So I just made a huge mistake and my first thought was, I can't believe I was so stupid I know better than this, and then I wanted to make sure no one makes the same mistake as me.

Essentially some one posing as a potential employer used fraudulent methods to handle payments to me as well as send money to accounts they claimed were for business reasons. It was profoundly stupid of me but I fell for the song and dance and I just wanted to believe I found a good paying job.

Be on the look out as even if you fill employment/tax papers that does not mean the offer is legit, and in fact that is an entirely different scam in itself to steal your identity.

Maybe you shouldn't be posting about it, if it's part of an ongoing police investigation?

my thoughts exactly




either way, that really svcks dude, sorry to hear it

maybe, I can't see any reason why talking about being scammed would hinder the investigation. As long as I don't give any details about who was involved and specifically what they said.

So processing stolen checks and giving money to another person. I think there is a warning on craiglist about not participating in such scams..

It didn't seem like it was going to be like that at first. but yes, what I got my self involved in was colossally stupid.

I've been in the same boat with regard to desperately hunting for work, so believe me, I know there are very few worse feelings in the world. These [censored]stains who run these scams know it, so of course they prey on it mercilessly. As far as I'm concerned, there's no corner of Hell that's hot enough for this kind of scum.

I've never been scammed, but there were a number of times where the alarm bells went off just in time for me to pull out without compromising my bank account and personal information. As far as I'm concerned, any job offer on the internet that doesn't come from a.) some established company's careers portal; b.) a dedicated job hunting site like Monster, CareerBuilder and such (and even then, it pays to be very careful, as every now and then scammers slip through); or c.) comes from someone you know personally or has references you know personally; can be safely assumed to be a scam of some sort.

Make this your guiding phrase for job hunting - if it sounds too good to be true, it is.

I have to agree with the others here, though - you shouldn't be discussing this, even in the most vague and general terms. I wish you the best with the police investigation - hopefully you can at least work out some sort of reasonable settlement with the bank.

I can't imagine that discussing a case like this on a random forum on the internet, underneath a name that isn't actually his real name, is going to compromise or negatively(or positively for that matter) impact the police investigation in any sort of manner. There are millions of forums with active users on the internet, the odds that the scammer or police that's involved in the case with the OP will ever see this thread(and realize that it's about them) are probably lower then being struck by lightning while riding a bull carried in the jaws of a Megalodon on top of a water-spout in the middle of a hurricane in the pacific ocean.

On topic: That svcks Mirglof, sorry to hear about your misfortune, and I hope things resolve moderately well(which in this case seems likely the best you can hope for). If nothing else, it's a life lesson that you'll certainly never forget .

Title reminded me of something that happened at my Dad's work Wally World (aka Walmart). A person got employed to work there but it ended up he was only working there as an inside man so his buddies could steal stuff. He got busted in the end.

Ah, I had this happen to me around two years back, it started getting fishy when the guy would refuse to tell me what exactly I was going to do and when the background check came was "cleared" 10 minutes after he put it in.

Sorry to hear about this mirglof, hope stuff gets settled pretty quick!

You'd be surprised. Certainly on social media it's incredibly easy for the other side to snoop on you, though less so on anonymous forums. There are people for whom this is their daily job. Best never to say anything prejudicial that might give them a case against you.

My Wal-Mart Fulfillment Center background check cleared instantly for some reason. Maybe it's because it was the second time I was a Wal-Mart employee and I have no record? Not sure, from what i'm gathering here it seems Mirglof was looking for a job on craigslist. I would personally never do anything like that. I was hesitant to even list something for sale on there.

Well supposedly that is called provisional credit, and banks issue it in good faith that the check will clear. usually they only give a limited amount (previous to this incident my bank would only give me up to $500) and then make the rest available when the check cleared. For some reason my bank gave me provisional credit for the full amount, which made it appear in my account summary that the check had cleared entirely. Still my fault entirely, but I did attempt to discuss with my bank why they gave me so much credit for a check that hadn't cleared yet. That went no where fast though. My bank has been absolutely no help though, they are hardly willing to talk to me at all right now and even asked me to leave today when I tried asking some questions.

Also, apparently only 15% of people report fraud like this because they feel to embarrassed to have fallen for a scam. Which I find ridiculous. I mean, yeah I am super ashamed for my foolishness but im not going to just svck it up to save face.

If only 15% report it, how do they know that the other 85% have fallen for it as well?

I honestly don't know where they cited that stat from but it came from a fraud assistance website I have been checking out.

Scammers like the one you describe are not as smart as you think. They can be profitable for you if you understand the same cracks they are trying to slip through.


The downside is that they catch on quickly and you stop receiving employment opportunities.

This thread led me to some googling and I have to admit I'm surprised checks are even still a thing.

I swear, when someone gives me a cheque as a gift, the time spent trying to get it paid into my bank takes longer than if I'd just worked for the money.

Thats why you scan it with your phone and send it to your bank.

Believe it or not, I still have to write checks to pay my rent. My landlord doesn't do automated debits from my bank account, or accept debit cards.

This, in 2016.

It's kind of funny, I just started doing that myself. I was depositing them through the ATM, but got the phone app about a month ago.

When I deposited them through the ATM, the bank made $400 immediately available, and the rest available the next day. When I deposit them with the phone, I have to wait until the next day before any of the money is available. Different banks probably have different rules, though.

Meh, I pay all my bills via check. I have zero interest in doing automated payments online. I'll probably be 90 years old and still using checks.

Even assuming my phone could do that, which it can't, and that my bank could do it, which they won't, that seems like a massive security risk.

I have to wait nearly two weeks however I pay it in.

I remembwr depositing a check at a shared branch ended up having to wait a week for funds to be available. All funds are available immediately at the actual main and regular branches

Depends on the bank, depends on their technology, etc. If you got a camera and an internet browser, you are capable on your end. Just really depends on your bank, what type of security they have, and lastly what assurances you get from them IF something happens.


That is a question really for your bank, and if unsatisfactory to you, the next question should be: "Why am I still with this bank?"


Also note that I use the term bank and credit union interchangably...since I belong to a CU.