Scam?

[Juan Vancouver]

NEVER give your personal information for this purposes. Clients, for the most part are amazing people, but even the nicest ones amongst them won't be as careful with your information as you would be.

 

CASH.

 

CASH.

 

CASH.

 

And rule of thumb, if it sounds too amazing to be true, chances are it is. Sorry you went through this, but it is just a rate of passage. Stay alert and make your own mind about what kind of transactions you accept and what others you don't. Stick to your guns..

[rvwnsd]

They take advantage of the fact that wire transfers are processed very quickly and paper instruments clear more slowly. So the OP would have deposited the check, wired the funds as requested by the sender. The OP would have paid out the amount for the wired funds, and then, when his financial institution presented the check for payment to the issuing bank would have found out that the check wasn't good, leaving him on the hook for the wire transfer.

100% correct. Cashier's Checks, Postal Money Orders, and most other types of money orders are immediately available for withdrawal unless the bank suspects the item will be returned, in which case an extended hold would be placed. The thing is a check from a small institution could take several days to be returned. The reason is instruments issued by small institutions and money order issuers who are not banks use one or more service providers to clear their items. That means the instrument would go from your bank to the Fed and from the Fed to one or more intermediaries and then to the bank on which it is drawn (or the bank they use to issue instruments). By the time that item works its way back to your bank account the funds are long gone. Larger banks, such as BofA, Wells, Chase, and Citi as well as large regional banks (BB&T, M&T, BMO/Harris) are also online with the Fed, so returned items come back within a day or two. Nonetheless, if you wire funds out the morning after depositing the item, the funds will leave your account before the item is returned.

[instudiocity]

Maybe I'm missing something but why not cash the check. If it clears refund $1,400.

Because even after the check has 'cleared' it can be set up at the issuing bank under a "Stop Payment" order. Dood, would be out the whole $2,000.

 

This is a violation of the postal code and is prosecutable without the gentleman disclosing the 'purpose' for the check. UPS or USPS Inspectors will be happy to collect the entire package with check and hold harmless the gentleman no matter what they find out about his consulting occupation.

[LivingnLA]

Usually the scammer exerts tremendous pressure to get the "refund" ASAP. That's why it usually works. If you can wait out the barrage of pressure, you will end up with ... nothing because the check bounced. Just not worth it.

 

And, you'll be out the bounced check fee from your bank. It's not worth the time and hassle.

[Rudynate]

Because even after the check has 'cleared' it can be set up at the issuing bank under a "Stop Payment" order. Dood, would be out the whole $2,000.

 

This is a violation of the postal code and is prosecutable without the gentleman disclosing the 'purpose' for the check. UPS or USPS Inspectors will be happy to collect the entire package with check and hold harmless the gentleman no matter what they find out about his consulting occupation.

 

 

That may have been the case a few years ago, but the USPS doesn't have the resources for enforcement that it used to. When I received a check in the mail for $500k, I asked at my Post Office branch if they would do anything about it. They said "no."

[LivingnLA]

That may have been the case a few years ago, but the USPS doesn't have the resources for enforcement that it used to. When I received a check in the mail for $500k, I asked at my Post Office branch if they would do anything about it. They said "no."

 

You can thank neoliberals in the DNC and GOP who are pushing hard to privatize every part of our government so large companies can extract more profits from the bottom 90% of America. Just like prison privatization, forced arbitration, outsourcing/insourcing projects in nearly every Federal Dept. The number of full-time government employees is slowly declining but costs are growing rapidly and the number of "contractors" hired on the taxpayer's dime continues to climb.

[marylander1940]

Hey guys so being new to the escort Bussiness I was contacted by a client saying they were going to send me $500 in advance to book which I wasn't gonna dispute. However, upon getting this next email it sounds like a scam. Thoughts?

 

 

It's a Nigerian scam, here you have a picture of some of the earliest attempts.

[instudiocity]

That may have been the case a few years ago, but the USPS doesn't have the resources for enforcement that it used to. When I received a check in the mail for $500k, I asked at my Post Office branch if they would do anything about it. They said "no."

You could well be correct, but the branch employees see the postal inspectors as hostile adversaries. The only time they see an inspector is when one of them is being investigated or arrested.

 

The Postal Service inspectors would best represent how they would proceed -- Not a window clerk at a branch - or even a local postmaster.

[Rudynate]

You could well be correct, but the branch employees see the postal inspectors as hostile adversaries. The only time they see an inspector is when one of them is being investigated or arrested.

 

The Postal Service inspectors would best represent how they would proceed -- Not a window clerk at a branch - or even a local postmaster.

 

It seems like I tried to call the postal inspector, and just could never talk to anybody - spent a lot of time in a phone queue.

[sincitymix]

You can thank neoliberals in the DNC and GOP who are pushing hard to privatize every part of our government so large companies can extract more profits from the bottom 90% of America. Just like prison privatization, forced arbitration, outsourcing/insourcing projects in nearly every Federal Dept. The number of full-time government employees is slowly declining but costs are growing rapidly and the number of "contractors" hired on the taxpayer's dime continues to climb.

 

I think you have that backwards. Its the Tea Party Republicans who want to do all that.

[LivingnLA]

I think you have that backwards. Its the Tea Party Republicans who want to do all that.

 

Sorry, no. Many of the Tea Party's positions are neoliberal. That's the intellectual basis for the currently dominant political and economic establishment in America.

 

We can thank the Koch brothers and other very wealthy libertarians, neocons, and neoliberals for our present situation. Since Reagan, they have aggressively pursued many neoliberal economic policies, and many neocon foreign policy positions. The net result over the last 4 decades has been a significant concentration of wealth and income at the top, an erosion of mobility and opportunity for an overwhelming majority of Americans, and a significantly less stable global economy and geopolitical situation.

[rvwnsd]

Because even after the check has 'cleared' it can be set up at the issuing bank under a "Stop Payment" order. ...

 

That isn't 100% accurate. Many people falsely believe that a check has cleared when the funds deposited are made available by their own bank. That is not the meaning of "cleared." "Cleared" means the check has been presented to the institution that holds the bank account the check is drawn on and the check has been paid. Once the check has cleared, a stop payment cannot be placed. However, between the time a check has been deposited and the time it has cleared a stop payment can be placed. In addition, if a check clears a bank account and the account holder reports that the check is fraudulent, has been altered, or is counterfeit the bank can return the check. The most likely scenario is the bank would launch a fraud investigation and seek restitution from the bank into which the check was deposited. Essentially, the check is returned due to fraud.

...Dood, would be out the whole $2,000.

Yep.

...This is a violation of the postal code and is prosecutable without the gentleman disclosing the 'purpose' for the check. UPS or USPS Inspectors will be happy to collect the entire package with check and hold harmless the gentleman no matter what they find out about his consulting occupation.

Well, the exact law that is being violated varies from situation to situation as does the exact law enforcement agency. Once the check has entered the banking system one or more of the banks involved will most likely engage law enforcement and request cooperation of one or both of the parties that have been defrauded.

 

The best advice is to contact the Postal Inspection Service (link below) or the FBI when something has been received appears to be suspicious.

 

That may have been the case a few years ago, but the USPS doesn't have the resources for enforcement that it used to. When I received a check in the mail for $500k, I asked at my Post Office branch if they would do anything about it. They said "no."

 

The local post office would not know what to do. They handle routine transactions. However, the US Postal inspection Service can help. Here's their website:

 

https://postalinspectors.uspis.gov/

 

And a link to the complaint form:

 

http://ehome.uspis.gov/fcsexternal/default.aspx

[+ glennnn]

This dodge was attempted on my 18 yo son when he sold something on Craig's List. He ignored it. He was mightily harassed and threatened by the scammer until he told the person he had called the LA County Fraud Squad who had comee and collected the check. He never heard another word from the perp. That's why I counselled keeping the check rather than destroying it. The perp was free to regain his property from the Fraud Squad if he wished Perhaps, he did!

[MikeyGMin]

You can thank neoliberals in the DNC and GOP who are pushing hard to privatize every part of our government so large companies can extract more profits from the bottom 90% of America. Just like prison privatization, forced arbitration, outsourcing/insourcing projects in nearly every Federal Dept. The number of full-time government employees is slowly declining but costs are growing rapidly and the number of "contractors" hired on the taxpayer's dime continues to climb.

 

Dude, you are seriously informative. I was very confused the first time you mentioned neoliberalism and neoconservatism as a reason you would consider leaving the country. I always thought they were two sides of the same coin. I did not realize that one was an economic philosophy and the other a political ideology -- neither of which I support. (I had to Google and Wikipedia the hell out of those terms!)

 

Very interesting. I'm happy with the knowledge acquired, but now I feel like a child sitting at the grown up table. I'll just have to be quiet and let the adults speak.

[LivingnLA]

Dude, you are seriously informative. I was very confused the first time you mentioned neoliberalism and neoconservatism as a reason you would consider leaving the country. I always thought they were two sides of the same coin. I did not realize that one was an economic philosophy and the other a political ideology -- neither of which I support. (I had to Google and Wikipedia the hell out of those terms!)

 

Very interesting. I'm happy with the knowledge acquired, but now I feel like a child sitting at the grown up table. I'll just have to be quiet and let the adults speak.

 

LMAO! I know half-as-much as I should. Neoliberalism and neoconservatism have overlaps and commonalities, but they're quite different in some respects. Sadly, the "best of both" have been very effectively deployed by the Koch brothers and other billionaires as they continue to reshape America in ways that maximize profits for them, reduce liabilities for them, and exploit the rest of the world for their benefit.

 

As far as the grown-up table, I prefer the child's table. Children tend to see the truth more readily and are willing to say it. One of the reasons I supported Bernie Sanders was because he's one of the few national politicians who's been consistently fighting neolib/neocon policies in DC for decades. Hillary Clinton has expressed and proposed many neolib/neocon ideas and she's surrounded by neolib believers, but in her younger days she was quite classically liberal. I hope people like Sanders, Warren, and more are able to help remind her of progressive and classically liberal values because America needs help! We cannot sustain the present course and survive as a viable nation for more than maybe another fifty years on our present course. There will be a civil war, exodus, or who knows what if the bottom 80-90% of the nation continue to be exploited by the top 10%, especially the top 1% and top 0.1%.

[BabyBoomer]

@LivingnLA

 

If you intend to continue this discussion, please take it to the politics forum.

 

~ Boomer ~

[Guy Fawkes]

Don't listen to this Charlatan; I have the London Bridge with all the pieces pre numbered so that you can put it back together. It's currently sitting down in Arizona and is still in great shape: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/London_Bridge_(Lake_Havasu_City)

 

If you believe this is real, then you are in luck! I have in my possession the deed.. yes the DEED, for the golden gate bridge which can be yours, yes yours! for the low low one time only price of 500.00 us dollars!

but joking aside, yeah.. its a scam.

[+ Keith30309]

Poppycock!

 

(That's all... I don't really have anything to add. I've just always wanted to say that.)

[TruHart1]

So. A scam about which a newbie escort requested opinions turns into a neo-political discussion of neo-liberal and neo-conservative viewpoint on privatization of a neo-government agency, the (so-called) Post Office!

 

Such a refreshing change for this forum!!! :confused:

 

NOT!!!

 

TruHart1

[Guy Fawkes]

I'm so confused... (Oh!) (Never Mind!)

 

http://i.huffpost.com/gen/1107776/images/o-DOG-LOOKS-LIKE-PENIS-facebook.jpg

Poppycock!

 

(That's all... I don't really have anything to add. I've just always wanted to say that.)

So. A scam about which a newbie escort requested opinions turns into a neo-political discussion of neo-liberal and neo-conservative viewpoint on privatization of a neo-government agency, the (so-called) Post Office!

 

Such a refreshing change for this forum!!! :confused:

 

NOT!!!

 

TruHart1

[Guy Fawkes]

So. A scam about which a newbie escort requested opinions turns into a neo-political discussion of neo-liberal and neo-conservative viewpoint on privatization of a neo-government agency, the (so-called) Post Office!

 

Such a refreshing change for this forum!!! :confused:

 

NOT!!!

 

TruHart1

[LivingnLA]

@LivingnLA

 

If you intend to continue this discussion, please take it to the politics forum.

 

~ Boomer ~

 

No worries I'm well aware that this is the wrong forum and that most people don't wish to discuss reality. I won't continue this discussion. Thanks for the heads up.

[Frequentflier]

If you believe this is real, then you are in luck! I have in my possession the deed.. yes the DEED, for the golden gate bridge which can be yours, yes yours! for the low low one time only price of 500.00 us dollars!

but joking aside, yeah.. its a scam.

 

I know there is no way you have the deed for the Golden Gate Bridge because I have that deed. Oh, and the tolls are going up, way up. All the extra money will go to an animal welfare group - no you don't get the charitable deduction - I do. Chris Christie is going to be the bridge's toll master; its a job he can do from anywhere.

 

On a serious note, kudos to the original poster for asking and becoming suspicious. When it comes to funds availability and/or when a check deposited could be returned (bounce) I learned a long time ago to just call my bank and have the rules explained to me. 99% of the time for a companion, the money is going in his direction so when a request comes for it to go the other way its time to become highly suspicious. One thing I learned a long time ago is that cash never bounces. BUT, pay the taxes that are due!

 

Often when people deposit checks to their account their account number is put on the back (endorsement section) either by the depositor or the bank itself. The person that issued the check is likely able to see that number online when the check clears.