Cashing checks for a "friend"

[Liberty]

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

There is a small movement lately about going Galt, It refers to producers (the wealthy) going off line. Cashing out and storing money(gold) in their mattresses and going off line, to proptect themselves from the socialist. no records no banks and records does have an appeal... I would consider it myself, but there isn't much left to stuff into a mattress anymore.

[seamusTX]

I don't think you can get off the grid and have a normal upper-middle-class lifestyle. If you own property, you have to pay taxes, and the IRS can demand to know where you got the money to do so. You also can't pay more than $10,000 for anything without getting a knock on your door. Merely possessing more than $10,000 cash make you presumed to be a criminal. Plus, any sizeable batch of bills is going to have some traces of drugs on it.

Gold is really inconvenient. A gold coin the size of a nickel (1/4 ounce) is worth over $200. How do you make change?

You're pretty much limited to subsistence farming and barter if you want to avoid problems with cash.

Of course you know the prophecy in Revelation of everyone having to be tattooed with the number of the beast so that they could buy or sell. That could realistically be done with microchips now. I don't think that is going to happen in the U.S. in the foreseeable future, but it's something to think about.

- Jim

[Captain Matt]

Of course you know the prophecy in Revelation of everyone having to be tattooed with the number of the beast so that they could buy or sell.

It's nearly impossible to work legally without a SSN, not to mention getting a driving, hunting or concealed handgun license.

[seamusTX]

It's nearly impossible to work legally without a SSN, ...

That doesn't stop a lot of people from doing it.

Ted Kaczynski, the Unabomber, was a good illustration of how to do this, if someone wants to try. He rode a bicycle. He lived in a shack on public property. He worked odd jobs in exchange for goods rather than money. He spent about a dozen years living that way.

It isn't the way I want to live. For one thing, I value health insurance.

- Jim

[Captain Matt]

It also doesn't stop illegals from working illegally. So what good is the bureaucracy?

[Liberty]

I don't think you can get off the grid and have a normal upper-middle-class lifestyle. If you own property, you have to pay taxes, and the IRS can demand to know where you got the money to do so. You also can't pay more than $10,000 for anything without getting a knock on your door. Merely possessing more than $10,000 cash make you presumed to be a criminal. Plus, any sizeable batch of bills is going to have some traces of drugs on it.

Gold is really inconvenient. A gold coin the size of a nickel (1/4 ounce) is worth over $200. How do you make change?

You're pretty much limited to subsistence farming and barter if you want to avoid problems with cash.

Of course you know the prophecy in Revelation of everyone having to be tattooed with the number of the beast so that they could buy or sell. That could realistically be done with microchips now. I don't think that is going to happen in the U.S. in the foreseeable future, but it's something to think about.

- Jim

I agree it is only for the dedicated. the gold is easy, you sell it off in weekly or monthly paycheck amounts. one can rent or even squat in the rural country side. I knew a guy who moved cabin to cabin in the hills of California of all places lived like that for over a year. The main purpose of those going Galt, is just to cash out and enjoy the good life. Avoiding banks is just a privacy thing.

I had a friend who freaked out when he found out we using chips in the company ID to allow employees to clock out or gain access to things like stock rooms. He works somewhere else now.

[ClarkLZeuss]

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

That was a really good article which made an excellent point into why ordinary, smart people are duped by scam artists:

Con artists control their victims by frightening them—saying they are losing money to a dishonest teller, and then offering them a "solution" by promising to replace the lost money. By moving quickly through this process, they can often keep their potential victims so distracted that they will be unable to think clearly enough to see just how absurd a scheme this is. Some victims have reported that they felt almost hypnotized as they became more and more involved.

[seamusTX]

"Joe" was no-billed this week for lack of evidence.

- Jim

[marktx]

I don't think there's anyone else to blame but the victim. This guy must have had money coming out of his ears to do that.

[seamusTX]

I don't think there's anyone else to blame but the victim. This guy must have had money coming out of his ears to do that.

I have no idea what you are trying to communicate.

- Jim

[marktx]

In other words anyone who would write checks to pay a "so called friends" debt, withno bank account is gulliable to say the least.

[boomerang]

It's good to know "Joe" was able to avoid additional legal troubles. I hope he takes it to heart and starts using a better sniff test before he's conned out of his life savings.

[Eddie2612]

Scams like this have been going on for years (the Nigerian check cashing scam = same thing, different twist).. that's to bad..

I would never sign a check, deposit a check, write checks for any "friend"... I hate to sound harsh but that is not my responsibility.. if my "friend" had screwed up and was no longer eligible to have a checking account - he is going to have to "pay the price" for the inconvienience of not having an account.. I've had friends ask me for things that I didn't agree with - I just let them know that while I appreciate the circumstances that they are dealing with - Im unable to "assist" because they are going to pay the price for earlier actions that have resulted in the current situation..

[Liberty]

Scams like this have been going on for years (the Nigerian check cashing scam = same thing, different twist).. that's to bad..

I would never sign a check, deposit a check, write checks for any "friend"... I hate to sound harsh but that is not my responsibility.. if my "friend" had screwed up and was no longer eligible to have a checking account - he is going to have to "pay the price" for the inconvienience of not having an account.. I've had friends ask me for things that I didn't agree with - I just let them know that while I appreciate the circumstances that they are dealing with - Im unable to "assist" because they are going to pay the price for earlier actions that have resulted in the current situation..

I'm glad that not everyone feels that way.
I was once in the position of moving back to my home town. Although I had a promised job, I had no local bank accounts, no home yet. a 3 month old baby, and some checks to cash. Fortunately I had friend sand family that helped while I got established again in civilian society. Reestablishing oneself in the 70s from the military was a fairly tough experiance. Those who had supportive and helpful friends and family found it a little easier. It probably isn't any easier today.

Seems as though its worth taking a chance sometimes on our friends and family members. Sometimes we have to weigh the good we can do against the bad that exists.