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 Post subject: Scared, Frustrated, Worried - At end of my rope!!! HELP!
PostPosted: Thu Jan 04, 2007 3:42 am 
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Joined: Thu Jan 04, 2007 3:02 am
Posts: 6
Location: Miami, FL
Has anyone had a counterfeit check problem work out ok in the end?
Mine was not of the Nigerian or Careerbuilder scam variety - it was a check written to my business for $500,000 (yes that's right - half a million) that I was supposed to then distribute to various parties.
After waiting 10 business days for the check to "clear" (which I've now found out is total baloney from the bank), I distributed the funds as ordered. I did this on October 2, 2006 and didn't find out about the "altered check" until Dec. 28th 2006!!!!! Now my business and personal accounts are all frozen. Paychecks, incoming payments, etc. - They're all going towards this $500,000 negative balance!!!! I make app. 40k a year, have about 40k in credit card debt (which I now can no longer pay due to frozen account)... It would take me the rest of my life and my grandchildren's lives to pay back half a million dollars.

The Bank of America securities dept. claims the check was "obviously" altered - which makes me wonder - WHY DID THEY ACCEPT IT?!?!?! To make matters worse, one of the disbursements was a check made to cash (stupid, I know - but I truly trusted the person that brought me this business) and because they've said they'll help me out if I could get their accounts unfrozen, I wasn't completely honest with the Bank of America investigator who called (a decision that I now seriously regret because I'm truly worried I'll look like the criminal instead of the victim).

QUESTIONS - CRIES FOR HELP:
1. Does anyone know a really good attorney in FL - or know a lawyer in another state that may be able to recommend one?
2. How can I avoid criminal charges? Bank of America keeps saying threatening things like "that's a lot of money - big lifestyle change - do you own a boat? - made any big purchases lately?" Can they do this? It all leads back to me in the end because it all came from my account. I'm hoping my business partner will verify that I got the check from someone else - but now I'm worried that it's just heresay (the check writer is allegedly somewhere in mexico - I'm just so sure he'll fess up to it - fat chance).
3. Is there anything I can do about my paychecks and other incoming payments? If I have them sent to a family member's account instead of my own - does that put them at risk? (these are not personal checks from me - but rather payroll checks from my employer or invoice checks from my clients' companies).
3. Do I have any rights to demand to see a certified copy (or the original) of this check that was "so obviously" faked?
4. Is declaring bankruptcy the only recourse I have here? If I declare bankruptcy, will the bank try to take all my possessions? What about my boyfriend who I cohabit with - how can we make sure they don't take his stuff and say they think it's mine. (He doesn't have receipts verifying every little thing he purchased - how can he prove what's his?)

I'M SO SCARED... I'VE BEEN CRYING FOR 2 STRAIGHT DAYS... I HAVEN'T SLEPT IN 3.... ANYONE.... ANYONE... ANYONE WHO HAS EVEN THE SLIGHTEST BIT OF INSIGHT ON ANY OF THIS WOULD BECOME MY OWN PERSONAL HERO.


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 Post subject:
PostPosted: Thu Jan 04, 2007 7:19 am 
First, did you keep any of the money for personal enrichment?

Second, what were the exact cirumstances of the transaction, where did you come across this scammer, how did you disburse the money?


Third, open a new bank account right now before they issue a ChexSystems alert on your account and you.

Fourth, the bank may not have the original check you deposited, was it a foreign check? With the onset of Check 21, original check returns are dying quickly.


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 Post subject:
PostPosted: Thu Jan 04, 2007 10:31 am 
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Joined: Thu Jan 04, 2007 3:02 am
Posts: 6
Location: Miami, FL
1. I didn't keep any of the money for personal enrichment - although there was still approximately $10k that had yet to be disbursed.

2. The details are:
A business acquantaince (let's call him Jim) I have known for some time and done business with in the past said he had a foreign client who was interested in purchasing an airplane (I work in aviation - hence the large $ amounts involved). They needed someone who could broker the deal (find the plane, coordinate getting it here, etc.). I agreed with the understanding that there would likely be more business for this client in the future. My business acquaintance, Jim said that their client (let's call him Bob) would send me a check for all the costs associated with the plane as well as funds to be disbursed to the companies handling the flight crew, ground crew, etc - which Bob had already procured himself but just needed to pay. Since I was going to have the specific details about the aircraft, this made perfect sense to me - if anyone of Bob's contacts needed to get information about the aircraft, I'd be the one that knew the most. So I didn't bat an eye at sending funds on Bob's behalf.
I received a check from Bob's "alleged" company in Mexico (yes it was a foreign check). I went to my bank (Bank of America) and deposited it. Nothing about the check seemed out of the ordinary to me. Because such large sums of money were involved... I waited 10 business days for the check to "clear." Then, I started sending out the money as outlined by Jim.

Some of the money went to Jim as a comission on the aircraft sale. 2 large 100,000+ sums went to accounts Jim provided to me. Some of the money (app. 70k) was a check written to cash that Jim said was needed to pay out-of-pocket costs like fuel, maintenance, etc. (again - nothing out of the ordinary here). After all was said and done - there was $10,000 left from the original check, plus approximately $14,000 of my own money in the account, plus another $6k or so in my personal checking account. (Note - the 14k and 6k had nothing to do with Jim and Bob's deal - yet Bank of America has seized those funds as well).

Jim's accounts with Bank of America have been frozen as well, but since he has further business with Bob in the amount of $1 million - he wanted to get that money - pay what I am now on the hook for and consider us even. So when we spoke to the Bank of America Securities person together, he and I tried to make it clear that Jim was out of the loop on this, in an effort to get his accounts unfrozen so he could pay me the amount that's owed and make this whole thing go away. This is a mistake I now deeply regret because now the facts don't add up - and I must certainly look like a willing participant in the scam.

Bank of America says the check is an obvious "altered" or "washed check". If what you say is true, and an actual copy of the check doesn't exist, how does this investigator get away with saying it's such an "obvious" fake? And further, if it's such an obvious fake, why didn't they adhere to the guidelines in my customer agreement that says they may hold/not clear funds indefinitely in the case that the deposit is over $5000 and/or they have reason to believe it won't be honored. An "obvious" fake certainly seems like it fits those criteria doesn't it?
Have they exercised the "ordinary care" that I've been reading so much about? I understand they're in a predicament as well - but why is the first reaction to become my adversary instead of an advocate on my behalf as one of their customers? I get that they can't afford to put their necks out for every customer because some people are indeed crooks... but just a little common sense would show them that putting myself at risk for $500,000 is ludicrous. Even if they thought that last $10,000 I was keeping for myself, does it make sense that I'd put myself at risk for felony charges and an astronomical amount of money for such a relatively small percentage in return?

Given the large amounts involved, and what I'm sure Bank of America is eager to prosecute... I'm really worried about opening another account with any bank in my own name. I need money to live - pay rent (i live in a SMALL apt.), pay utilities, buy food, etc. I would more than willingly trust my incoming monies to a family member (not a spouse) who has volunteered to pay bills on my behalf while my accounts are frozen. But before I do this, I want to make sure that this in no way implicates the family member. I want to limit the fallout here as much as possible. I don't want yet another account in my name at another bank frozen and I definitely don't want a family member to have their accounts frozen for receiving monies originally intended for me. It just couldn't get any worse if that happened on top of everything else.

What can I do?


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 Post subject:
PostPosted: Thu Jan 04, 2007 3:42 pm 
You said Jim is out of it............why doesn't he make you whole.


Somebody in this deal is a scammer, you need to identify that person.



BofA held all your money because you owe them some serious money.

How did the check look to you, did it look altered? The check is from what country?


Good luck


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 Post subject:
PostPosted: Thu Jan 04, 2007 3:53 pm 
Where did the two 100,000 transactions go, did you wire the money?

You received $500,000, you sent out $200,000 plus $70,000 for miscellaneous, plus Jim's commission which had to be farily sizable, plus you got 10 grand left.

How much did the plane cost? You have already outlayed over half the money, and have not payed for the plane yet.

This thing sounds bad, I am sure that is what Bof A is thinking also.


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 Post subject: Re: Scared, Frustrated, Worried - At end of my rope!!! HELP!
PostPosted: Fri Jan 05, 2007 8:39 pm 
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Site Admin/Co-Founder

Joined: Mon Mar 31, 2003 10:09 pm
Posts: 2921
pixiness77 wrote:
1. Does anyone know a really good attorney in FL - or know a lawyer in another state that may be able to recommend one?
.


I have some names that I will send you privately

Quote:
2. How can I avoid criminal charges? Bank of America keeps saying threatening things like "that's a lot of money - big lifestyle change - do you own a boat? - made any big purchases lately?" Can they do this? It all leads back to me in the end because it all came from my account. I'm hoping my business partner will verify that I got the check from someone else - but now I'm worried that it's just heresay (the check writer is allegedly somewhere in mexico - I'm just so sure he'll fess up to it - fat chance).


Yes, the bank can press criminal charges, so that is another reason you need a lawyer. Have you contacted the Attorney General's office?

Quote:
3. Is there anything I can do about my paychecks and other incoming payments? If I have them sent to a family member's account instead of my own - does that put them at risk? (these are not personal checks from me - but rather payroll checks from my employer or invoice checks from my clients' companies).


I would stop all direct deposits NOW! Either get a new account at a different bank or if a family memeber is willing to help you out and use their account that might work too . . . you are going to at least need money to live off of.

You said this was a business deal and that you knew the person . . . for how long have you known them and how many other transactions have you done with them? Are they in the US or are they over seas? I have heard of some scammers baiting their victims by actually going through with smooth transactions for a while to gain their trust and then once they have that trust they hit them for a really big amount. That could be what happened to you here.

I would also suggest contacting the local media. I have seen media attention help a victim's case.

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 Post subject:
PostPosted: Wed Jan 17, 2007 11:23 am 
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Joined: Thu Jan 04, 2007 3:02 am
Posts: 6
Location: Miami, FL
armac wrote:
You said Jim is out of it............why doesn't he make you whole.

After Bank of America froze all of my accounts, Jim was the only one in a position to help me out financially. Bank of America was willing to "unfreeze" his accounts if they felt like Jim wasn't the one that "passed the bad check" - so weeks ago when this all started, we said I received the check directly from Bob. In reality - Jim received this check and then gave it to me. Jim has been keeping my business and family afloat during this time, because he feels terrible about the deal. If I want that to continue, I really can't gamble with Jim's accounts being frozen.

armac wrote:
Somebody in this deal is a scammer, you need to identify that person.

We're well aware of that fact... But it's not like people just fess up to things like this. Jim says he got a bad check from Bob, Bob says he got it from this company in Mexico, nobody knows what the company in Mexico is saying because evidently it's impossible to pressure them from outside the country.

armac wrote:
BofA held all your money because you owe them some serious money.

Yes, I think we all understand that. Nobody just ignores half a million dollars. But by the same token - you'd think that the bank - the ones most qualified and experienced in identifying fraudulent checks would maybe take a second, third or even fourth glance at such a large sum before "clearing" the funds.

armac wrote:
How did the check look to you, did it look altered? The check is from what country?

The check looked like an everyday normal check. It didn't look altered. It was printed on an inkjet printer (no handwritting except a signature). And it was from someone I trusted. So, I didn't inspect it under a black light and dust it for fingerprints and whatnot. I didn't think I needed to. I thought that by depositing the check - and waiting for the funds to "clear" I was being as cautious as was necessary.


Good luck


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 Post subject:
PostPosted: Wed Jan 17, 2007 11:43 am 
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Joined: Thu Jan 04, 2007 3:02 am
Posts: 6
Location: Miami, FL
armac wrote:
Where did the two 100,000 transactions go, did you wire the money?

I don't know who the "end users" were in either of those transactions - they were account numbers supplied to me by Jim that he in turn was supplied by Bob.

armac wrote:
You received $500,000, you sent out $200,000 plus $70,000 for miscellaneous, plus Jim's commission which had to be farily sizable, plus you got 10 grand left.

How much did the plane cost? You have already outlayed over half the money, and have not payed for the plane yet.


The plane was purchased in a separate transaction - which has cleared without incident. Bob wired the money to me, I sent it to the appropriate people - plane arrived - all was well. We've double checked this transaction to make sure no "pending" incidents could happen here. Everyone all around says all is clear. (Probably because it was a wire transfer as opposed to a check). The $500,000 Bob sent was for all the other expenses involved with the aircraft (fuel, ground crew, flight crew, maintenance crew, security personnel, permits, etc. - they're all pretty expensive and add up fast). Bob said he had "arranged" for all of these things and would let me (and Jim) know where the money needed to go. He asked us to handle the transactions because we knew the specifics about the aircraft and if it needed one more or one less ground crew person than he had planned for, we could adjust what was being paid. Yes - Jim's commission was sizable - around $150,000 (pretty standard for a deal on a multi-million-dollar 757). As for the other two payments they were like $130,000 and $140,000 (give or take a couple thousand)

[
Of course it sounds bad - I'm a middle man that doesn't know half of what I should. There's like 4 people all involved in this, and each party only knows part of the big picture. I can truly understand why Bank of America is concerned - it's $500,000. But they seem to have absolutely NO interest in getting to the bottom of it. They seem perfectly content to sit back on their "depositors agreement" and say " sorry, your fault... I know we're probably the best ones to identify these things before they become problems, but we'd really rather not because that would mean doing work."

At this point, I'm so MAD at Bank of America for not acting as my advocate in any of this. They're MY bank. I've been their customer for 20 years. Why aren't they doing anything to find out about who actually altered the check? Why aren't they trying to contact the company who sent the check in the first place? Why are they continuing to be lazy bastards instead of doing the right thing?

I have yet to find anyone (at Bank of America or otherwise) that can give me a reasonable explanation to any of those questions. The only thing I get is a run-around that it's "not their responsibility" which to me only says "we're too lazy to do the right thing, we'd rather victimize whoever's most convenient, and for us - that's you - our account holder. Sure, we could use our huge influence and resources to lean on the people actually responsible, but we don't really want to do that - it requires more work."


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 Post subject:
PostPosted: Wed Jan 17, 2007 12:39 pm 
The reason they are coming to you is that they have a signed depositor's agreement with you, not with anybody else in question.


You need to bond with that BOA investigator and see if they can help you out. You also need to be completely honest with them, they are your last hope.


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