JAY — If you receive a check from an unknown person or bank, or one that you didn’t expect, no matter how good it looks, check it out before you cash or deposit it, police advise.

A veteran recently received a money order for $250 thanking him for being a Vietnam veteran, Jay police Detective Richard Caton IV said. He and his wife thought it was suspicious and took the check to a financial institution. Representatives there checked it out, and informed the couple it wasn’t any good.

If it seems to be too good to be true, or that someone is just giving them money, people should check it out, Caton said.

This particular money order looked real, and appeared to be from a nationally known company, but it wasn’t any good, he said. Either there were no funds available or the account just didn’t exist.

“No crime was committed because it wasn’t cashed,” Caton said.

There are other scams out there, he said, including one in which a person will receive a check for $2,000 or $3,000 and is told that they may keep so much of the money but need to wire the rest to another account. If that is done, Caton said, the receiver of the check is then out the money when the check bounces.

dperry@sunjournal.com