Nigerian Check Scam Accomplice Sentenced To Two Years In Prison

In Tacoma on Wednesday, US District Judge Benjamin Settle sentenced Edna Fiedler of Olympia, Washington to two years in prison for her role as an accomplice in a Nigerian check scam. This is the all-too-familiar scheme in which a mark who has goods for sale is paid with a phony check for more than the amount and asked to return some of the proceeds, eventually winding up on the hook for the whole amount. Fiedler had pleaded guilty in March to conspiracy to commit bank, wire and mail fraud. She worked in connection with a man from Lagos, Nigeria who shipped counterfeit checks and money orders to her with instructions on how to fill them out and where to ship them. When she was arrested in December she had already shipped out over $600,000 in phony checks and money orders and had $1.1 million more ready to ship. No word on whether the people who fell for the scam will be investigated for terminal idiocy (Seattle Times).