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[Jack Arnott]

Thanks for sharing your advise and experiences.
It helps to hear others stories.
One of my emails also stated that he was hearing impaired. I thought it was a way of making me socially uncomfortable, as in being careful not to be rude, as he was handicapped, not as a way of avoiding talking on the phone.

[James Hennessy]

The MO you're describing sounds very similar to scam attempts I've encountered in a different industry.  The person is pushy, in a rush, asking for something that doesn't sound like a normal order/inquiry and asking if you accept credit cards.   

[Chris Hindle]

Same scam went through the Wedding Photographer "trade" 10 or 12 years ago.
First e-mail went:
"Hi, We will be in your town (town never mentioned) next weekend. We need a photographer and videographer for our daughters wedding. We have seen your work on-line and are very impressed. We have invited 300 guests. We will be staying at the hotel downtown (hotel name unknown). Please e-mail your rates"
Second was:
"We accept your rates, and will courier you a check. We have added the payments for the Hotel, Florist, and Catering. Please see they get paid for us. Any leftover from the check, just consider that a handling charge for being our agent."

I got 2, and I don't have an on-line presence for my "hobby" I just answered "Which hotel will you be using?". For some reason, I never got an answer.

It must work, or "they" would not still be doing it.
Chris.

[Steve Oldridge]

Same scam went through the Wedding Photographer "trade" 10 or 12 years ago.
First e-mail went:
"Hi, We will be in your town (town never mentioned) next weekend. We need a photographer and videographer for our daughters wedding. We have seen your work on-line and are very impressed. We have invited 300 guests. We will be staying at the hotel downtown (hotel name unknown). Please e-mail your rates"
Second was:
"We accept your rates, and will courier you a check. We have added the payments for the Hotel, Florist, and Catering. Please see they get paid for us. Any leftover from the check, just consider that a handling charge for being our agent."

I got 2, and I don't have an on-line presence for my "hobby" I just answered "Which hotel will you be using?". For some reason, I never got an answer.

It must work, or "they" would not still be doing it.
Chris.

Heck, I STILL get the Nigerian email scams.. so folks must still be falling for it. And there's all kinds of them out there on the "interweb"!
One one forum I hang out on (I'm a mod on another) I was contacted by a "new-ish" member (< 10 posts) about in instrument I had put up for sale. They offered me a lower price, so I countered and they said OK.  Paypal OK?
I was given a zip (Ohio).
I asked if they wanted insurance included (their expense) and if they had a preference of carrier.  Insurance OK, no carrier preference.
They then ask me if I can ship same day (it's 2pm on Friday and I'm at work) as they need the item for an event early next week, and provide a contact # to discuss logistics.  Phone was a Florida #, ship to was Ohio...
That triggered the alarms (tho' it could be legit) so I looked at the members posts.
ALL 10 were to others looking for quick buys on sale items on the forum.
I reported to the mods for review.. They responded saying nothing looked suspicious and the IP matched member info.
I declined the sale..
Scam or not? Idk..
But, the "quick ship" paypal payment raised my hackles.

[David Allred]

Maybe I am wrong, but can't you take the check to your bank and get near instantaneous confirmation of funds.  Deposit the check, wait for transfer, then proceed.

[Tim McCulloch]

Maybe I am wrong, but can't you take the check to your bank and get near instantaneous confirmation of funds.  Deposit the check, wait for transfer, then proceed.

In my city the bank calls the police and you (and your family in your car) get "detained". 

[Geoff Doane]

Maybe I am wrong, but can't you take the check to your bank and get near instantaneous confirmation of funds.  Deposit the check, wait for transfer, then proceed.

Not sure what scenario Tim is thinking of, but typically in these scams, you don't find out the cheque is bad until a week or two later.  It might be an out-of-state (or out of country) bank, or there's money there when you deposit it, but not when it clears.  Confirming funds usually means calling the cheque writer's branch, but I think they only accept calls from other banks.

The tactic I've used when paid by questionable cheque is to go to their bank, pay $5 and get it certified.  The bank withdraws the funds at that point and holds them until funds are transferred to your bank.  My uncle, the land surveyor, told me about this trick.  I guess there are plenty of dirt bags in that business too. 

If the cheque can't be certified, the teller lets you know, and you can either try again later (that has worked) or resort to other methods of collection.  They only charge you for certification if the funds are there.

Caveat:  I haven't actually had to do this for about 10 years, and it's possible that banking rules or fees have changed since then, or are different where you are.  These days, I do a lot by e-transfer, which so far seems to be very safe, fast and inexpensive.  Unfortunately they haven't figured out how to do it internationally yet.

GTD

[Tim McCulloch]

Not sure what scenario Tim is thinking of, but typically in these scams, you don't find out the cheque is bad until a week or two later.  It might be an out-of-state (or out of country) bank, or there's money there when you deposit it, but not when it clears.  Confirming funds usually means calling the cheque writer's branch, but I think they only accept calls from other banks.

The tactic I've used when paid by questionable cheque is to go to their bank, pay $5 and get it certified.  The bank withdraws the funds at that point and holds them until funds are transferred to your bank.  My uncle, the land surveyor, told me about this trick.  I guess there are plenty of dirt bags in that business too. 

If the cheque can't be certified, the teller lets you know, and you can either try again later (that has worked) or resort to other methods of collection.  They only charge you for certification if the funds are there.

Caveat:  I haven't actually had to do this for about 10 years, and it's possible that banking rules or fees have changed since then, or are different where you are.  These days, I do a lot by e-transfer, which so far seems to be very safe, fast and inexpensive.  Unfortunately they haven't figured out how to do it internationally yet.

GTD

The situation that happened here will require I not fully discuss the *why* the bank did what it did because it has ethnic/social elements...

But the patriarch of a family with a Middle Eastern name tried to deposit a sizable cheque into his bank account (proceeds from the sale of property), did not ask for cash or or cash equivalents from that deposit.  The bank decided the cheque was a forgery because the address of the paying bank (as printed on the cheque) did not match the address of the paying bank as determined by the ABA routing numbers.

The teller went to management who called police rather than declining the deposit or explaining the issue to their customer.  Instead, police arrived and took the father and his family members (waiting in the car) into custody.

It took a few hours but the receiving bank eventually got its shit together and made a phone call and determined the cheque was, in fact, legitimate.  Oopsy.  The family was released.

The bank assumed there was a fraudulent instrument and criminal intent.  The bank gave a very lame corporate excuse and essentially blamed the victims for trying to deposit a cheque.

There will probably be a civil suit.

[Randy Pence]

i can't understand how checks are still a thing when electronic transfers are so simple to do

[Ivan Beaver]

Here is a real case (non DJ) that actually happened years ago.

We installed the sound system in a Church.  Another company installed the lights.

We finished, they were happy.

When we asked for the final 10%, they said they had already paid us.

We never got a check, and when pushed for a check number, they gave it to us, HOWEVER-it was made out to the lighting company.

They told us to collect it from the lighting company.

The lighting company did not have it (already spent it) and they "assumed" it was a bonus for them-NOT payment for us.

It took legal action to get paid.

It should not have to be like that.

[ProSoundWeb Community]