An Ocala woman was charged with trying to cash a fraudulent check for $850 that she claimed she received in the mail for answering surveys online.
The owner of the Jiffy Food Store at 2425 NW 10th Street told an Ocala Police officer that Wendy P. Brown, 31, of 617 NW 1st St., came into the store on Tuesday and tried to cash the check. He said he called the business on the check, and the business said it was a fraudulent check, according to the police report.
The store owner said Brown tried to use her identification printed on a piece of paper, but he told her she needed real identification to cash a check. The owner said Brown walked outside, got into a black four-door vehicle occupied by a white man, and returned with her Florida ID card and again tried to cash the check, the report said.
When asked by the officer if she had been trying to cash a check, Brown said, “Yes, I got it in the mail.” The officer checked with the business on the check, which is located in Maryland, and was told the business never sends checks by mail to anyone. The business owner said there was another incident in which the business account was hacked, but she didn’t know if it happened in Ocala, according to the report.
Brown said she takes surveys online and thought the check might have been sent from the survey company. She was unable to provide any proof, either a text message or email of the survey stating a check for $850 was sent to her residence, the report said.
Brown was arrested and taken to the Marion County Jail, where she was released Wednesday on $2,000 bond.