A recent report of a scam in Limestone County has led to the arrest of one man in New Jersey and warrants for a woman believed linked to the scam, an official said Monday.

Limestone County Sheriff’s Public Information Officer Stephen Young said deputies took a report Sept. 21 from an elderly man who had been scammed on Craigslist. Young said the victim received a message Sept. 15 from someone interested in farm equipment the victim had for sale on the website.

“Believing he had a buyer, the 77-year-old victim agreed to cash a check for a larger amount than the selling price, allegedly so the ‘buyer’ could pay for shipping the equipment to New Jersey,” Young said.

When the check arrived, the man cashed it as requested and sent money orders to people he believed were movers for the buyer, Young said.

“Investigator (Caleb) Durden discovered the address to which the victim sent the money orders had a mismarked zip code, and the package had been refused at that address but later picked up at the post office in Easthampton, New Jersey,” Young said.

Working with U.S. Postal Service investigators and Easthampton Police Department, Durden was able to identify and connect 45-year-old Adebayo A. Adeleke and 29-year-old Sacha Maithland to the scam.

Young said Adeleke was recently arrested on a warrant obtained by Durden for second-degree financial exploitation of the elderly and is awaiting extradition to the Limestone County Jail. As of Monday afternoon, a warrant for the same charge had been obtained by Durden for Maithland, but she had not been arrested, Young said.

Investigators believe the scam may have originated in the Federal Republic of Nigeria but a compromise of banking information at a New York business allowed the suspects to access the information necessary to create forged checks and scam people across the United States.

Protection against scams

Young said the Limestone County Sheriff’s Office generally sees an increase in scams and thefts as the holiday season approaches. He provided the following tips to help people recognize and avoid scams:

• Know who you are dealing with. Scammers often pretend to be a government official, family member, local business or charity. Never give out personal information in response to an unexpected email, text message or phone call. Scammers may use a number with a local area code to make you think you know them.

• Look them up online. Use terms like “review,” “complaint” or “scam” along with the name of the person or organization contacting you.

• Do not trust caller ID alone. Through the use of modern technology, the number that appears on your caller ID may not be the number scammers are using to call you.

• Never pay upfront. This includes job offers, student loans, tax assistance, debt payments, loan assistance or a prize. If you send money in advance to a scammer, you will most likely never recover the money you send.

• Use caution when making payments. Most credit and debit cards have some form of fraud protection. Wiring money, sending money orders or using reloading prepaid cards makes it nearly impossible to recover your money.

• Never deposit a check if asked to wire money back. Banks are required by law to make funds available within days of a deposit, but it can take weeks to discover a deposited check is a forgery. If you deposit a forged check, you are responsible for repaying the bank.

• If in doubt, ask someone you trust. If you think you’ve been scammed, contact your local law enforcement agency.

• Sign up for scam alerts. You can do so for free through the Federal Trade Commission at www.ftc.gov/scams. You can also review additional tips and advice on the website or report a scam through www.ftc.gov/complaint.