in newspapers and online. “Commonly, they say they need a victim to drive [an international] Choate student from point A to point B,” says Mr. Edward Griffin, Controller and Assistant Business Manager at the Financial Office. “The ride, however, is completely fictional.” Transportation is provided to all students at Choate; Mr. Griffin reassures students that they “should never worry about getting to and from school safely.”
Reports are consistent in that victims are offered $500 to drive a student from an airport to another destination. The criminals send the payment via a check that appears to be from Choate, using the Choate checking account number. When the check arrives, however, it is written for $4,000. Perplexed, victims inquire about the figure. The criminals explain that the victim needs to send in a check for $3,500 in order to keep the originally agreed-upon difference of $500. But the $4,000 check issued to them is not valid, and the victims lose $3,500.
“This is where a lot of people realize something is wrong,” says Mr. Griffin. “That’s far too much money for a ride… the moral is, if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.” Many potential victims have contacted Choate for purposes of verification and have thus escaped losing money. Other, less-fortunate victims write a good check for $3,500 and receive nothing in return.
Not much is known about the scam group, beyond the fact that Gmail appears to be the preferred method of contact. “We think they may be international,” Mr. Griffin says. “Their English is absolutely terrible; in a sense, this has helped raise suspicions since most people don’t expect a preparatory boarding school to write like that.”
The group has been using Choate’s checking account number. “While we’re not sure how they got our number, it’s not that surprising… we send out many, many checks,” says Mr. Griffin. “My signature is on each check.” The criminals have inexpertly forged Mr. Griffin’s signature. “Analysts tell us the signatures are in a feminine hand,” says Mr. Griffin. “They also got my middle initial wrong.”
The scam activities started in late January and early February of 2008 and tapered off in May. As the end of the summer approached, however, the reports of scams became frequent again.
“I believe they’re spreading out a wider net,” says Mr. Griffin. “It’s the same for them if they send out one email or a hundred… so why not send out more? That way, they can ensure a higher return.”
“They’re not discriminating at all,” says Mr. Griffin. “Their victims are vulnerable individuals who are usually looking for a job.” Victims and potential victims have phoned Choate from Texas, Kansas, North Carolina, and many other parts of the country. They have been people of all demographics and ages. The only common thread is that these individuals contacted the scam group through some form of job advertisement agency.
Choate warns all victims who have come into contact with suspicious individuals, first and foremost, not to part with any personal property, including checks and credit card numbers. Individuals are then instructed to contact their local police to open a case and file a report concerning the issue.
When the school discovered it was part of a scam, it contacted the Wallingford Police Department, which then forwarded a report to the FBI. “Unfortunately, we’re not the victims here,” says Mr. Griffin. “This makes it hard for us to take any decisive action or conduct investigations.”
“We—Choate and our bank, Wachovia—have not lost a single dollar,” says Mr. Griffin. “But it is obviously terribly frustrating and upsetting to even have our name associated with such a disgraceful act.” With at least fifty phone calls from victimized individuals, Choate has had little choice but to give all injured parties the best advice they can and to make it known that the school is not in any way affiliated with the scam group.
“There may not be anything we can do to catch the criminals, but it is our responsibility to let people know about this,” says Mr. Griffin. “It’s not too late to prevent this from spreading any further.”
