Check Fraud!
Thread Starter
Registered User
Joined: Jun 2008
Posts: 117
Likes: 0
From: Orange County, California
Originally Posted by TypeVNs2k05,Aug 22 2008, 10:58 AM
wow this has got to be the dumbest thing i heard all year. 4500-200=4300. wow your bro is just.....
Joined: Jun 2007
Posts: 2,947
Likes: 0
From: Charleston, SC
This sort of thing happend to my roommate about 3 days ago. He posted a microwave for sale on Craigs List for $13. The same day, some guy inquires about it and says he will be over later that night to pick it up. The guy comes over, and my roommate shows him that the microwave works and all. Instead of giving my roommate $13 cash, the guy hands him a personal check made for $13 and tells him to write his name on the check. Needless to say, this was a bad check.
At the end of the day, my roommate thought it was sort of comical that it happend to him and he didn't have the common sense to not accept the check. Oh well...
At the end of the day, my roommate thought it was sort of comical that it happend to him and he didn't have the common sense to not accept the check. Oh well...
Thread Starter
Registered User
Joined: Jun 2008
Posts: 117
Likes: 0
From: Orange County, California
Update:
- We went to Wamu and as expected they were completely uncooperative and refused to let me speak to the manager. When I brought up the fact that my brother is a minor and they shouldnt have opened an account for him they challenged me to sue them over it. They said he has 30 days to pay it back or they will report him to Chex Systems.
- We went to the local police and they laughed at us.
- We filed a fraud report with the FBI online crime division.
- We filed a report with the Better Business Bureau on Washington Mutual. Two reasons we did this. 1) They should not allow minors to open checking accounts. 2) I examined the 2nd check and its so obvious to anyone that has seen more than 3 checks in their life that its fake. Its poorly printed on regular paper. You can see the ink fading and theres no watermark at all. The Wamu representative told us they will accept any check as long as the numbers along the bottom pass that little scanner. They dont care if the checks are printed on scrap paper on a home computer, they will still take it!!!
Wamu seriously sucks ^$**(#@!!! They're customer service is horrible. They have a D rating on the Better Business Bureau and the ratings go from AAA-AA-A-BBB-BB-B-CCC-CC-C then D! Their credit rating is down to BBB. When I took a banking class it was rare for a bank to ever go below AA. And now they are the biggest holder of sub-prime mortgages.
- We went to Wamu and as expected they were completely uncooperative and refused to let me speak to the manager. When I brought up the fact that my brother is a minor and they shouldnt have opened an account for him they challenged me to sue them over it. They said he has 30 days to pay it back or they will report him to Chex Systems.
- We went to the local police and they laughed at us.
- We filed a fraud report with the FBI online crime division.
- We filed a report with the Better Business Bureau on Washington Mutual. Two reasons we did this. 1) They should not allow minors to open checking accounts. 2) I examined the 2nd check and its so obvious to anyone that has seen more than 3 checks in their life that its fake. Its poorly printed on regular paper. You can see the ink fading and theres no watermark at all. The Wamu representative told us they will accept any check as long as the numbers along the bottom pass that little scanner. They dont care if the checks are printed on scrap paper on a home computer, they will still take it!!!
Wamu seriously sucks ^$**(#@!!! They're customer service is horrible. They have a D rating on the Better Business Bureau and the ratings go from AAA-AA-A-BBB-BB-B-CCC-CC-C then D! Their credit rating is down to BBB. When I took a banking class it was rare for a bank to ever go below AA. And now they are the biggest holder of sub-prime mortgages.
Thread Starter
Registered User
Joined: Jun 2008
Posts: 117
Likes: 0
From: Orange County, California
Originally Posted by 9KRDLIN,Aug 23 2008, 06:30 AM
just wait it out, in a month they will be bankrupt anyways with all the foreclosures 
Its still hard for me to believe that they allowed my brother to cash such a bs check. When I sold my car, they gave me a hard time when I deposited the check I got. They wouldn't believe it was real and made me bring in the buyer and see the manager. Then a month later they just let a 17-year old deposit and w/ draw $4500 like nothing.
Community Organizer
Joined: Sep 2007
Posts: 10,599
Likes: 79
From: The 604
Originally Posted by pwe312,Aug 21 2008, 10:47 PM
After a whole night of research on these "Nigerian check scams and check overpayment scams" I'm amazed at all the different ways they have swindled people. They seem to get mostly the elderly and young adults, but many businesses have been scammed as well. A few studies believe this scam costs American consumers $100-300 million per year!!!
Besides the obvious lottery ones, the more clever schemes are:
"accidental overpayments" where they ask for the difference back. This was used on a lot of sellers and businesses.
"payments from someone that owes the buyer money" and they ask for the difference.
"extra payment for a private shipping company" and you wire the extra money to a fake shipper
"buyer changes their mind after paying" and you refund the money
Many think these scammers have a ton of power in Nigeria which is why they've been doing this stuff for over 30 years. They usually need the help of someone in the US to send off the fraudulent checks and a few people have been charged and a serving a pathetic 2 year prison term.
To me the only reason why this crap continues to work is the victims are under the false impression that once a check "clears" the money is good, but the banks have over a month to retract the money from a false check. If this was made much clearer to the public, or if the policy was changed, these scams would stop working.
Just wanted to present my research as a warning to everybody else. I am NEVER taking a personal check as payment.
Besides the obvious lottery ones, the more clever schemes are:
"accidental overpayments" where they ask for the difference back. This was used on a lot of sellers and businesses.
"payments from someone that owes the buyer money" and they ask for the difference.
"extra payment for a private shipping company" and you wire the extra money to a fake shipper
"buyer changes their mind after paying" and you refund the money
Many think these scammers have a ton of power in Nigeria which is why they've been doing this stuff for over 30 years. They usually need the help of someone in the US to send off the fraudulent checks and a few people have been charged and a serving a pathetic 2 year prison term.
To me the only reason why this crap continues to work is the victims are under the false impression that once a check "clears" the money is good, but the banks have over a month to retract the money from a false check. If this was made much clearer to the public, or if the policy was changed, these scams would stop working.
Just wanted to present my research as a warning to everybody else. I am NEVER taking a personal check as payment.
I concur with the "I don't accept personal cheques (Canadian spelling
)" thing.
Community Organizer
Joined: Sep 2007
Posts: 10,599
Likes: 79
From: The 604
Originally Posted by CU Nick,Aug 22 2008, 11:44 AM
This sort of thing happend to my roommate about 3 days ago. He posted a microwave for sale on Craigs List for $13. The same day, some guy inquires about it and says he will be over later that night to pick it up. The guy comes over, and my roommate shows him that the microwave works and all. Instead of giving my roommate $13 cash, the guy hands him a personal check made for $13 and tells him to write his name on the check. Needless to say, this was a bad check.
At the end of the day, my roommate thought it was sort of comical that it happend to him and he didn't have the common sense to not accept the check. Oh well...
At the end of the day, my roommate thought it was sort of comical that it happend to him and he didn't have the common sense to not accept the check. Oh well...
Who would've thought someone would scam him for a $13 microwave?
Joined: Jun 2007
Posts: 2,947
Likes: 0
From: Charleston, SC
Originally Posted by alSpeed2k,Aug 23 2008, 10:52 AM
13 fricking dollars! F$@%!!!
Who would've thought someone would scam him for a $13 microwave?
Who would've thought someone would scam him for a $13 microwave?
Former Moderator
Joined: Nov 2001
Posts: 59,195
Likes: 1
From: Ventura, California, USA
Originally Posted by alSpeed2k,Aug 23 2008, 10:50 AM
Yesterday night I watched Dateline: To Catch an ID thief. It was kind of depressing b/c the authorities said the prosecution rate was like less than 1% b/c there's no way in hell they can go into Nigeria expecting to capture and prosecute those scum bags.
I concur with the "I don't accept personal cheques (Canadian spelling)" thing.
I concur with the "I don't accept personal cheques (Canadian spelling
)" thing.