Michelle Totti

Victim Location 98026

Type of a scam Fake Check/Money Order

A person who called themself “Karen” messaged me through a classified ad online to purchase a wedding dress from me. She asked me to text her videos of the item to her cell phone and gave me her phone number (to remove our conversation from the website’s messaging records, I suppose). I sent her videos via text and she proceeded to tell me she loved it, wanted to buy it and would mail me a cashiers check. I told her I accepted all forms of payment (PayPal, Venmo, etc) and she insisted on a cashiers check as she’s out of state. I gave her my name and address to send the check to. About a week later she texted me to let me know she would pay me “over” so I could give her seamstress the cash when she picked up the dress, due to the pandemic causing bank closures. I thought it was entirely odd, but waited for the check. When the check arrived it was from someone named “Michelle Totti” and was in fact not for an amount over what the dress cost. The check looked real so I deposited it with my bank electronically and waited to see if it would clear. It was rejected by the issuing bank and I got charged a bounced check fee. I attempted to contact “Karen” again at the number she texted me from and have received no replies. Clearly this person is either a clumsy thief or a new scammer as she/he/they made many mistakes with this scam attempt. Luckily my bank flagged this right away and I was unable to use the funds or I would have lost hundreds of dollars. I hope this information helps others from falling victim to a cashiers check scam like this from this individual.