Posted on 06/17/2008 9:50:39 PM PDT by CougarGA7
My wife just handed me a letter she recieved from Amscot Shoppers World informing her that she was choosen as a secret shopper. Enclosed with the congradulatory letter was a cashier's check for $3,300 dollars.
She handed me the letter and check and asked me to look at it and tell her what I think. Of course we are both sceptical of stuff like this so I read the letter.
The letter gives instructions as to what to do with the money in the enclosed check. $500 for yourself, spend $100 at Walmart, 100 at Sears, 50 for either McD's or Wendy's.....oh, and wire us $2500 through Moneygram.
I immediately began thinking that I should send this to lowbridge. This smelled really bad. After a quick search I found this news article.
Bank Officials & Police Warn About Scam
If any of you or your friends/family get one of these, it is a scam. I know that most Freepers will not fall for this kind of stunt, but we all have people we know who will so I felt responsible to spread the word. I mean, heck, my mother fell for the dehydrated turkey trick so we all know someone who is gullible.
Don't let these people scam anyone you know.
CougarGA7
Why? You can't withdraw the funds until the check clears (although some banks will let you take out $100 when you deposit it - and you WOULD be liable for that)?
I’m sure we’d all like to help out Ed McMahon.
We should put out the word that all those Amscot checks should be sent to him.
Hmm. I wonder if that’s how he lost his money?
I was going to take the bait. But I remembered the 'country' is in the movie Dogs of War.
NOT
With the service Colonel McMahon has given to this country, a drive to help him out wouldn’t be that outrageous.
Ew, I'd rather send the money back.
It would be a bad idea, and you'd be out a lot more than just the $5. Check into what Clark Howard has to say about the fact that banks aren't required to make sure that the funds are really available, and some will "advance" you the money, but then you're on the hook for all the returned check charges. Probably $25 or more for each time they try to submit the check for payment, which will probably be at least twice.
Mark
I don’t know that I can answer why? Except to say, “because they can?”
They’d probably hold you liable for fraud, or some such thing. Claim you knew the check was no good, and did an instant cash to take advantage of them.
Of course they’d have to prove it. I’m just saying, I don’t think the bank would just lie down and take the loss.
That's a telltale sign of fraud.
That said, he admitted he is able to take off the brace at night.
I take mine off at night to put around my ankle, so I don't kick my ass at night.
Carbon offsets will probably be sold like the USPS’s forever stamps soon!!
Does the word "fraud" come into play? The bank and cops will likely think so...
" I am totally innocent. As a compassionate and tolerant Democrat,
I was just helping out a distinguished foreign dignitary by putting $90,000
cold ones in my freezer."
"See, I got this email from Nigerian General Kachinga Cheatchusuckah who had a problem."
" Now, as soon as Gen Cheatchusuckah transfers Idi Amin's
secret Ugandan gold reserves from a Swiss bank vault to a
refrigerated truck Kachinga told me to lease............."
The check "clears" the bank and the bank releases the funds in the account...but you know what? The check doesn't actually, really, honestly, clear.
So when the check finally gets around to actually bouncing, the bank comes after you.
Unless, of course, you took the wise precaution of pulling as much cash money as you could out of the account when it fake-cleared, after having opened the account in disguise and under some illegal alien's ID and SS number.
You would be a party to passing a fraudulent check.
The only way the bank would be accountable would be if they allowed the funds to go through. Typically the bank would put a hold on the check for 11 days, by that time the check would be determined fraudulent. If the customer used there own funds to send to these people. The customer is accountable, not the bank. I work in a bank, sadly we see many people fall for this type of scam
You would think so, but there is some interesting float time on some of these international cashiers cheques. The bank can "clear" it, then find out up to a week or two later that it wasn't actually good.
In this case, you would, in fact, be liable for the cash.
Of course, if you're a criminal, (or untracable illegal alien) you don't mind, because you'd already be long gone.
“I’m not familiar with this particular scam, but if I received a “cashier’s check” for that amount I’d open up an account in a bank that I did no business with for $5. Then deposit the check. As soon as it clears (i.e. if), withdraw all of the money in cash.”
That sounds like a very dishonorable act.
Secret shoppers are legit, but they don’t make anywhere near the $500 offered in that scam.
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