New take on an old scam?

[Jstpssng]

My friend's son received a letter purporting to be from Western Union, along with a bank check for around $3500 , apparently from a national bank. in order to "test their system" he was asked to cash the check and wire most of it to one of their branches; but he could keep several hundred "for his trouble."

Need I finish the story? For 2 weeks they debated if he should do it; yet they never asked anybody who might give a sensible answer. Finally he took the check to his local credit union (instead of going 1/2 mile down the road, to a branch of the bank which issued the check.) CVashed the check and sent it out to the midwest.
He now has to come good on the check... which will be difficult as he has been unemployed since spring. The credit union promptly seized all money in his checking account.


Granted, most of us would have thrown the letter in the trash with all the other junk mail; however I've yet to find any other example of this particular setup, even on "Snopes."

[coffeeman]

Originally Posted by Jstpssng

My friend's son received a letter purporting to be from Western Union, along with a bank check for around $3500 , apparently from a national bank. in order to "test their system" he was asked to cash the check and wire most of it to one of their branches; but he could keep several hundred "for his trouble."

Need I finish the story? For 2 weeks they debated if he should do it; yet they never asked anybody who might give a sensible answer. Finally he took the check to his local credit union (instead of going 1/2 mile down the road, to a branch of the bank which issued the check.) CVashed the check and sent it out to the midwest.
He now has to come good on the check... which will be difficult as he has been unemployed since spring. The credit union promptly seized all money in his checking account.


Granted, most of us would have thrown the letter in the trash with all the other junk mail; however I've yet to find any other example of this particular setup, even on "Snopes."

I feel bad for the persons taken by the scam. I would bet there is not one here that can't say about many things, " I knew I shouldn't have done that." If it wasn't a $$ issue, it might have been a safety issue or some other stupid thing. Worse yet, it usually happens to folks when things are not running smooth to begin with.

Cheers...Coffeeman

[Tig]

Ouch, sorry to hear this.
You're right this is an old scam. Lucky it wasn't $35,000

[Mark_in_NH]

Originally Posted by Jstpssng

My friend's son received a letter purporting to be from Western Union, along with a bank check for around $3500 , apparently from a national bank. in order to "test their system" he was asked to cash the check and wire most of it to one of their branches; but he could keep several hundred "for his trouble.."

Please !! what legitimate bank Anywhere is going to do something like this ?

Originally Posted by Jstpssng

Need I finish the story? For 2 weeks they debated if he should do it; yet they never asked anybody who might give a sensible answer.

This tells me that they knew and felt all along that it was a scam.

Originally Posted by Jstpssng

Finally he took the check to his local credit union (instead of going 1/2 mile down the road, to a branch of the bank which issued the check.) CVashed the check and sent it out to the midwest.

This tells me that he knew, if he took the check to a branch of the bank that supposedly issued it, he knew or felt that that the bank would recognize it as a bogus check and not cash it.

Originally Posted by Jstpssng

He now has to come good on the check... which will be difficult as he has been unemployed since spring. The credit union promptly seized all money in his checking account.

I am sorry to hear that this person fell victim to this scam. But on the other hand, it also appears as though he has truly no one to blame but himself. He cashed the check knowingly and willingly. He is merely being held responsable for his own actions.
I don't mean to sound unsympathetic or harsh, but it's reality.
Welcome to the adult world !

[ToadHill]

Hindsight is always best but he should have taken the letter to the local post office. It's a federal crime to use the mail for illegal transactions.

[tallyho8]

I have received dozens of checks from scammers and they always say "keep some of the money for yourself for your trouble". This amount is usually way more than any honest company would pay someone for their trouble and should be a key that it is a scam. IF IT SOUNDS TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE, IT'S NOT TRUE!

I have never attempted to cash any of these checks because I think that anyone with enough brains to have a checking account should know that this is a scam.

http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/showthread.php?p=1779573

[Iplayfarmer]

Originally Posted by coffeeman

I feel bad for the persons taken by the scam. I would bet there is not one here that can't say about many things, " I knew I shouldn't have done that." If it wasn't a $$ issue, it might have been a safety issue or some other stupid thing. Worse yet, it usually happens to folks when things are not running smooth to begin with.

Cheers...Coffeeman

I've tried really hard in the past to feel bad for people who get sucked into these scams, but I just don't have it in me to feel bad for them anymore. Not only is it just common sense that you don't get something for nothing, but the warnings for these scams are all over the place. I can feel bad for stupid, but this is beyond stupid. This is greedy stupid.

[RonMar]

Education has a cost attached no matter how you look at it...

[Western]

Sometimes its hard enough to get a "check" from someone who owes you, let alone someone who doesn't.

The only thing we have ever gotten for free was a $600 dishwasher my wife won from a grocery store shopping card, even after getting it I was watching the back door. Call me skeptical...

[jimmyj]

Originally Posted by tallyho8

IF IT SOUNDS TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE, IT'S NOT TRUE!
]

Ain't that the truth.