After one of his clients came to him about a mystery shopper scam last week, Santa Clarita financial advisor Arif Halaby is warning local residents not to fall victim to it.

The scammers sent the client’s son a fake cashier’s check for $2,800 and instructed him to be a “mystery shopper” at Moneygram and Western Union. He was told to wire $1,200 to a specific person at each business and keep the money that was left over.

“There’s going to be variations of this, but this is important,” said Halaby, a Certified Estate Planner and president/CEO of Total Financial Solutions.

The scammers pressure their victims to make the wire transfers before their bank has time to clear the cashier’s check, so by the time the bank alerts the victim of the fraud and reverses the funds, their money is already gone.

“There’s a time that it’s a hold (when) the bank has to go through and check to see if it’s a legitimate (cashier’s) check,” Halaby explained. “If it is, they say, ‘Okay, we’ll clear the funds,’ but if it isn’t, they pull back the money that you just deposited. But it’s too late — you’ve already sent out the $1,200 plus $1,200.”

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Fortunately for Halaby’s client, her son brought the fake cashier’s check to his parents before acting on it.

After his father contacted the company listed on the cashier’s check to verify the routing number, they discovered it wasn’t legitimate.

“There’s a way to check,” Halaby said. “(The routing number) was not even related to the actual bank that’s (listed) on the top — in other words, it’s just a bunch of numbers. Completely random.”

Halaby’s co-host on the KHTS AM-1220 show “Total Financial Solutions Safer Money Hour,” Jeff Girard, encouraged anyone who finds themselves in a similar situation to pause before acting.

“They go to great lengths to make this look like something that’s good for both parties,” he said. “The reason they want you to have such urgency in getting that money out of your hands is because they know there’s a period of time before their scam basically unfolds and you realize… Your bank won’t clear a phony cashier’s check. So don’t feel pressured.”

Halaby added that one tactic scammers would use in this situation is threatening to send the authorities after the victim because they accepted the cashier’s check, but haven’t taken action on wiring the funds.

“They’ll say, ‘Alright, you have our money, you’re supposed to do this,’” Halaby explained. “‘You say, ‘Oh no, this is a scam or fraud.’ (They’ll say), ‘No it’s not — you have taken our money, we are going to send the authorities after you.’ Understand that that is part of the scam and the fraud, the pushiness to intimidate you.”

When Halaby receives emails like this, he is quick to delete them, and advised the public to do the same.

“It doesn’t get past the delete button with me,” he said. “Well, that’s the same thing it should be with you.”

Total Financial Solutions offers assistance with preparing for retirement and financial planning in Santa Clarita and the surrounding valleys. Santa Clarita financial advisor Arif Halaby, a Certified Estate Planner, and Total Financial Solutions staff work with people of all ages, helping them protect, grow and preserve their assets through an individualized approach. As a well-known financial planner, Arif Halaby is also the host of “Total Financial Solutions Safer Money Hour” on KHTS AM-1220. Launched in 2004, the show offers listeners financial planning tips and guidance for dealing with today’s ever-changing financial needs from the perspective a financial advisor.  

Total Financial Solutions, Inc.

24322 Main Street

Newhall, CA 91321

661-753-9683

800-990-7344