Butler County Sheriff Warns Residents of Mail Scam

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Butler County Sheriff Kenny Harden wants to warn his residents about a crime they might not expect. He is receiving complaints about letters from a company sending them money – but with a hefty price tag.

“If you go buy a lottery ticket, you know whether or not you’ve won on that,” Harden said. “You go pick it up. They’re not going to just send you a check, write it $4,000 and tell you cash it, and you get part of it for training or something another. It’s not gonna happen.”

But that is the type of mail appearing in Butler County mailboxes. Harden said the letters include a check for nearly $4,000. There is also a break down of how much money you are to keep or spend, and instructions to send the majority of the amount back to the company.

“If she would’ve cashed this check, and would’ve sent the money back to them, that was requesting it, then whenever the check comes back as being a forged check, then the bank would’ve been coming back on her to put the money back in her account,” Harden said of the latest victim to bring him a letter.

While this is not a very common crime in Butler County, Harden said it can happen to anyone.

“So, we’re just trying to get the word out to where, if anybody else gets these letters, they are a scam,” he said. “Best thing to do is either bring it up here to us or either, tear it up and throw it in the garbage.”

He added that he hoped to not see many more of the letters. He wants his county residents to be safe with their money.

“There’s a lot of different scams going on this day and time,” he said. “And nothing’s free.”

Harden did reach out to the company that is supposedly sending the fraudulent checks. The company told him they are aware of the letters being sent out, but are not responsible.