Scammers use fake checks with Kennesaw company's name on them to steal money from others

Kennesaw, GA - An elaborate scheme intertwined a business in Kennesaw with people all over the country. 

Shawn Smith is an employee at MC Granite Countertops. 

He said he and other employees started getting phone calls from people asking about checks with the company's name on them. 

Smith and others soon learned scammers had allegedly got ahold of checks with the company's name on them and sent them out to people. 

Smith said he was getting more than 20 calls a day about the checks. 

"If you're going to put this much effort into something, why not do something legitimate?" Smith said. 

The scammers would allegedly tell the people to deposit the checks which were for thousands or even tens of thousands of dollars.

"They'd say, ‘Deposit this amount, pull out this amount, and send me that amount to confirm you got it, and the rest is yours,’" Smith said. 

Once the company notified the bank of the fraudulent check, the bank would seize the money. 

"So, unfortunately, somebody just gave somebody $500 of their own money," Smith said. 

Smith said the scammers sent out about $200,000 in checks, but the company was able to get the money back.

He said he feels for the other victims in this scam. 

They were just desperate people in desperate situations that thought they got a blessing but at the end of the day, it was a scam," Smith said. "It's sad and it's cruel. It's just cruel to do that to people.

Shawn Smith is an employee at MC Granite Countertops.

He says scammers allegedly got a hold of checks with the company's name on them and sent them out to people.

If you get a check in the mail from MC Granite Countertops, don't deposit it and make sure you report it to the police.

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