Action 9: Scam involves fake checks from talent agency

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — You've just been discovered.  A talent agency wants you so badly it sent you a check for thousands of dollars. But watch out. It's a scam and the focus of a multi-state investigation.
 
Jennifer Bohlen opened her mail and saw the check for $2,350.28.
 
"Not for me, that's for sure," she said.
 
The check looked like was from the New York talent agency Cunningham Escott Slevin Doherty.
 
The company told Action 9, no, it's a scam, and someone is using its name. It called the situation "disconcerting" and "stressful" and asked for a copy of the check to give New York Police Department, so it includes North Carolina in its investigation.
 
Action 9 is told there are cases in Georgia and Michigan as well.
 
Bohlen isn't sure why the scammer picked her.
 
She thinks it may be because she's been posting her resume on Craigslist a lot.
 
"You feel violated when you're sending your resume and they're just getting your information off the resume just to pull a scam," she said. 
 
The head of the nationally-known jobs database, FlexJobs, Sara Sutton Fell, said keep your online resume simple:

• One way to contact you; maybe an email address.
• No home address.
• No phone number.

If someone on the other end asks for any financial information before you land the job, "It is very important to be as skeptical as possible when it comes to providing personal information when it comes to the job application process," she said.
 
Bohlen knew as soon as she saw the check, something wasn't right.  "You didn't work for it, it's not yours."  So she didn't deposit it and told Action 9 instead.
 
The person sending the check tells you to deposit it in your bank account, keep some of the money for your trouble, and send the rest -- which would be your own money-- to a third party. If you do, you'll be out the cash and that third party gets away with the real money.

WSOC