ScamVictimsUnited.com
http://www.scamvictimsunited.com/phpBB2/

Question
http://www.scamvictimsunited.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=2658		 Page 2 of 2
Author:  Zeldar [ Tue Nov 20, 2007 6:46 pm ]
Post subject: 
I know our tellers are trained also not to say that the check has been verified cleared, but to say that the funds are available. I would love to see Reg CC changed also. Reg CC came into being because people didn't like the holds placed on their deposited checks because they wanted their money available sooner. Some financial institutions did place super long holds on checks which did cause hardship for people, but I think that Reg CC shortened the time limit to much.

Where I work we do have machines that we scan large dollar checks through (anything over $2500) to see if they are valid. Even then though it may not pick up that the check is invalid because the other institutions have to report to the system. We have caught quite a few checks with it to make it worth the investment.

One time I was on the phone with a member for over an hour because she had given her account info to a scammer in Nigeria. I finally convinced her to close that account and open a new, but at the end of the phone call she asked me if I would still post the million dollar wire that was coming from Nigeria (even after lengthy explainations that it was a scam) to her new account. :shock:

EDUCATION is the KEY
Author:  admin [ Tue Nov 20, 2007 8:38 pm ]
Post subject: 
I am REALLY glad that we have some people here who work in the bank industry. It really helps us to understand each other better, and that can only help to make things better.

To both Zeldar and reverse . . .

Would it be possible to train tellers/bank employees to tell a customer who asks "When will this check clear?" that the only way to verify that a check has cleared is to contact the bank of issue?
Author:  ximora [ Tue Nov 20, 2007 10:42 pm ]
Post subject: 
Quote:
What it all boils down to is that Reg CC makes money available far too fast for anything to be returned. Contact your elected officials and make them aware their law has been used to steal thousands of dollars from innocent people.


Bingo! I coudn't have said it any better than that! That is exactly what needs to be done to stop it! Maybe it's time for the president to appoint a committee of some sort to figure out exactly what changes need to be made and then implement them because the way it is now, these scams are out of control and unless something drastic is done, it's not going to change any time soon. Maybe we need to start a petition???
Author:  Zeldar [ Wed Nov 21, 2007 9:06 am ]
Post subject: 
admin wrote:
Would it be possible to train tellers/bank employees to tell a customer who asks "When will this check clear?" that the only way to verify that a check has cleared is to contact the bank of issue?


I will check with the training department where I work and make sure they tell customers that funds may be available but we cannot verify. This is because of BSA (Bank Secrecy Act) that banks/cu's cannot give out customer information at all.

I will also be talking with my boss who is in senior management about some of the things I have learned here from a customer's point of view on this and maybe we can come up with better ways to educate our members.

I may not be able to make changes on a major scale, but most things start small. :D
Author:  admin [ Fri Nov 23, 2007 10:35 am ]
Post subject: 
Thanks Zeldar

This is how I look at it . . . if one place can make small changes that help people out, then maybe we can use that as an example to get MORE places to make those same changes . . . and that could lead to bigger changes.
Author:  reverse [ Fri Nov 23, 2007 12:43 pm ]
Post subject: 
BSA has no bearing on giving out information on an account. There are privacy issues, but that has nothing to do with BSA.
Author:  Zeldar [ Fri Nov 23, 2007 1:03 pm ]
Post subject: 
reverse wrote:
BSA has no bearing on giving out information on an account. There are privacy issues, but that has nothing to do with BSA.


Then how come everytime we do call to verify a check with a bank they claim they can't give out the information because of BSA. The privacy issues are tied in with BSA.
Author:  ximora [ Fri Nov 23, 2007 4:08 pm ]
Post subject: 
Reverse may be on to something here as I just found this online:

According to the FDIC;

Regulation CC: Bankers expressed increasing frustration with fraudulent cashier's check losses and the inability to obtain confirmations from issuing banks because of privacy concerns. Interagency Guidance on Financial Privacy includes a Q&A relating to checks drawn on individual accounts, which also applies to this topic of cashier's checks. According to a Division of Supervision and Consumer Protection policy analyst, Basically, banks are allowed to verify funds on checks without violating privacy regulations. The disclosing bank should simply take steps to make sure that they're not being phished." The Q&A can be found in its entirety at http://www.fdic.gov/news/news/press/2001/pr9301a.html#I.

According to the above, BSA shouldn't be an issue when your bank is calling another to verify a check.
Author:  reverse [ Fri Nov 23, 2007 4:30 pm ]
Post subject: 
Zeldar wrote:
reverse wrote:
BSA has no bearing on giving out information on an account. There are privacy issues, but that has nothing to do with BSA.


Then how come everytime we do call to verify a check with a bank they claim they can't give out the information because of BSA. The privacy issues are tied in with BSA.


I am a BSA officer, you are talking Consumer Privacy laws, here is the BSA in a nutshell:

The Bank Secrecy Act of 1970 (or BSA, or otherwise known as the Currency and Foreign Transactions Reporting Act) requires U.S.A. financial institutions to assist U.S. government agencies to detect and prevent money laundering. Specifically, the act requires financial institutions to keep records of cash purchases of negotiable instruments, file reports of cash transactions exceeding $10,000 (daily aggregate amount), and to report suspicious activity that might signify money laundering, tax evasion, or other criminal activities. It was passed by the Congress of the United States in 1970. The BSA is sometimes referred to as an "anti-money laundering" law ("AML") or jointly as “BSA/AML”. Several anti-money laundering acts, including provisions in title III of the USA PATRIOT Act, have been enacted up to the present to amend the BSA.


BSA looks for money laundering and terrorist financing.
Author:  admin [ Sat Nov 24, 2007 10:18 am ]
Post subject: 
It would be really nice if we could put together a sort of "form letter" that points out the parts of the laws that HELP make these scams easier for the scammers to pull off, and our suggestions on how to alter/change them. Then everyone could just send that letter to their congress person in their state.
Page 2 of 2 All times are UTC - 6 hours [ DST ]
Powered by phpBB® Forum Software © phpBB Group
http://www.phpbb.com/