Check 21 scam? Anyway to fight it?

[Flying Spaghetti Monster]

I'm trying to help out my neighbors.. not exactly the brightest bunch. The daughter is a stay-at-home mom who wanted to work from home using a site caled odesk. Apparently a prospective employer, I think called ResolutionTEK, was open to have her working for them and contacted her through odesk. Resolutiontek sent her a check of about $2,000 "to get her business started" and she fell for it hook line and stinker.. giving it to her father to cash. Apparently it was all a scam, as it was a "substitute check" which, it is said, can be used like a real check. The problem: this is a scam.. I would guess that someone else actually did use the real check so there wasn't enough to cover the substitute check her father tried to cash, so now they are coming after him for the money.

Id there any way that they can fight this scam, now that it's underway? Thank you.

 

[Taelon]

Have you tried asking the bank or the police?

 

[Amaris]

Have you tried asking the bank or the police?

This is the best answer. They should have already contacted the bank, and the police.

(also, welcome to the board, Taelon!)

 

[Taelon]

Thank you Santa Claus.

I did a quick search and found this .gov website, which I'm guessing is a reputable one.

http://www.federalreserve.gov/pubs/check21/consumer_guide.htm

 

[Flying Spaghetti Monster]

oh awesome thank you

 

[Relayer1]

Sorry for being uninformed (maybe banking works differently over here), but I'm not clear how they're out of pocket.

I presume her father paid the cheque into his acount and withdrew that amount of cash ? If the cheque bounced, all he has to do is pay the money he withdrew back in.

Or has it already been spent ?

 

[Flying Spaghetti Monster]

LOL it's already been spent..

Yeah what you are saying should be true, but alas, they went and did this despite my warnings. I got a check like this once, and then tore it up

 

[Relayer1]

LOL it's already been spent..

Ah, I've always made a point of not withdrawing funds until the cheque has cleared / matured and the money is actually in my account.

How does this scam benefit Resolutiontek ?

Was the $2000 spent on equipment from them ? If so, doesn't it sound odd, a company sending you $2000 which you then pay bck to them for goods ?

 

[Flying Spaghetti Monster]

I don't know the specifics.. but the money was supposed to be fore "getting her started to work from home."

Which leads me to believe that they indicated that she could use it for the creation of her home office or working environment, more general things that she could determine rather than anything specific.

Of course, being a desperate mother of two, she used some of it to catch up on bills before the bank told her that the money is now owed...

 

[Relayer1]

However it's worked, it's a low blow.

I hope the culprits can be traced...

 

[Captrek]

LOL it's already been spent..

Ah, I've always made a point of not withdrawing funds until the cheque has cleared / matured and the money is actually in my account.

That's not a guarantee, and there's a "work from home" scam that depends on it. They promise you 10% for the service of cashing checks. You're supposed to cash the check and send 90% to the scammers. So they send you a $1000 check, you deposit it into your bank account, you send $900 to the scammers thinking you've pocketed an easy $100, and a few days or weeks later the bank figures out the check was bogus and subtracts the $1000 from your account.

 

[Relayer1]

LOL it's already been spent..

Ah, I've always made a point of not withdrawing funds until the cheque has cleared / matured and the money is actually in my account.

That's not a guarantee, and there's a "work from home" scam that depends on it. They promise you 10% for the service of cashing checks. You're supposed to cash the check and send 90% to the scammers. So they send you a $1000 check, you deposit it into your bank account, you send $900 to the scammers thinking you've pocketed an easy $100, and a few days or weeks later the bank figures out the check was bogus and subtracts the $1000 from your account.

It's a good job cheques are just about finished over here - since I changed banks last year my new account doesn't even issue a chequebook.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

^ I wish US banks were that forward-thinking.

 

[auntiehill]

Just for future reference, the expression is "hook, line and sinker," not "hook, line and stinker."

 

[Australis]

Yeah, but it does stink.

 

[MacLeod]

Ah, I've always made a point of not withdrawing funds until the cheque has cleared / matured and the money is actually in my account.

That's not a guarantee, and there's a "work from home" scam that depends on it. They promise you 10% for the service of cashing checks. You're supposed to cash the check and send 90% to the scammers. So they send you a $1000 check, you deposit it into your bank account, you send $900 to the scammers thinking you've pocketed an easy $100, and a few days or weeks later the bank figures out the check was bogus and subtracts the $1000 from your account.

It's a good job cheques are just about finished over here - since I changed banks last year my new account doesn't even issue a chequebook.

Yep cheques have almost gone the way of the Dodo over here, some banks won't issue you a cheque book automatically, you have to request one. And good luck using a cheque in a shop to pay for goods as most places esp. the major chains don't accept them as a means of payment.

 

[Spot's Meow]

I have worked through Odesk before. There are reputable jobs on there, but if some look too good to be true, it's because they are. At the very least she should find the posting, or similar ones through the same "company," on Odesk and report it as a scam so that others are not fooled as well.

I found this information from Odesk regarding this type of situation:

Warning: Don't get tricked into taking payment off oDesk
All earnings will be paid into your oDesk account and need to be transferred. No client should ever send you funds directly to your bank or PayPal account. Payment received directly can't be included in your profile work and feedback history. And it's majorly against the rules (it's called disintermediation). Please contact support immediately if any client offers or attempts to pay you directly. If it's an honest mistake, we'll be happy to help you and your client correct the payment situation. But if it's a bad client, you'll be protecting yourself and the whole marketplace. The faster you report the problem, the faster we can take action.

Basically, contact their customer support and explain the situation. They probably can't just give her back the money, but they may have further information or at least can try and protect against this in the future.

Also, have her read this article on Odesk about avoiding scams. You should never get paid outside of the Odesk payment system.