Foreign Check Cashing Scam- How Does It Work?

[Ro_Laren]

I am sure you have all received e-mails from people saying they are from another country and for some reason or another they want to send you a check or wire you money. It's part of some elaborate checking cashing scam. But how does it work? If a guy from a foreign country sends me a check and I deposit it... how can he steal money from me?

My sister posted about her babysitting services on the internet and a guy said he was from England and was coming to the states with his child for some temporary work. He wanted my sister to babysit, but wanted to send her a check first. That sounded kinda fishy, but on the off chance he is legit we don't want to freak him out. If we requested a cashier's check or a money order from an American bank are we safe? Can someone scam you with a cashier's check or money order?

 

[backstept]

I think the way these scams work is that they get you to deposit the check, and send the cash off to them before the check bounces . . . say it's a check for 1000 monetary units () and they 'pay' you 20% for helping them out by cashing it . . . you send them the 800 right when you cash the check, but once it goes through the system your account gets zapped for that 1000 that never existed
they take advantage of a loophole involving the time it takes for your bank to give you the money right then, and until they process the check and it bounces

at least that's how I understand it . . .

ok say you have 3000 in your account
+1000 cash the phony check
-800 send the scammers their money
=3200 everything's going great! free 200 bucks!
-1000 oh no, check bounces
=2200 . . . you just sent them 800 of your own money

 

[Plecostomus]

Send me $1500 and I'll give you the full details including a handy method to avoid getting burned by these scammers.

 

[Ro_Laren]

Ok, so since this guy from England isn't asking for money back does that mean he is legit?

 

[K'Ehleyr]

I am sure you have all received e-mails from people saying they are from another country and for some reason or another they want to send you a check or wire you money. It's part of some elaborate checking cashing scam. But how does it work? If a guy from a foreign country sends me a check and I deposit it... how can he steal money from me?

My sister posted about her babysitting services on the internet and a guy said he was from England and was coming to the states with his child for some temporary work. He wanted my sister to babysit, but wanted to send her a check first. That sounded kinda fishy, but on the off chance he is legit we don't want to freak him out. If we requested a cashier's check or a money order from an American bank are we safe? Can someone scam you with a cashier's check or money order?

Re; the babysitting I'd be more suspicious that someone would let a babysitter that they'd found on the internet look after their child if they'd never met them. Not for a moment suggesting your sister's not responsible etc but how do they know that? Definately sounds fishy. I'd want to meet them in person first, anyway the child might be a monster

 

[backstept]

no idea . . . better be very cautious . . .
might be best to treat him like a regular client . . . IE request payment in line with how other clients pay . . .
I'm probably not the best one to be giving advice because I know nothing of professional babysitting

 

[Roger Wilco]

Ok, so since this guy from England isn't asking for money back does that mean he is legit?

No, he's probably still working on it. He'll ask eventually.

The way it works is, that the money from the cheque gets credited to your account by the bank before they make sure the cheque is legitimate. You see the money on your balance and think the other guy told you the truth - and you send him the money he asked for. Then the cheque bounces, the money gets taken off your account by the bank, plus you get a fine (which can be quite high), and the money you sent the scammer is gone.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

I am sure you have all received e-mails from people saying they are from another country and for some reason or another they want to send you a check or wire you money. It's part of some elaborate checking cashing scam. But how does it work? If a guy from a foreign country sends me a check and I deposit it... how can he steal money from me?

They will send you a check which will turn out to be fake (it will bounce when you attempt to cash it). They will ask for fees, from you, which they will call 'transfer fees' or some bullshit like that. They will try to get you to pay them for the 'privilege' of sending you their check. Their check will be fake, so they won't be out any money, but you will. It's an old scam - the 'advance fee fraud'. The Nigerian Scam is another form of that.

My sister posted about her babysitting services on the internet and a guy said he was from England and was coming to the states with his child for some temporary work. He wanted my sister to babysit, but wanted to send her a check first. That sounded kinda fishy, but on the off chance he is legit we don't want to freak him out. If we requested a cashier's check or a money order from an American bank are we safe? Can someone scam you with a cashier's check or money order?

It's almost certainly a scam. Don't do it. Stay away. This has scam written all over it. It's not safe. Even cashier's checks and money orders can be fake.

 

[John Picard]

Basically, why does someone you don't know (foreign or domestic) need YOU to send money? This is known as the Nigerian Scam (Google is your friend) which is basically an updated version of a Depression Era scam known as The Pigeon Drop.

 

[Roger Wilco]

It's an old scam - the 'advance fee fraud'. The Nigerian Scam is another form of that.

Yes, but this is a particularly perfidious variant, because many people don't know anything about how cheques work. Sending money to some Nigerian prince so he can get his hundreds of millions of dollars out of the country - ok, you have to be pretty gullible to fall for that, but when people cash a cheque and see the balance on their account they just assume the money is theirs, and don't know that the bank just takes the money back if the cheque isn't legitimate...

btw. they often try this scam with people selling some stuff on the internet - ebay or so, so it may not even seem that strange for them to suggest sending a cheque sometimes.

 

[Saturn0660]

It's an old scam - the 'advance fee fraud'. The Nigerian Scam is another form of that.

Yes, but this is a particularly perfidious variant, because many people don't know anything about how cheques work. Sending money to some Nigerian prince so he can get his hundreds of millions of dollars out of the country - ok, you have to be pretty gullible to fall for that, but when people cash a cheque and see the balance on their account they just assume the money is theirs, and don't know that the bank just takes the money back if the cheque isn't legitimate...

btw. they often try this scam with people selling some stuff on the internet - ebay or so, so it may not even seem that strange for them to suggest sending a cheque sometimes.

Tell his ass to go Paypal...

 

[Plecostomus]

Ok, so since this guy from England isn't asking for money back does that mean he is legit?

Any sort of random unexpected email offering you money is a scam. Period the end. In this day and age if someone owes you a "vast sum" like they claim there are dozens of legit ways to contact someone, even in the most dire/absurd situations.

 

[Roger Wilco]

Tell his ass to go Paypal...

Well, of course. Or just tell me to go screw himself if you suspect something fishy is going on, the problem only comes up when people are not suspicious enough.

 

[Aragorn]

Someone from Nigeria tried to scam me once. I had some stuff on Craigslist, and "she" claimed to be buying birthday presents for her kids and needed it right away, so she asked if I could mail out the item as soon as I got the cashier's check -- which, of course, would be a fake and bounce long after the item was sent out.

I'm guessing the mailing address would've been some unsuspecting middle man in-country who would then remail it overseas (like what was seen on Dateline). I was already on to the scam based on the awkward choice of words in the e-mail, but then I ran the e-mail through Spamcop and saw that it originated in Nigera.

 

[The Squire of Gothos]

I don't know why they thought it would be a good target, but a Nigerian tried this with my father, when he was selling my sister's clapped out Fiat online. I'm sure the transport of small dilapidated hatchbacks from NW Europe to sub-saharan Africa isn't such a common occurance

 

[Roger Wilco]

Someone from Nigeria tried to scam me once. I had some stuff on Craigslist, and "she" claimed to be buying birthday presents for her kids and needed it right away, so she asked if I could mail out the item as soon as I got the cashier's check -- which, of course, would be a fake and bounce long after the item was sent out.

I'm guessing the mailing address would've been some unsuspecting middle man in-country who would then remail it overseas (like what was seen on Dateline). I was already on to the scam based on the awkward choice of words in the e-mail, but then I ran the e-mail through Spamcop and saw that it originated in Nigera.

Exactly! That's their usual SOP. And it's easy to see how a more gullible and/or less knowledgable person could fall prey to that kind of scam...