PORTLAND, Ore.— There’s a mysterious new scam involving FedEx packages containing fraudulent checks and labels.
What’s odd is there are no instructions from the scammers on what to do with the checks.
Dorathy DeWitt received a delivery from FedEx earlier this month at her Portland home. Inside the package she found a check from a Central Oregon construction company made out to a woman she’d never heard of. There was also a prepaid FedEx label addressed to the same woman. The package contained no other instructions.
“I figured it was a fluke,” said DeWitt, who called the construction company in Bend. “I was just going to send it back and they said, 'No, it was a scam!'”
DeWitt said three other FedEx packages have arrived on her doorstep within the past month. Each delivery had her Portland address, but someone else’s name on the outside of the package. Inside, there was a fraudulent check made out to a third unknown person. It was a different name on the check every time.
“I’ve never heard of these names before,” said DeWitt.
One of the fraudulent checks and prepaid labels included the name and address of a man in Delaware. Another check and FedEx label was intended for a woman in New Jersey. KGW was unable to reach those recipients.
It’s not clear who is sending DeWitt the packages or why. The scammer might be trying to use an unwitting middleman to forward fraudulent checks.
The checks are clearly bogus. One of the fraudulent checks had the name and address of a construction company in Southwest Portland printed on it. When contacted by phone, a receptionist told KGW the company had received 15 phone calls from around the country inquiring about the checks.
The Federal Trade Commission said it was looking into the complaint. It isn’t clear what the scammer’s endgame is or how they intended to profit from the bogus checks.
News reports suggest similar FedEx packages with fraudulent checks have been received elsewhere around the country.