The envelope came Wednesday morning via a UPS delivery worker with the name “Terry Langley” written on the outside with its destination marked “1000 Newnan Road” on the address label.

Terry Langley, of course, is the sheriff of Carroll County, and 1000 Newnan Road is the official address of the Sheriff’s Office and county jail.

Carroll County sheriff’s Chief Deputy Brad Robinson said Langley was the recipient of a counterfeit check for $2,920 — probably without the scam’s creator ever knowing the fake check had been sent straight to the head of a law enforcement agency.

With technology continuing to improve, Robinson said, reports of counterfeit checks, money orders and other financial scams have become more common. He said it is not uncommon for investigators to take reports on the various scams from victims almost every other day at the Sheriff’s Office.

“This goes to show no one is immune from being the target of a counterfeit scam,” he said. “Even the sheriff of Carroll County got a fraudulent check. He knew right away the check was suspicious since it was mailed unsolicited to the Sheriff’s Office.”

In Langley’s incident, Robinson said the package was unusual in that there was no note enclosed asking the recipient to deposit into a personal bank account the check and mail a portion of the money deposited back to a listed address. The check received Wednesday was the only item inside the large envelope.

This scam, authorities said, is similar to a computer virus. Although the creator of the computer virus manifests the virus to harm or attack someone’s hard drive or software, they know they intend to victimize someone but are not there when the crime occurs to see the impact it has on the victim. In the sheriff’s case, Robinson said, he believed the sender of the fraudulent check knew they would hurt someone by having them deposit the counterfeit check but did not know the victims personally.

Investigators said the counterfeit check, which was created from a legitimate business, had the actual account number from the company on the check, so if the check had been cashed it would be up to the cashier of the check to repay the funds.

This type of scam is far less common, Robinson said, since the majority of victims that report the scams are receiving checks, money orders or offers instructing them they have either won a contest and need to pay some money up front to cover fees or are requested to deposit the fake money transactions and send a portion of the check back from their bank account — leaving the cashier having to pay the bank for the sum.

“If we see this several times a week that is going out to Carroll County residents, then there are probably many more incidents of this that are never reported,” he said. “There are a lot of people in tough economic times, and the first thing they might want to do if a check is sent with their name on it is to head right to the bank. If it sounds too good to be true, then it probably is. We urge anyone who receives an unsolicited and unexplained form of money to contact their local law enforcement agency for advice.”

Robinson said, under certain circumstances, the recipient of the counterfeit check or other form of money who cashes the check could be charged with a crime themselves, which is one more reason for people to be wary of the unsolicited offers.

“There is always a possibility they could be charged with forgery if you take into account that a reasonable person should know this is a scam,” he said. “There are a lot of factors that play into this, such as their mental capacity, age, education and the totality of the circumstances behind the transaction.”

During a telephone call with the company listed on the counterfeit check Thursday, Robinson said, employees said they had received reports of the scam using their account information across the nation. Employees said often the victims who received the checks had been identified online through purchasing or selling items on popular Web sites such as Craig’s List or eBay. It was unknown how the sheriff’s name and address was obtained, according to investigators.

“About 10 years ago, this type of crime was hardly ever seen,” Robinson said. “With technology advancements, this has become much more commonplace.”