Forsyth County Sheriff Ted Paxton today urged Forsyth County residents to be watchful of possible internet or mail fraud activity.

“In the past year, we have seen an increase in the number of reported cases of suspected “Nigerian” internet and mail fraud cases,” Sheriff Paxton said. There have been four recently reported cases to the Sheriff’s Office. One Forsyth County man recently lost $32,000 when he became a victim of these crooks, Sheriff Paxton said.

Sheriff Paxton explained that most of the fraud cases involve what is known as the “Nigerian Advance Fee Bank Fraud”. In these cases, the intended victim receives an “official” looking package in the mail, advising the victim that he or she has just won a large sum of money from some foreign lottery. The package will usually contain a certificate and a check drawn on a bank located in the United States.

The victim is instructed to deposit the lottery check in a local bank and to wire transfer a portion of the lottery proceeds to the “Lottery Headquarters” in order to pay certain “fees” associated with the lottery. A few weeks later, the victim learns from his bank that the lottery check was counterfeit and the victim will be held responsible for the entire amount of the wire transfer.

Also, these fraud cases are very difficult to prosecute because the alleged perpetrators are usually located outside the United States.

“The best advice I can offer is this, said Sheriff Paxton. “If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.” “If you receive an email or letter from some unknown source, telling you that you’ve won a lottery, the best advice I can give you is to throw it in the trash,” Sheriff Paxton added.