MOUNT VERNON, Iowa – The Mount Vernon Post Office helped foil a scam that involved hundreds of thousands of dollars in fake checks.
Over two days in November, the office received 131 express mail envelopes. Some came from the Cornell College mail room; others were dropped off. It all looked suspicious to a clerk, who contacted her boss.
Raim said the large quantity of envelopes was odd, also that the shipping labels couldn’t be scanned, and return addresses were from a local medical clinic.
Those inspectors got approval to look inside the envelopes and found about $300,000 dollars’ worth of fake checks. Postal Inspector Ron Jewell said they were intended for people being scammed in a variety of ways across the country.
“Unbeknownst, the check is going to bounce and the money they wired away is just pure profit,” said Jewell.