"The Amarillo Police Department investigating a case involving the theft and illegal use of blank money order forms.
The initial call was from Mr. Payroll at 1115 S. Taylor. The business reported that 400 blank money order forms had been stolen from their office sometime after they were delivered there on March 15th. The money orders started showing up as people tried to cash them at Mr. Payroll. The eight money orders in the initial report came from at least five different people, and ranged in amount from $300 to $950. In one case, a person had sold a vehicle in exchange for three $500 money orders, only to find that they could not be cashed.
APD White Collar Crime detectives are also investigating other fraudulent money order cases that originated with the same theft. The stolen money order forms are Western Union money orders showing Toot’n Totum as the issuing agent. The money orders are numbered, and the number printed on the stolen forms will be from 17-860385200 to 17-860385599. These are the only numbers affected in this incident. Unlike many counterfeit money order cases, these are genuine forms, but they have not been issued or authorized. They have no value and cannot be cashed.
Be aware that if you are in a small business that accepts money orders or if you sell goods through Internet postings, you may be targeted by this fraud. If someone attempts to pay you with what you can identify as one of these stolen money orders, do not accept it. Call the police immediately.
If you have any information about this crime, please call the Amarillo Police Department or Amarillo Crime Stoppers at 374-4400."
-Amarillo Police Dept.
