Glenpool Man Discovers Bizarre Mail Scam

It's not so unusual this time of year to find a surprise package waiting on your doorstep. But when a Glenpool man opened one, he was shocked at what he found inside and the mysterious phone call

Friday, December 8th 2006, 10:44 am

By: News On 6

It's not so unusual this time of year to find a surprise package waiting on your doorstep. But when a Glenpool man opened one, he was shocked at what he found inside and the mysterious phone call that followed.

News on 6 reporter Heather Lewin has the story.

It was delivered by FedEx and addressed to Robert Van Fleet, but he didn't know the sender.

"So I went ahead and opened it up and inside was another package," said Robert Van Fleet.

Inside that package, nearly $3,400 worth of postal money orders.

"They're made out to me," Van Fleet said.

The sender and signature were different names, which made Van Fleet suspicious, but what happened next was the clincher.

"At midnight, I got a phone call, all it was was somebody saying, 'Did you get the package?' "

At that point he was ready to call police.

"I thought, this is weird, I mean there's no other word for it," said Van Fleet.

First he did a little investigating of his own. He logged onto the postal service website and found out exactly how money orders are supposed to look. On his the watermark just isn't right, and the security strip doesn't say U.S. postal service.

"They look awful real and everyone in the office thought they were real too, but why would anybody send me, with no reason, this much money," Van Fleet said.

The plot thickened when Van Fleet got instructions via e-mail.

"As soon as you receive payment, have payment cashed today at the bank, take out your weekly pay, 10-percent and wiring fees."

He was told to wire the rest Western Union to an address in Nigeria.

Van Fleet says he wants the public to be informed, because, especially around the holidays, people in need of cash might believe something just too good to be true.

"I thought there were other people out there who may even fall for this, because those money orders look as real as real can be," said Van Fleet.

If you cash a fake money order you'll be held criminally responsible for committing a felony.

For more information on mail scams log onto the postal serviceâ€™s website, www.usps.com.