Scam artists attempt to deposit $129,000 in checks from Middle Georgia agency

The Bibb County Sheriff's Office is investigating a check fraud case after attempts were made to deposit $129,000 from an agency's account, according to an incident report.

Authorities were notified Thursday morning that over a period of two months, people have tried to fraudulently deposit 173 phony checks using Middle Georgia Regional Commission's checking account information. No money has been taken from the commission's account since none of the checks was cleared by the agency, said Matt Garvin, finance officer for the Regional Commission.

"Someone is getting them cashed or deposited at other banks, but it's not coming out of our account," he said.

The transactions, which have taken place from early January through Tuesday, have occurred at banks in various states, including California, Texas and Illinois, Garvin said.

The Regional Commission is a planning and development agency that works with various local governments.

To contact writer Stanley Dunlap, call 744-4623 or find him on Twitter@stan_telegraph.

This story was originally published February 26, 2016 at 5:48 PM with the headline "Scam artists attempt to deposit $129,000 in checks from Middle Georgia agency ."