New take on an old scam?

[Charlesaf3]

I'm sorry, I have no sympathy. Its an old scam on craigslist and against landlords. And fundamentally, anyone over the age of 6 should realize you don't get something for nothing from strangers (family and friends are different).

Old cliches...

There aint no such thing as a free lunch
If it sounds too good to be true it is.

 

[Steve_Miller]

The only question I have is why would a bank turn over the money without verifying the validity of the cheque before placing the money in an account or do they take the person's word and leave the onus on them and hand them the cash?. If the latter is true then a scammer could cash the cheque and be long gone before the bank ever catches on not knowing who cashes the cheque. I'm pretty sure in Canada if you deposit a cheque from someone in your account, the money is not available until the cheque clears, I could be wrong though.

Steve

 

[alchemysa]

Sounds to me like your son's friend knew it was a scam but hoped he wouldn't be the one who got stung. Now he's just making excuses. In other words he actively involved himself in the scam, and consequently he got what he deserved. Who, other than someone who is mentally disabled, would believe that a bank would send $3500 to a total stranger to 'test the system'. At the VERY least he should have said to his local bank 'Hey, does this sound legit?' instead of sneaking in and cashing the cheque on the quiet.

Tell your son to steer clear of this guy. He'll do something similar again some day.

 

[Iplayfarmer]

The only question I have is why would a bank turn over the money without verifying the validity of the cheque before placing the money in an account or do they take the person's word and leave the onus on them and hand them the cash?. If the latter is true then a scammer could cash the cheque and be long gone before the bank ever catches on not knowing who cashes the cheque. I'm pretty sure in Canada if you deposit a cheque from someone in your account, the money is not available until the cheque clears, I could be wrong though.

Steve

Some of these guys have figured out how to write a check so that it actually clears the bank. It's not until weeks later that the check is identified as a counterfeit and the person who cashes the check is now liable for the amount.

I know any time I've baited scammers they have never even hesitated when I tell them I'm going to have to wait 10 days for the check to clear. They all seem very confident that it will.

 

[California]

The funniest scam offer I've gotten was someone who wanted to overpay me a rental depost, with the excess funds wired back of course.

She wrote on the letterhead of the Model United Nations, a student debate group.

Said she was employed by Model United Nations ... as a model!

"Would you like to see a picture of me to decide if you want to rent to me?"

 

[archerm3]

you'd think that if it took two weeks to mull it over, an investigative call to the FBI or state attorney general could have been made.

 

[tallyho8]

The University of Nigeria Course Offerings - University of Nigeria is probably just a spoof site but there is a lot of correct information there about scams and many such classes probably exist.