Be aware of the Green Dot Grant Brokerage scam.........

My son is a freshman just turned sophmore @ Tech and today in the mail he received a check in the mail for a $10,000 grant he never applied for. The check was sent by a Melissa Haywood in the amount of $979.47. Ms. Haywood request that he cash the check and send her $500 of it as her brokerage fee.....Guess where this going?....and when he cashes the check and sends her the $500 brokerage fee she will send him a check for the balance $9021.00. If he cashes the check and doesn't send the fee in 5 days he will be turned over to a collection agency. We Googled this and it is just what I thought it would be......a domestic variation on the Ethiopian scam. The check is probably worthless and if he deposited it in his checking account he would be skined out of $500...be aware......

Here's more dirt on this scam......found this while searching for Key Services Corp. The name on the check.....
Check for 949.37 Issued by Intergraded Payment Systems Inc. Englewood CO. KEY BANK NATIONAL ASSOCIATION, Denver, CO.
THEY WANTED ME TO MAIL $500 AFTER DEPOSIT OR CASHING IT AND THEN i WOULD GET REST OF $10,000 grant. My bank said it was a scam, that checks like that could take month(s) to come back fraudulent and I would have to return bank 949.37 plus fees. Said I will never get the rest of the grant and would be out the $500 I sent them plus fees!!!! BEWARE!!!!!!
Dianna Olsen the supposed broker for www.prograntservice.com

It is a Nigerian scam...run by Nigerians in this country!

Have your son tell them that they don't deal with checks, etc. and tell the lady he wants to meet her personally to give the cash. Then, when they meet up, have all of his friends jump out and egg the person.

At least, that's what should be ok in this situation.

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Originally Posted by CooperBulldog72

My son is a freshman just turned sophmore @ Tech and today in the mail he received a check in the mail for a $10,000 grant he never applied for. The check was sent by a Melissa Haywood in the amount of $979.47. Ms. Haywood request that he cash the check and send her $500 of it as her brokerage fee.....Guess where this going?....and when he cashes the check and sends her the $500 brokerage fee she will send him a check for the balance $9021.00. If he cashes the check and doesn't send the fee in 5 days he will be turned over to a collection agency. We Googled this and it is just what I thought it would be......a domestic variation on the Ethiopian scam. The check is probably worthless and if he deposited it in his checking account he would be skined out of $500...be aware......

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I am amazed at the poeple that actually do these things and try to cash the checks. People think they are getting something for nothing. The crooks have gotten smarter because financial institutions are not allowing the deposits or putting holds on them for longer periods of time- unfortunately some people will send the money even though they have a hold on it in their accounts.

If it seems to good to be true it usually is. Don't pay to have anyone send you money- and don't send wires either. I see that one a lot too.