Woman charged after giving local business check from ‘clickbait.com’
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ABERDEEN — A Chubbuck woman is accused of giving an Aberdeen business a fake check with a bogus business name.
Timberly Hernandez, 36, is charged with felony forgery after allegedly giving a grocery store a fake check in December. According to an affidavit of probable cause obtained by EastIdahoNews.com, Hernandez gave Stokes Fresh Food Market a printed check for $850 with the business name of www.clickbait.com.
An Aberdeen Police officer spoke with an employee at the market who cashed the check for a $17 fee, according to court documents. A bank returned the Wells Fargo labeled check with a stamp, labeling it as altered or fake.
The store manager called Hernandez, who allegedly claimed to have been paid with the check for some online work.
Investigators looked at the $850 check from www.clickbait.com — a bogus website and company — with a Boise address. The check had multiple fonts printed on the paper and a scribbled signature. The address really belonged to the business called www.clickbank.com.
Other officers in eastern Idaho were investigating Hernandez for another unnamed crime, according to court documents. Those police tracked her down and got a written statement of her reasoning for providing the fake check.
“She again stated that she had been doing a lot of online surveys and games and she received the check in the mail,” an officer writes in the probable cause affidavit. “She ended her statement with saying that the owner of the store had contacted her to let her know the check was no good. She said she told him that she would pay it back as soon as she could.”
Police say by March, the store had not heard from Hernandez or paid them back the $850. Prosecutors then filed charges and a summons was issued for Hernandez to make an initial court appearance on Thursday.
Although Hernandez is charged with a crime, it does not necessarily mean she committed it. Everyone is presumed innocent until proven guilty.