Check cashing fraud is rampant and has been very difficult for authorities to curtail. Now that copy machines are more available and print at a higher quality than ever, scam artists have no problem with creating a phony check and copy it. The use of counterfeit checks are seen most often in at-home businesses, on ad sites, and elsewhere through international contact made on the Internet.
It’s not that hard to identify check chasing fraud; for the most part, a con artist will just ask someone to deposit a check for them in their own banking account so that they can forward something through Western Union and get money that way. The scammer may use the sale of an item or service, work at home employment, or rental as their ploy.
Generally, until the check is deposited and the bank dishonors it as counterfeit there is no way to know it is fraudulent and by then the person is usually long gone. Since international funds often get held for a long while, you can deposit a number of checks and withdraw cash without anyone being the wiser until the week or so it takes to verify the check.
Those who defraud others using bank accounts are very creative when it comes to accessing information. Using a money transfer site requires you to enter personal information which can be captured and used for the purposes of making all kinds of counterfeit checks and identification for the purposes of emptying the victim’s account.
As we touched on earlier, these scam artists like to utilize work at home ads to lure their prey. All too often, a con artist requests that the victim deposit a company check from another country, return 90% of it and keep their share. One is even called WalMart, INC., but is not associated with the Walmart stores most have come to know. People often use Craigslist, Gadgets Ltd., and Careerbuilder.com to get access to these victims; if you use these sets, investigate a claim before you move forward.
There are many scams currently going on with check fraud. There are many instances of people being contacted with the promise of money that they’ve either won or inherited, which is part of the scam. They then receive a cashier’s check or money order that’s supposed to be more than their allotted amount of money. All they need to do is return the excess cash through a money transfer, right away.
In check cashing scams what is happening is the scam artists are attempting to get the needed information from a bank in order to clean out the account and, in the meantime, talk the mark into providing cash in exchange for counterfeit checks. cell-registry.com/661/207/
There is an agency known as World Law Direct, who handle cases of international check cashing fraud, so if you fear that you may be a victim of this crime, you may contact this unit, but their response time may be up to several years. Additionally, in the end it is unlikely any funds will be recovered.
