CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Federal documents name four people who reportedly used social media to steal checks and personal information.
One of them, Fredrick Cark, pleaded guilty Tuesday for aggravated identity theft. He faces up to two years in prison.
Federal documents said the check fraud scheme lasted from January 2018 through June of this year.
The group called themselves the All Profit Group or AP Group.
Documents said they bragged about their success by posting images of themselves with handfuls of cash on social media.
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The group reportedly recruited people by posting to social media websites with the promise of an easy payday.
They would post things like "Active bank accounts. I got a band 4 u. Cash up front."
Documents said people would open new accounts or provide their debit cards and personal pin numbers to the group. In exchange, officials said the group promised to pay them $100 to $1,500, but they never saw that money.
The group is also accused of making counterfeit checks from those accounts, filling in a dollar amount and forging the endorsement signature.
They would then inflate the balance of the accounts with the worthless checks and withdraw the money from the accounts before the banks realized what had happened.
Federal documents said the total loss is more than $220,000. Five big banks are included as having been victimized, including Bank of America and Wells Fargo.
Action 9 investigator Jason Stoogenke often warns people of these types of crimes.
"I always want you to trust your instinct," Stoogenke said. "If they want personal information, that should be a red flag. Be aware of other red flags, like bad grammar or too friendly language -- not that you have to be an expert on how to write, but a company should be."
Another suspect, Jacoby Berry, is scheduled for a plea hearing on November 25.