Kansan loses $170,000 to Internet scam

An Internet scam has cost a 65-year-old Salina woman $170,000, an amount police say may be the largest reported to be lost locally to scammers.

Police said Monday an individual the woman met on the Internet in September sent her what appeared to be a U.S. treasury check for $456,000. She was asked to deposit the check in her bank and wire a portion of the money back to her new friend.

Deputy Police Chief Carson Mansfield said she deposited the check at Bank of America in Salina on Oct. 4 and, before it cleared, withdrew $170,000 to wire to England.

About a month later, the $456,000 check came back as counterfeit.

Mansfield said the woman did not have the funds to cover the loss.

“Never wire money to anybody unless you know exactly what’s going on,” Mansfield said. “Once it’s gone, it’s gone."