A 'company' just sent me Travelers cheques, 2grand. I think they are fake and wont cash them. What do I do?

Question

All I did was email my home address thinking they would send me a extensive application for a accounting position with their firm. Nope, they sent me 2 grand in travelers cheques and instructions to cash them, keep 10% and moneygram the rest to two addresses they provided, which are in Nigeria? Not only was the mail I recieved unexpected in nature, the cheques themselves I'm positive are fake. What do I do?

Thank-you all for quick response, I did call the police and was confirmed it was a scam, like I thought. The strange part is that I gave nothing but my home address, and recieved 2 grand in these so called 'cheques' from an address in Illinois?. The officer advised I shred them. I wonder though... should i have the bank look at them and let American Express loose on those fools?

Answer 1

Yep, this is a scam. Here is my normal answer when I hear this. In your case I will add a little more at the end.


It is a scam.

Ok, here are the details. They send out those emails to millions of people at once. In the email, does it actually use your real name? Odds are it does not. These guys send them out to millions because it does not cost them anything to do it. Maybe 100 people will respond. That is a response rate of .01%. However, since it costs nothing for them to send the emails, it will be worth it. They convince 10% of those people to go with the scam and get 10 people to fall for it. Those 10 people will each pay a few thousand and the scammer walks away with maybe $30,000. Not bad for a weeks work.

The scam works in different ways.

#1. They tell you that you need to pay an upfront fee before you can get your money. Maybe it is for taxes or fees or processing or something. They may even tell you it is for bribes because you are not technically supposed to win even though your name was drawn. They take the money and run.

#2. They tell you that they will send you a check and that you need to cash it and send them back all or part of it. You will be sending to them a few thousand dollars. They will want it wired to them. Once again, it will be for fees, taxes, and/or bribes. You do as told and deposit the check. A few days later the bank makes the money available to you and then you send off the money. A few days after that, the bank informs you that the check was bad and that you need to give them the money back. But you just sent it to these raffle guys. You see, the bank is required by law to make the money available to you after a certain number of days even if the check has not cleared. You are stuck owing the money.

#3. The scammers want your bank information so that they can put the money into your account. They get you to give them everything they need to empty your account. They may even then try to use your account for other illegal deeds that they are committing. When the police come looking for the bad guys for those deeds, they come to your door. You will probably not be arrested because they will probably understand, but this is still a big headache to deal with.

#4. They want your personal information. They need your SSN, birthdate, mother's maiden name, and all of that good information that will be needed to steal your ID. Then guess what they do. They steal your ID. It does not stop there. They turn around and sell all of the information needed to steal your ID to people around the globe.

#5. Any combination of all of the above. Why stick with only one trick? Do them all and be pulling money in from all angles.

You are best off to ignore these guys. There are some people out there who like to respond to them and waste the scammer's time. I would not suggest this. You don't want to slip up and accidentally give them some information that they can use.


In your case, I would go to the bank and explain the situation to them. You may also want to call the police and tell them what is going on. I cannot guarantee that you will find someone who wants to investigate it but you never can tell. In any event, cease all contact with these people and do not give them any more information about yourself. Think carefully, have you given them any information about your ID that they can use to steal it. SSN, birthday, mother's maiden name, stuff like that? If so, let the manager at the bank know about this as well and get some advice. You may have to put a hold on your credit. Some states allow that and others only allow it with a police report. Here is a site with some information about that.
http://www.bankrate.com/brm/news/credit-management/20070925_credit_freeze_bureau_a1.asp

Answer 2

kudos to first respondent above -- and one correction.

it takes the banking system weeks to months, not days, to figure out that these cashier's checks or traveler's checks are bogus. only then do you get the bad news.

so what happens to the unwary? they hold the funds from the first check for a week or so -- the length of time the bank says until the money is collected plus a day or three, then they moneygram or wire 90% of the funds on to whereever [doesn't have to be Nigeria -- Lower Slobovia works just as well].

As soon as you do that, you get another check in the mail for them with same instructions. So you do it again, same way.

Then they increase the frequency to twice a week, then three times. you'll get a congratulations and thanks email for acting as their agent so successfully.

The first one won't come back until you've done this 10 or 15 or even 30 times -- they keep increasing the frequency now that you've proved yourself 'honest' [proved you're gullible].

when the first one comes back, it isn't the end of the world; they tell you they'll handle that account differently and to take the money for it from the next remittance you're going to send them for the good ones you're currently working on.

The light will dawn when you get 3 or 5 back all at once and there isn't enough money and the bank actually looks at what you've been doing and tells you you've been scammed and closes your account.

by then, you could well have 50 of these out there that you are responsible for.


The total loss will be 50 times 90% times 2k or about 90,000 USD, plus the bank fees, plus the money you spent out of the 10,000 you thought you made.


And the bank won't be forgiving at all and will want YOU to personally repay every bit of the 100k total -- they'll even sue you for the money and file liens on your house and cars and everything.

***
People -- you need to get real here.

There is no such thing as easy money or a free lunch or a high paying job that requires little work or knowledge.

[freight forwarding is likely a scam as well; it is frequently in support of phoney charge cards or stolen charge card accounts.]


Someone always pays and if you don't know up front who that someone is, it probably is YOU.

Answer 3

Dan in Miami has the best advice. I can Only expand by saying, for all you know the authorities have been watching this scam circle. Here in Las Vegas, NV The exact same thing happened.It was on the news a week or two ago. The guy signed up like you thinking "wow, in this economy this is just the break I need." well, when the checks came in the mail, his instincts told him to go to the authorities. It is a Common and Growing scam. These companies are looking for innocent naive people not criminals. They want you to cash the bad paper, send them an agreed upon portion and keep the rest for yourself. Do what Dan In Miami Said. A barrister will help you mitigate any legal penalties if any at all.

Answer 4

Fake Travelers Checks

Answer 5

Dude, watch out...if it says its in Nigeria... the cheque is certainly a fake one.. It might be a possibility that as soon as u cash this cheque they obtain ur bank info and withdraw some money from ur account or get ur social # somehow...
BE AWARE ALL THESE SCAM.
Good Luck!

Answer 6

Whoa. I saw a whole special on this on the "Oprah" show, about money scams from Nigeria which ripped off many people of their live savings. It is definitely fake. Don't do it.

Answer 7

Discard them. Nigeria = rip off.

Answer 8

Make sure you do not throw them into the bin, if they are made of paper they should go in with the recycling stuff.

Answer 9

rip them up. anything fom nigeria is a scam. scratch that. anything from any overseas country is a scam..

Answer 10

Scam take it to the cops.