It Can Happen to You

April 13, 2007If it can happen to Mountainfilm, it can happen to you!Just because you’re a little non-profit, environmentally conscious, politically correct film festival raising money to help search for 2 of the world’s best and best-known climbers, in a town with a year round population less than that of most high schools, don’t think you are safe from fraud!Someone out there took the bank account numbers we had posted on our website for the Charlie Fowler and Chris Boskoff Search Fund and used them to forge checks that they then mass-mailed to many (un)fortunate people around the states. The fraud was perpetrated by one “John Smith” (very original) seemingly located in New York. Luckily for us here--trying to raise money to rescue our friends--a few honest citizens and bankers caught on to the hoax and let us know immediately what was going on. We canceled the account.If you receive a large check in the mail from someone you don’t know asking for you to return a portion of the overpayment to a Western Union location near you, make sure the check isn’t from an unlucky not-for-profit, first!To make myself feel better about the whole thing I’ve now been reading stupid but true fraud accounts at www.dumbcriminals.com.(P.S. we are doing our best to catch ‘em!)Posted by Karen Overn, Office Wizard at Mountainfilm