Boardman and Bazetta police looking for couple suspected in trav - 21 News Now, More Local News for Youngstown, Ohio -

BOARDMAN TOWNSHIP, Ohio - A warning from two local police departments.

Boardman and Bazetta police say there's a traveler's check scam, and the total loss is thousands of dollars for local businesses. Four Mahoning Valley businesses have fallen victim in four days.

At the Walmart in Bazetta Township detectives are trying to identify the young man and woman who cashed in 20 counterfeit American Express traveler's checks at one time; phony checks that totaled $2,000. They used the fake checks to purchase two iPads.

Detective Joe Sofchek, with the Bazetta Township Police Department in Trumbull County, tells 21 News, "We talked to Walmart and there's a couple of other cases going on. What the people are doing is buying them at one store, and then taking them and returning them to another store. So they're actually getting the cash back."

Police say the problem is these fakes look real, and even include a hologram with a logo that looks like the same one used by American Express.

But it's when you really examine the phony checks, that you find serious red flags.

Detetective Ben Switka, with the Boardman Police Department in Mahoning County says, "Usually on traveler's checks, just like on money, you'll have a serial number. Each traveler's check should have a different serial number. In this case, all of them match. So they're all the same."

Switka says Boardman is also experiencing the traveler's check scam. Counterfeit traveler's checks used at the Target store in Boardman are identical to those in Bazetta. The officer also says the suspects in the Boardman Target store case are the same suspects caught on tape in Bazetta.

A different type of bogus traveler's check was used at the Golden Corral in Boardman on Monday, and at Claire's inside the Southern Park Mall in Boardman.

Police warn area businesses to just take a little more time to check out traveler's checks in the future, because if you don't, it could cost you.

"The only thing to protect the business would be to get some form of identification. Make sure you positively identify the person. You can always contact American Express or any other company that supplies the traveler's checks, and they should be able to verify it for you," Detective Switka says.

He also says keep in mind that it's not often that you see someone use traveler's checks at local businesses, and if someone is trying to use more than one at a time you definitely need to take a closer look.

If you have any information on the suspects involved in the counterfeit traveler's check scams please contact Boardman police at (330) 726-4144, or contact Bazetta police at (330) 638-5503.