Forged Craigslist scam checks

That's perty much the e-mail I got.

It will.

I already know that the check is bogus. I am not sure what is the point to pay anyone to tell me the same thing.

(...)

Except for Washington Mutual, who sometimes refuse to cash checks drawn on them.

--Winston

Oh, this whole thing just screams fraud.

If nothing else, call the bank/company that the "check" is written on, if they have the real account numbers and routing codes off a stolen check they *might* want to close that account and open another

- because the scammers WILL try again, and again, and again...

If you want some fun, try baiting them along for a while. /You/ piss in /their/ Wheaties for a change. Invent a cockamamie story about how "the check never got here" or "The neighbors signed for the package and stole it themselves, stop that check and send me another..." and get them to re-send it USPS. Then you can let loose the Postal Inspectors on them.

-->--

Dunno about the hew hess of hay but up here in snowland, the issuing bank will not cash its own check if you don't have an account there. At least this was my experience. Gerry :-)} London, Canada

Send the check back. Tell him you want the money via Western Union.

You can ask how much money is required to be deposited in the account to make the check good. The bank won't tell you, of course. So deposit one dollar into the subject account, then try to cash the check again. After you do this about 30 times, an officer will come over and, er, "assist" you.

Banks and clearing house no longer rely on magnetic ink - it's now all optical.

Some merchants, however, still have magnetic ink scanners and won't accept a non-magnetic check (i.e., Sam's Club).

My nomination for best damn response!

Wells Fargo has a number of branches in the Chicago area. Take the check there, tell the teller that you'd like to cash it (for cash) and let them worry about who to notify and what recourse to take if they determine that the check is suspect or definitely fraudulent. If the teller just blows you off, then ask to speak with an officer of the bank e.g. the branch manager.

I have high regard for Wells Fargo bank and the caliber of their people. They've been my bankers since they accquired Norwest circa about 2000.

Do you have a source for this?

I've never had a merchant use any kind of scanner on a check that I presented at the counter.

Post Office will not be involved. Note how he wanted Western Union to do the transaction. Mention Post Office and they will tell you "NO!" in a panic. One I dealt with wanted to do it in person ?? send a courier. So I mentioned the Post Office...NO way.

Take the check and the envelope it came in to the post office and tell them you want to speak to the postal inspector. Mailing a bad check is a federal crime. The postal inspectors are real cops, and they DO collect on this sort of stuff.

Dave Sobel told me that the ONLY ways to pay him are to either put cash in his hand or mail him a check, for that very reason. He said that he had great success with the post office cops collecting on bad checks.

p.

Sorry, no. That's what my banker told me.

Hmm. Then you don't deal with retail establishments that a) process a huge volume of checks or b) have dodgy customers. Stores that subscribe to TeleCheck (and similar) that guarantee the check for a small fee have to have some fast and easy way to communicate the check's information. These firms use check scanners.

Recently I wrote a (large) check to a physician. The Telecheck check-reader thing-a-majiggy went "TILT" and I thought the help behind the desk was going to fidget to death!

The problem was a miss-read.

Feeding the check through the machine again yielded a green light and they quit beating me.

What seems annoying to me is that with today's technology, banks should be able to verify a check and instantly transfer funds. I can use my debit card at a store, get approved in a couple of seconds, and it show up on my account that day.

RogerN

They can do transfer funds with a check also. What cannot be done is to verify if the check or your debit card was stolen. I can prove it. Send me your debit card (FedEx or courier) and I'll make a purchase with it. This is, of course, for testing purposes only.

I have had 2 of these in a week on an $800 item. The last one I e mailed and said I did not quite understand his e mail. Would he send me his phone number. That took care of it. No reply. I knew they were a scam. WW

Don, I will follow your advice and will take a check there (with full warning). I admire WF too, and bought their stock in early March of this year. WF did none of the stupid stuff that got banks in trouble. They stuck to basics and did a very good job at being a good bank.