Are you getting a lot of cases that involve the get rich quick scheme? You know the scam. Person is asked to cash 5 or 6 money orders (Wal-Mart or US Post Office) and keep 10% plus expenses. Person opens account, deposits orders, wires to Ethopia or other places and the site orders are fake. Intent? Are you prosecuting?

I know there are vunerable elderly people who might get caught up in this but you have to be a real bonehead if you're sending money orders to Ethopia!

I have no insights. Just wanted to call people boneheads.

I have citizens reporting the receipt of e-mails soliciting them with the scheme you have described. No one has reported that they "invested" in the scheme. Maybe I have a bonehead-free county?

Why wouldn't they just say they sent 90% back to Ethiopa when in reality they just pocketed it all?

We've had a few of those referred to us over the years. It's always a case by case determination. A sucker really is born every minute. And sometimes the person who passed those checks or money orders is just a gullible and naive person. But there also are times when the person who passes those money orders knows exactly what they're doing. So, for instance, if you've been to the pen for forgery, and you're trying to pass one of those, we're going to give your case special attention.

We have successfully prosecuted at least two of these cases in the past. Both involve the individual either being told by law enforcement not to cash the checks because they are likely counterfeit and the hero still attempts to negotiate the checks or the individual had a history of engaging in these "African e-mail scams" and was still passing counterfeit instruments. However, if you just have a person receiving these items once or twice and trying to cash them, I would think proving intent and/or showing knowledge that the instrument was counterfeit is going to be difficult.