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.

 

[tallyho8]

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

When you cash an out of state check at your bank, the bank is not quickly able to check it to see if it is counterfeit. If you have enough in your checking account to cover the check if it bounces, then they will just go ahead and cash it for you using your account as collateral. If it bounces they just take the money out of your account. They will not cash it for you if you do not have an account there.

The scammer can not cash the bad check at a bank unless he has an account with funds to cover the check in case it bounces so they get other people to cash it for them and they offer to split the money with them to get them to do it.

Some people do not realize that the bank will cash the check whether it is good or not as long as they have their account for collateral, so when the bank cashes the check they think they have gotten away with something until their account is debited a week later. By this time they have wired the scammer his cut of the loot and he is drinking pina coladas in Nigeria and thinking how dumb Americans are.

Do you realize that they have a university in Nigeria that teaches these scams?

 

[dave1949]

Some people do not realize that the bank will cash the check whether it is good or not as long as they have their account for collateral, so when the bank cashes the check they think they have gotten away with something until their account is debited a week later. By this time they have wired the scammer his cut of the loot and he is drinking pina coladas in Nigeria and thinking how dumb Americans are.

Do you realize that they have a university in Nigeria that teaches these scams?

That's my point about uneducated - ingnorant, whether he is an ignorant crook, or ignorant victim, he doesn't understand how money matters work.

No, I didn't know they had such a university. What courses do you suppose they offer? Check Kiting 101? Finding Dumb Americans 203?
Dave.

 

[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.

 

[Western]

When you cash an out of state check at your bank, the bank is not quickly able to check it to see if it is counterfeit. If you have enough in your checking account to cover the check if it bounces, then they will just go ahead and cash it for you using your account as collateral. If it bounces they just take the money out of your account. They will not cash it for you if you do not have an account there.

The scammer can not cash the bad check at a bank unless he has an account with funds to cover the check in case it bounces so they get other people to cash it for them and they offer to split the money with them to get them to do it.

Some people do not realize that the bank will cash the check whether it is good or not as long as they have their account for collateral, so when the bank cashes the check they think they have gotten away with something until their account is debited a week later. By this time they have wired the scammer his cut of the loot and he is drinking pina coladas in Nigeria and thinking how dumb Americans are.

Do you realize that they have a university in Nigeria that teaches these scams?

This info is supplied generally to all new account holders, and posted at most banks. It is really not a secret if you "read" the fine print..
My bank has a "funds available" disclaimer at all the drive through's even..

 

[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.