RSSWhat to Do When Your Are a Winner But They Want You to Pay First
30 Jul 2010 No Comments
in online gambling laws Tags: criminal mastermind, home opportunity, legitimate work from home, new technology
The proliferation of online work-at-home opportunity scams, swindling sweepstakes offers, phony lotteries, and overpayment shopping schemes, which involve wire transfer fraud, is resulting in the lost of millions of dollars and personal financial information from older Americans everyday. And in the case of Earl Walls of Huntington, W.Va., a retired factory worker, his dignity and reputation, as he was arrested and featured as the lead story on the local evening news and in the local paper as the criminal mastermind of a Nigerian wire fraud scam following his participation of what he thought to be a legitimate work from home business opportunity.
After signing on to be an agent for the work at home business opportunity company, Walls received six $500 traveler’s checks with instructions to deposit the checks and wire the funds to another associate. He was paid a 10% commission on each check he processed. the checks were fakes. New technology allow scam artist to produce excellent facsimile documents that could fool a professional. Utilizing the U.S. Expedited Funds Availability Act which limits the hold time U.S. banks can place on checks for amounts less than $5,000, this widespread hoax is duping thousands of unsuspecting American’s everyday…Walls is not alone.
Under the Expedited Funds Availability Act, money from deposited U.S. postal money orders, cashier’s checks, and government checks must be made available to the bank customer by the next business day. Monies from personal and corporate check can be held up to five days. the keyword in this law is “made available.” Funds made available do not mean the deposited checks have cleared and the funds are actually in the depositor’s account. By making the funds available before the instrument has cleared the check is in essence fronting the money to the depositor. Sometimes it can take as long as 7 to 10 days for some checks to clear. Walls followed the instructions, cashed the checks and wired the money to Nigeria via telegram services. the counterfeit checks never cleared.
When Walls returned to his bank a few weeks later with more counterfeit checks the banks management had him arrested for wire fraud. Walls’ is not the only wire fraud hoax victim to be arrested. More banks are exercising this option when the customers are unable to make good on the counterfeit checks because this type of wire fraud scheme is costing them millions of dollars daily. As the bank’s customer, the bank trusts your deposit is legitimate. when you accept a check from another party and deposit it you are attesting that the check is good, otherwise you would not be depositing it.
The bait in the wire fraud hoax is always the same; you receive a check generally for less than $5,000 and are given instructions similar to those provided to Walls, deposit the money in your account and quickly forward all or part of the amount to another party either by wire transfer or your own personal check. it is the quick turnaround to gain access to the money before the banks discover the deposited checks are fake the scammers are depending on.
To protect yourself from becoming a victim of this type of wire fraud hoax; if you receive a questionable check in the mail, contact your local postal inspection service or the better Business Bureau to check out the companies credentials.
Be suspicious of purported cashier’s or government checks that arrive unexpected with request to cash and forward funds. these types of checks require the shortest hold time and are the type of forgeries most commonly used in the wire fraud hoax schemes.
Do not assume the checks you have deposited into your account have been cleared until your bank insures you the “funds have been collected.” Remember “funds are available” does not mean the check has cleared.
If you sell an item online and the purchaser sends you a payment for a sum substantially more then the sales price with instructions to cash the check and wire the difference back to them, assume the check is bogus.
Avoid responding to “call this number for an explanation why your received this check letters.” the scammers generally use disposal cell phone numbers to avoid detection.
Throw away checks you receive claiming you are the winner of a lottery or sweepstakes but require you pay a processing or handling fee to collect your prize.
Most legitimate companies will not solicit you with an offer involving a check and a request for a wire transfer of funds. Protect yourself, your reputation, and you finances by never responding to these types of offers. Don’t be duped by a phony check scheme. you could end up like Earl Walls, the talk of the town.
What to Do When Your Are a Winner But They Want You to Pay First
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