Real Fake

Many people are tightening their belts these days to adjust for challenging financial times. While the landscape of job quantity and availability will continue to change, one approach to employment twists artistic talent into an illegal craft.

Scammers can appear anywhere at any time, and there’s no shortage of schemes they’ll weave to take what someone has no matter who they are or what resources they have. Scammers want money, and they’ve become increasingly skilled in their craft to make fake financial instruments look real. The best way to stop them is to become armed with information.

Here are a few ways to identify real Postal Service money orders from fake ones:

-      When held to the light, a watermark of Benjamin Franklin is repeated from top to bottom on the left side.

-      When held to the light, a dark line (security thread) runs from top to bottom with the word “USPS” repeated.

-        There should be no discoloration around the dollar amounts, which might indicate the amounts were changed.

If anyone approaches you with a Postal Money order that you suspect may not be genuine, call the U.S. Postal Service Money Order Verification System at 866-459-7822 to verify its authenticity.

Has anyone ever given you a fake financial instrument before?