'Nigerian Check Scam' Accomplice Edna Fiedler Sentenced to Two Years in Prison

If you've even logged onto the Internet a few times, you must already know about the Nigerian Check Scam. There are very few people with computers that have never gotten the spam e-mail about deposed Nigerian kings wanting your money. The Nigerian Check Scam involved sending fake checks and having the victims cash it, only to then find out they've been had. There are actually real people behind the Nigerian Check Scam, with one of those people being Edna Fiedler, a 44-year-old woman from Olympia, Washington. Edna Fiedler's role in the scam was uncovered months ago, as she pled guilty in March for being an accomplice to the Nigerian Check Scam. But it wasn't a scam when Edna Fiedler received her official punishment of two years in prison yesterday.

Starting last November, Edna Fiedler worked with accomplishes in Nigeria to send out the fake checks. They also sent fake documents that appeared to be Wal-Mart money orders and checks from Bank of America, the U.S postal service and American Express travelers checks. Fiedler was taught by the Nigerians about how the checks would be filled out and where to send them.

The Nigerian Check Scam e-mails that Fiedler helped send asked for people to cash checks for a deposed Nigerian king. Once they cashed the checks, they sent back much of the money to Fiedler and the Nigerians. However, the victims were responsible for the full amount of money once it was discovered the checks were fake. With many people not able to get that kind of money for real, they were left in financial crisis.

Fiedler was arrested last December, but by then, she had already sent out checks that, all told, were supposedly worth $609,000. Additional checks worth up to $1.1 million phony dollars were found in Fiedler's house when the U.S Secret Service searched her home. In addition to the prison time, Fiedler will be subjected to five years of supervised release afterwards.

Sources

BLOGGER TO THE CORE- "Nigeria scam busted" www.brandonmeyer.us/2008/06/nigeria-scam-busted.html

The Inquister- "Nigerian Scam Accomplice Gets Two Years" www.inquisitr.com/1304/nigerian-scam-accomplice-gets-two-years/