Check scam... how does it work if you don't have a bank account?

My friend got an e-mail saying if he accepted the job, he would be sent a check. His instructions were to send part of that to a "travel agent" to book his travel arrangements, the other part of the check would be his payment for the job. My query... he doesn't have a bank account. Any checks he receives he goes to a local place that will cash any check for a small fee. Had he accepted and cashed the checked, how would he have been penalized later when they discovered the check was fraudulent? I understand how it works when a check has been deposited into an account, but he has no account to deposit anything, therefore no account can be charged when the fraud is discovered. Anybody know?

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/04/2015 04:03AM by RhiaB.

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Your friend needed to provide positive identification before the check would be cashed and that is all that is needed for the check cashing place to come after him for fraud. Personally I would rather deal with a bank ANY day in such a situation than with a check cashing place.

He could also have been arrested for attempting to cash the check.

There are two types of people in this world: Those who can extrapolate from incomplete data.

advise him not to be so gullible next time

Judge Judy had a case where the person doing the scam shop had a friend (ex friend) cash the check. Then the shopper spent the money and refused to recognize she was responsible for paying her friend back.

My posts are solely based on my opinions and for my entertainment, contact a professional if you need real advice.

When you get in debt you become a slave. - Andrew Jackson

I think that the check cashing places are well aware of these scams and would not cash those checks.

Most check cashing places only cash government checks or money orders.

My posts are solely based on my opinions and for my entertainment, contact a professional if you need real advice.

When you get in debt you become a slave. - Andrew Jackson

could you get them cashed at Walmart? eh.

Why would you want to cash a fraudulent check anyway? SCAM SCAM SCAM

@shopper8 wrote:

Why would you want to cash a fraudulent check anyway? SCAM SCAM SCAM

Because if there was a way to cash those checks and get away with it, you'd be scamming the scammer. And have a lot of extra money on top of it. ;-)

No you wouldn't. The scammer doesn't lose anything. You simply defraud the bank.....and they loose....and they tend to not take that well.

I have to wonder if the person who made this post was thinking about cashing the check, and wanted to see what would happen. If I am wrong I am sorry, but I see a lot of people posting about these checks on Facebook too. The post are always about a friend, and never about themselves.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/07/2015 01:24AM by breestjon.

@N-TownShopper wrote:

@shopper8 wrote:

Why would you want to cash a fraudulent check anyway? SCAM SCAM SCAM

Because if there was a way to cash those checks and get away with it, you'd be scamming the scammer. And have a lot of extra money on top of it. ;-)

These checks are fraudulent. Think about it. Let's say someone obtained your routing and account number. As each check hits your account you suffer great loss. You report the fraud to your bank. After about a week your bank restores your funds and reverses any charges you may have incurred with them as your real payments bounced. During that long week you were potentially broke, unable to pay bills, who knows how many late and bounced payment fees you are dealing with now. Yeah, great idea to do that to someone else!!??!!

My posts are solely based on my opinions and for my entertainment, contact a professional if you need real advice.

When you get in debt you become a slave. - Andrew Jackson

@isaiah58 wrote:

@N-TownShopper wrote:

@shopper8 wrote:

Why would you want to cash a fraudulent check anyway? SCAM SCAM SCAM

Because if there was a way to cash those checks and get away with it, you'd be scamming the scammer. And have a lot of extra money on top of it. ;-)

These checks are fraudulent. Think about it. Let's say someone obtained your routing and account number. As each check hits your account you suffer great loss. You report the fraud to your bank. After about a week your bank restores your funds and reverses any charges you may have incurred with them as your real payments bounced. During that long week you were potentially broke, unable to pay bills, who knows how many late and bounced payment fees you are dealing with now. Yeah, great idea to do that to someone else!!??!!

If that person is a professional criminal, yes. It'd be fantastic to do that to them, give them a taste of their own medicine.
But as others have already mentioned above, it can't be done. Please note I said IF there was a way, not that there IS a way and we should all try and figure it out. It was a comment made over a hypothetical situation, not a real one.

Are you serious, "If that person is a professional criminal, yes. It'd be fantastic to do that to them, give them a taste of their own medicine?"
The scammers are not using their own bank accounts to commit this fraud. They are sending out counterfeit checks with routing numbers which may not even be associated with any legitimate business. It might be your checking account number that they randomly choose. There is no way at all to get back at the scammers. The scams involve sending them money by Western Union and even by Bitcoin. They get the money and disappear. Actually, they have never really appeared in any way which can be traced.

@N-TownShopper wrote:

@isaiah58 wrote:

@N-TownShopper wrote:

@shopper8 wrote:

Why would you want to cash a fraudulent check anyway? SCAM SCAM SCAM

Because if there was a way to cash those checks and get away with it, you'd be scamming the scammer. And have a lot of extra money on top of it. ;-)

These checks are fraudulent. Think about it. Let's say someone obtained your routing and account number. As each check hits your account you suffer great loss. You report the fraud to your bank. After about a week your bank restores your funds and reverses any charges you may have incurred with them as your real payments bounced. During that long week you were potentially broke, unable to pay bills, who knows how many late and bounced payment fees you are dealing with now. Yeah, great idea to do that to someone else!!??!!

If that person is a professional criminal, yes. It'd be fantastic to do that to them, give them a taste of their own medicine.
But as others have already mentioned above, it can't be done. Please note I said IF there was a way, not that there IS a way and we should all try and figure it out. It was a comment made over a hypothetical situation, not a real one.

Shopping Southeast Pennsylvania, Delaware above the canal, and South Jersey since 2008

Nope, not me. These scams are popping up more and more, and it got me to thinking that eventually these scams are going to evolve and seem more realistic. And that got me thinking about how we can protect ourselves as they evolve. Any tricks that can help us protect ourselves are valuable and certainly worth sharing.

DO NOT deposit or cash ANY check you suspect to be fraudulent. It is as simple as that.

If you take part in the scam along with the original scammer you might end up in the next cell. Then you would have lots of time to talk and learn all about how to scam others including the scammers. It might be a great education and a start of a new (but illegal) career when you get released.

@isaiah58 wrote:

Judge Judy had a case where the person doing the scam shop had a friend (ex friend) cash the check. Then the shopper spent the money and refused to recognize she was responsible for paying her friend back.

So what did Judy do? You can't leave us hanging.

They judge ruled in the complainants favor. You can probably find a clip of this on YouTube, I have to check.

My posts are solely based on my opinions and for my entertainment, contact a professional if you need real advice.

When you get in debt you become a slave. - Andrew Jackson

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Check scam... how does it work if you don't have a bank account?

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