WHERE IS HECTOR

Can you find Hector Fanandez?

I have his email address (itcincop1@gmail.com), but I have no idea of his whereabouts. Jamaica, perhaps?

I had advertised a stove for sale on Craigslist, and Hector immediately replied that he wanted to buy it. Except that he is “not in town” now because he is visiting his son. But he was glad to send me a check for the stove, and some shipping, and some extra money for my troubles. He said he was a God fearing man. He obviously does not fear the God I know!

He sent me a check USPS Priority Mail for $2355.00. Yes, $2355 for a used stove! He then wanted me to go to Wal-Mart and send the extra money via MoneyGram to a "shipper." Interestingly, the shipper’s name was also Hector, and he supposedly lives at a Wal-Mart store in Maryland – at least his address was that of a Wal-Mart store!

I thought that having a USPS tracking number for the mailed check would let authorities track down this scammer. I also thought that his accomplice could be caught trying to pick up the MoneyGram. I learned that neither is true.

It turns out that a MoneyGram can be picked up from any location, and the place you allegedly send it to is immaterial. All the scammer needs to know to seize his stolen money is the MoneyGram reference number, the amount, and the sender’s name/address.

I was also told that the guy who mailed me the check was likely scammed, and not aware of his true role. He probably answered a ‘work from home’ solicitation, and was spending his own money to print and mail checks! Hector likely emailed him the software that printed the checks, and promised he would be paid later for his work of paying company bills. Not!

In case you are wondering, the bank name on my phony check was that of an actual bank in Kentucky. And the company name on the check was that of an actual company in Kentucky. So even if the ‘work from home’ guy looked up the company and/or bank on the Internet, he would have found their websites. To actually determine it was a scam, he would have needed to actually have contacted the bank and/or company. Or gotten a clue from Hector’s really poor grammar…

So I would not be assessed bank charges for a phony check, I did not attempt to cash it. I had played along as far as I was willing to go! But I am keeping my check in my museum of computing history. And I turned in all the info to the office of the Attorney General, in the hope he can find Hector.