For your protection, if ANY of the following statements are correct, please notify a member of our staff immediately. You are responsible for the items you deposit or cash with us. (Cash, checks, ACH, wire transfers, etc.). You could be the victim of a scam and participating in a fraud scheme if you can answer yes to any of the scenarios below:

• You have been instructed to keep the transaction a “secret”, or the deposit is from an unknown source or is unexpected.
• You have been asked to purchase or send money via pre-paid gift cards / gift card numbers.
• You were told you are paying a fine for missing Jury Duty or to a Law Enforcement Agency?
• You were advised to put cash into an ATM / Cryptocurrency ATM at a convenience store?
• The deposit is for payment or commission of employment from a “work at home” position, “secret or mystery shopper” position, or newspaper ad where you were hired online or over the telephone.
• The deposit is to pay taxes and/or fees to receive other funds, such as an inheritance or lottery winnings.
• The deposit is from someone you met online or someone you have been communicating with through email, text or phone…someone you’ve never met in person.
• The deposit is proceeds for an item you sold on the Internet, such as a car, boat, jewelry, etc…
• The amount of the deposit is more than the selling price of the item sold.
• The deposit is from a business or individual different from the person buying your item or product or working for.
• You have been asked to send cash via U.S. Mail, FedEx or UPS.
• You have been instructed to return funds through wire transfer, Walmart, Western Union or Money Gram as soon as possible.
• You have been asked to assist in the distribution of money from or to another country.
• You received an email from a business (Best Buy; Norton; Microsoft) and the email address is from @gmail, @hotmail, @yahoo, @aol.com, etc.

Individuals who assist with the movement of stolen money, money laundering, are called Money Mules. Money laundering in the United States is prosecutable by the federal government with up to 20 years in prison and up to $500,000.00 in fines.

Please take a moment and visit the links below that might provide you with further guidance about internet-based crime dealing with the movement of stolen money and is a crime called money laundering. All of the websites below are safe to visit and are hosted by an entity of the U.S. Government, AARP, or an organization that is reliable. Links will open in a new tab or window so you can return here for additional links or reading when you are ready.

At the bottom is a link to the Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3), which will allow you to file an online report that can be followed up with by the FBI.