Police: Thieves preying on transients in check fraud schemes

A Chittenden County man faces check fraud charges in Barre and authorities say it is symptomatic of a larger problem where criminals are preying on transients with substance abuse issues to do their dirty work.

Police say on Thursday, 41-year-old Jason Gabric walked into the Community National Bank in Barre to cash a check.

"It was a substantial amount," said Barre City Police Detective James Pontbriand.

He says the check for over $3,000 was already rejected at two other banks earlier in the day because it was fraudulent. "The tellers immediately recognized that it wasn't a legitimate check and contacted us," Pontbriand said.

He says that fraudulent checks are happening more then you might think and are successful almost half the time. "It's definitely happening throughout the state and it's definitely organized crime with ties out of state," Pontbriand said.

He says people like Gabric are used as pawns. "I wouldn't classify him as a victim but he is definitely getting played," Pontbriand said. He says they are recruited to do the dirty work. In return for cashing the check, they're promised a small percentage -- money that most of the time they never see.

"A lot of times these people are homeless or struggling with addiction and they are hoping for a little bit of quick cash," Pontbriand said.

So how does it work? Police say a majority of the checks are real checks from busineses that were intercepted through the mail or stolen out of mail boxes. "By all intents and purposes -- it's a legitimate check," Pontbriand said. The checks are then duplicated but with the name and amount changed. "All the details on the check are accurate. The person comes in with an ID. There's really no reason for it not to go through.

"It does happen on a fairly regular basis," said Lorilee Drown with Community National Bank. She has been working in banking for nearly 30 years and currently oversees the branch where the fake check was brought in by Gabric. "We are constantly on the look out for those types of things."

As scammers get a hold of more sophisticated technology, Drown says that the bank uses security measures like simply knowing the customer and their normal activity, asking for photo ID, and comparing signatures. She says if your're not a normal customer, they also might turn you away. "If they come in and are a non-customer, we usually turn them away to the bank that the check was drawn on," she said.

As for Gabric and the other fake checks -- police say they are catching more of the fraudulent checks, so perpetrators are trying to push larger fake checks to break even.

"I think that's why we have seen an increase in that amount that they have been looking for in the checks as to kind of cut their loses a little bit more," Pontbriand said.

Gabric is due in court in January.

As for what to do if you're a business or just worried about these scams? Police say if you have a mail box you don't check that often, a post office box is the safest and easiest way to get protection.