Cashing checks for a "friend"

[seamusTX]

This actually happened to someone that I know last week. Names have been changed to protect the innocent.

"Otis" asked his friend "Joe" to deposit a check to Joe's bank account and write checks to several other people. The amounts were in the thousands of dollars. Otis had a song and dance about why he didn't have a bank account, and he didn't want to pay the fees at a check-cashing place. Joe did what Otis asked.

This kind of transaction was repeated a couple of times.

Joe, much to his surprise, got a visit from the police, who arrested him for felony theft. Otis had been running a scam.

Now Joe has to hire a lawyer and try to prove that he did not know what was going on and he did not profit from these dealings.

I try to be prudent, cautious, paranoid, or whatever; but I never imagined this kind of hazard.

- Jim

[Oldgringo]

...friend/s without a bank account...?

[Excaliber]

This actually happened to someone that I know last week. Names have been changed to protect the innocent.

"Otis" asked his friend "Joe" to deposit a check to Joe's bank account and write checks to several other people. The amounts were in the thousands of dollars. Otis had a song and dance about why he didn't have a bank account, and he didn't want to pay the fees at a check-cashing place. Joe did what Otis asked.

This kind of transaction was repeated a couple of times.

Joe, much to his surprise, got a visit from the police, who arrested him for felony theft. Otis had been running a scam.

Now Joe has to hire a lawyer and try to prove that he did not know what was going on and he did not profit from these dealings.

I try to be prudent, cautious, paranoid, or whatever; but I never imagined this kind of hazard.

- Jim

Joe was either extraordinarily gullible or he knew more than he professes to at this point.

There are lots of variations of this. Simple rule of thumb: "I don't have a bank account because...." + request you
do something with your money = SCAM.

Another common bank related one is the "bank examiner" scam. This one is always run by strangers.

[seamusTX]

Joe was either extraordinarily gullible or he knew more than he professes to at this point.

I don't know about extraordinarily gullible. Some people go out of their way to please others. I used to have that tendency, but I was cured of it without getting in this much trouble.

Look how many supposedly smart people Bernie Madoff ripped off. He is only the latest and biggest scam artist.

Otis had credible explanations about why he was getting these large checks. He was a construction contractor and supposedly paying his suppliers and subcontractors. The problem was that he would take the initial payment, do a token amount of work, and then stop.

- Jim

[bryang]

It is terrible that we live in a time where we can not trust anyone. I use to be very gullible when it came to trusting people, however, I learned, the hard way, a long time ago to question everything and everyone. I don't like having to be that way, but to survive in this kind of world...be very careful who you trust.

-geo

[apostate]

Joe was either extraordinarily gullible or he knew more than he professes to at this point.

I don't know about extraordinarily gullible. Some people go out of their way to please others. I used to have that tendency, but I was cured of it without getting in this much trouble.

Look how many supposedly smart people Bernie Madoff ripped off. He is only the latest and biggest scam artist.

Bernie Madoff scammed people who were trying to get rich(er) quicker than mainstream investments allowed. (That's not a moral judgment - merely commentary on how/why they were ensnared by his confidence game.)

[seamusTX]

I would like to think that if someone offered me a 25% annual return on an investment, I would know better. But if you read interviews with people who fell for these schemes, you can see how they work. The scam artist initially gets some people into the scam who have credibility in the community and a large audience. Smaller-scale scam artists often put pastors into that role. That person then draws in other people who think he is acting in good faith (which he is, in his own mind).

Madoff succeeded by duping some well-known investment advisers and other prominent people.

- Jim

[Excaliber]

I would like to think that if someone offered me a 25% annual return on an investment, I would know better. But if you read interviews with people who fell for these schemes, you can see how they work. The scam artist initially gets some people into the scam who have credibility in the community and a large audience. Smaller-scale scam artists often put pastors into that role. That person then draws in other people who think he is acting in good faith (which he is, in his own mind).

Madoff succeeded by duping some well-known investment advisers and other prominent people.

- Jim

Very true. Hijacking the credibility of others is a proven way to minimize suspicion and grow a scam quickly.

[bdickens]

What's the saying? "You can't cheat an honest man."

He's a large contractor and his company doesn't have a bank account? *sniff* *sniff* You smell something? Got to be more to the story.

[seamusTX]

He wasn't a large contractor. He was supposedly working on three or four jobs at a time. That is not unusual around here (remember, half the city is under construction).

Quite a few people don't have bank accounts. Most of the time, it's because they have such a bad credit history that no bank will let them open an account. If they owe money to the government, and they open a bank account, the government will seize it. (Then there are illegal immigrants who don't have valid IDs, but that was not the case here.)

As I mentioned earlier, I have been scammed small-time by "friends" and relatives. They come to you with a hard-to-believe sob story, but you're in a tight spot where you either have to lend them money or tell them they're a liar and end the relationship.

- Jim

[3dfxMM]

Quite a few people don't have bank accounts. Most of the time, it's because they have such a bad credit history that no bank will let them open an account. If they owe money to the government, and they open a bank account, the government will seize it. (Then there are illegal immigrants who don't have valid IDs, but that was not the case here.)

These are all pretty good reasons to not let them use your bank account, either.

[seamusTX]

You are right, and I learned that the hard way myself. The problem is that most of us have a quality called empathy. We want to help people and we are willing to accept their version of events. For example, many people blame their money problems on a bitter divorce or long-term unemployment, both of which are real phenomena these days.

- Jim

[Fangs]

Yeah, I've learned this lesson too. The hard way because it was a really good friend who had helped me out a lot in the past. He was going through a divorce after a debilitating injury that left him jobless.

Kinda glad I learned this lesson early on and will never have to learn it again. For all my help he's worse off, telling him no would have done us both a favor.

[bdickens]

He wasn't a large contractor. He was supposedly working on three or four jobs at a time. That is not unusual around here (remember, half the city is under construction).

- Jim

Okay, so he's a small contractor and his company doesn't have a bank account? *sniff* *sniff* You smell something? Got to be more to the story.

What's that saying? "You can't cheat an honest man."

[seamusTX]

I'm disappointed with this blame-the-victim mentality.

Maybe I didn't make this clear: "Joe" did not gain anything from this episode. He didn't keep any of the money, and he didn't lose any of his own.

Maybe some of you too smart to get involved in something like this, but some of us need to be reminded periodically.

- Jim