Swindle! Fraud! Alert! Start up! The nightmare of check cashing wire transfers!
It was a huge bonus!
Today I received a letter in the mail from a company in Canada. (I do not want to give the name because this matter is being investigated by state, federal and Canadian authorities).
Imagine my surprise when I opened it and found a check made out to me for $ 3,860.00!
Apparently, I was the winner of a drawing and this was a partial payment for winnings that totaled $ 55,250.00. Inside the letter were instructions for calling a number, asking for a certain agent, and being prepared to have my claim number available. Immediately, I became suspicious because I never enter sweepstakes, but I kept looking at the check wondering … hey, what if!
After rereading the letter several times, I decided to take the check to my bank to see if it really was “legitimate.” They verified it was by appearance, but they told me it was probably some kind of scam. The bank said that if you deposited it, they would hold it for 10 business days before releasing the funds. Of course he didn’t want to deposit it. But since I love discovering a good scam, I decided to do something about it!
Before calling these lovely people who wanted to give me $ 55,250, I went online and researched the addresses referenced in the letter. The letter came from Canada, but the check was from an American company in New Jersey. Interestingly, the Trust Company’s address in Canada was actually an automotive garage. The address on the check was actually for an existing business in New Jersey. OK … I was ready to make my call.
My agent was unavailable, but I spoke to a rather animated woman who said that on June 10, 2007, she had filled out an entry for a Readers Digest contest. Didn’t you remember filling it? He asked. I assured him that otherwise he would not have won, right? And you know what, in the background, I could hear a metallic noise and before she could put me on hold multiple times, I could also hear the sound of power tools! Hey, was it a surety or financial trust company or a car garage?
Now what he told me next was so shocking that I made it my mission to spread the word about this check cashing – wire fraud scam!
They were so happy they called to claim my prize, but before I could receive my $ 52k I had to pay taxes on the money. So he needed to cash the check, wait until it was “cleared”, he said it should be within 3-5 days. Next, I needed to go to “Money Gram” and transfer $ 3,680,000 to someone in Brooklyn, New York. Now, to transfer that amount of money, you would supposedly incur Money Gram fees of between $ 60 and $ 180.00. There goes my $ 3,860!
I asked him why they couldn’t just tax my winnings like the Lottery does. She said they were Canadian, so they couldn’t do that. Then I asked why Canadians were concerned about the IRS. Of course they weren’t worried, but I should be. Then I asked why I was sending “taxes” to an individual and not to the IRS. In fact, he told me that the person he was sending the money to worked for the IRS. Okay, so if they weren’t asking for any identifying information, why would I send money to the IRS without the proper form and personal information to be credited with paying taxes on my earnings?
Well, according to her, I could do that when I got my check for $ 55k! I even have a lawyer present if I wanted to because they actually came to my house to introduce me in person. I ended the call with her reassuring myself that this was not a scam, and that the IRS woman I was supposed to transfer money to would contact me the next day with any questions she might have.
All right, to Readers Digest. I spoke with a customer service representative from his Pleasantville, New York office, and he told me that this was definitely a scam. Sadly, they get about 3 calls with the same story every day. Worse still, many people actually transfer money only to find that the check eventually bounces. Readers Digest referred me to the Consumer Protection League in Washington DC.
There I spoke to a gentleman who explained the whole scam to me and he told me they get 10-15 phone calls like this every day. This is how the scam works, so please pass this information on to your friends and family. Especially older adults and college students, given the statistics, seem to be the majority of the victims in cases like this.
You go to your bank and deposit the check. Some banks will make the funds available to you in 3 days, others 5, and very few 10. It all depends on your bank and, frankly, how much money you already have in your accounts. Most banks want their customers to be happy, so they will try to make funds available as soon as possible. In the meantime, he checks with his bank again and everything seems fine. So now they release the funds and you transfer the money to whoever! Which, by the way, doesn’t necessarily have to be picked up where you plug it in. Since the recipient has the relevant information, the money can be withdrawn anywhere, sometimes even in another country!
Unfortunately these thieves have it under control, they know the check can bounce not once, but a couple of times. Technically, just because the funds were available to you does not mean that the check was “cleared.” That can take up to 21 days and thieves know it! That makes you feel safe enough to wire money. Now all you have to do is wait for that entourage of people to show up at your house with the BIG check, right?
WRONG, here comes the postman with a letter from his bank saying the check bounced and now YOU owe the bank $ 3,680. Good, huh? Rule of thumb here, there is NEVER a reason to send money for profit, period. If you get a letter like this in the mail, or you know someone who has, refer them to www.fakechecks.org. Click on “prevention” and then on “report”. Complete the form and the appropriate authorities will be notified.
Also, you may want to notify your state Attorney General’s Office. Many of them have online forms that you can use to report this type of fraud. Together we can help stop this type of malicious crime!