The Princeton union. [volume] (Princeton, Minn.) 1876-1976, 1909-10-07
FRAUD BY TELEGRAPH.
Bold SWindIes Perpetrated by
Use of the Wire.
THE WAY A BANK WAS FOOLED
"A Lot Of Nerve and Little Telegram
That Was Properly Delivered by One
of the Company's Messenger Boys
! Made Winning Combination.

OF tne SomPanyS messenger Boys
Made Winning Combination
Ninety-nine men out Of hundred
will accept as gospel truth the contents
of telegram when it comes from the
hands Of a messenger boy. They buy
and sell, pay out large sums of money,
start on long journeys and do countless
other things upon the suggestion of the
little yellow or white paper slips with
their condensed messages without in
the least questioning their authenticity
This is an interesting fact, upon which
hinges an enormous amount of the
country's business, and it is also fact
upon which hinge some Of the clever
est and boldest frauds in criminal rec
ords.
A lot Of nerve and a little telegram
was a combination that made possible
a smooth swindle on a Des Moines
bank. A we'll dressed man, apparently
a business man of large affairs, called
at the paying teller's window with
draft or check on an Omaha bank and
asked if the Omaha bank had tele-
graphed notice that the draft was
good. He got mo- for an answer and
then Informed the teller that such a
telegram might be expected at any
moment. Soon afterward the telegram
arrived, delivered by messenger boy,
appearing to have come from the Oma-
ha bank and authorizing the Des
Moines bank to pay the draft. When
the stranger appeared again he was
given the $500. When the Des Moines
bank people took up the matter by
wire with the Omaha bank it found
that the latter institution had not sent
the telegram, and then it was discov-
cred that the whole transaction was a
fraud.
But how could the swindlers send a
telegram from Omaha bearing the
banks name? They did it in this
manner: An accomplish of the Des
Moines man stepped to a telephone
booth in Omaha and called the tele-
graph Office. 'This is the - BANK
he said. "Send a messenger at once
to get a telegram for Des Moines.''
Then this accomplish hurried to the
entrance Of the Omaha bank to meet
the messenger and there handed him
the message for Des Moines. The
telegraph company had no reason to
believe otherwise than that the bank
had actually signed the message, and
it transmitted it. The Des Moines
bank also accepted the telegram as
genuine because it bore every mark
of genuineness, and it paid out the
money to the sWindlers, who timed
their fraud so that they got out of
reach of the law on trains that left
Immediately after their game had been
worked.
In two smaller western towns a SIM
liar game was worked. only for seven
or eight times the amount. An alleged
horse buyer appeared in one Of the
towns and made purchase Of a carload
of fine animals to be delivered and
paid for at later day, preceding
which he made the acquaintance of the
officers Of one of the banks. On the
day fixed for the delivery of the horses
the alleged buyer deposited in the
bank draft for large amount drawn
on bank in another town a hundred
miles away. At the same time the
bank received a telegram purporting
to come from the distant bank author
bank believed the telegram, paid out
the money and then discovered that
the telegram was fraudulent 1t had
not been sent by the second bank. but
by confederate of the alleged horse
buyer. Later developments disclosed
that this accomplice had called up the
telegraph Office in the distant town by
telephone. "This is -, cashier of the
- bank" he said. please send this
telegram for me- Then he gave the
message authorizing the first bank to
pay the bogus draft. and this message
the telegraph company sent without
suspecting that it was fraudulent.
Some years ago an eastern man was
induced to invest in worthless mining
stock on the basis Of fraudulent tele-
gram purporting to come from an ex-
pert he had sent out to investigate the
mining property, but which was in
reality sent in manner similar to the
above by a confederate This eastern
mans faith in kilograms cost him some
thing more than $4,000.
The story Of a fraud with an anus
ing side comes from across the water,
with London man Of rather convivial
habits as the victim. This man was
forgetful and used to leave at home his
office and safe keys. He also had
practice of leaving the city surrepti-
uously for day now and then for
convivial time with friends. all un-
known to his wife. One day this bust
ness man went on one of his periodical
Jaunts, and a rogue who knew his
habits ventured to send this telegram
to his wife: "Please send my keys.
Love. Freddy" In due course Of time
the keys were delivered at the Office
door. and the rogue was there to re-
ceive them. He ransacked the whole
Office at his leisure, safe and all. Late
hot S<.1,%.< 1,<Io