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In 1993, there were 2,341. In 1994, the number had dropped to a mere 44. It dropped again in 1995, to five.-
We’re talking money orders here: fraudulent money orders on which the amounts have been changed to reflect exaggerated values.
What’s most interesting is the location of the culprits who are doing the actual dirty work on the documents: the Mississippi State Pen!
Inmates would either bribe guards to purchase the small denomination money orders or they would ask relatives or friends to buy them and bring them in. Then, inside the confines of the prison, the money orders were altered, usually to their maximum face value of $700. Next the real fun began.
Prisoners would locate victims through personal ads, often portraying themselves as rich businessmen or farmers doing time on a tax evasion charge or something similar. The inmate would worm his way into the heart of the lonely victim, occasionally even promising marriage upon release. Then the bribed guard or visitor would sneak the doctored money orders back out of the prison and they’d be mailed to the victims.
The request might look something like this: “Please cash the enclosed money order and send the proceeds to my friend, Joe Blow, so that he can pay an outstanding fine for me. I need your help because I am on the inside and you are on the outside. Can you do this for me, Sweetheart?”
So Sweetheart would trot down to her bank, cash the money order and send the required funds to the third party. Three weeks later, upon discovering the fraud, the bank would contact … you guessed it … Sweetheart.
It’s estimated that Mississippi inmates brought in over a million dollars a year operating this scam since the early 1980s. There are no available estimates on how much people on the outside may have lost.
So why the recent drop in numbers?
Prison officials, aware of what was taking place within the confines of their system, decided to put 65 inmates suspected of participating in the check-altering scheme into lock-down. Lock-down translates to a loss of daily freedom, no visitors, monitored phone calls and little time outside of the cell. The theory behind the punishment is that the only way to get a message across to criminals who have little to lose, is to take away daily privileges. According to the latest numbers, the plan is working.
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