7 ms·

Could anyone be so kind as to comment a tl;dr of this one? I am curious but it was very long and I haven't the time at this moment.

bagels 4y ago
Classic fake check, send us the money before it clears scam. The premise this time is that the check is for office equipment for a fake job offer.
- zerr 4y ago
  When you receive the check, shouldn't you go to the bank and withdraw the cash with that? And bank lets you know that it is a fake check, thus denying the withdrawal. At what stage and why are you required to send your cash to someone else?
  - lozenge 4y ago
    No, the bank doesn't know if it's a fake check straight away. They find out weeks later during a reconciliation process with the bank that printed the check.
    - smeej 4y ago
      And if you've attempted to withdraw it, they immediately become very suspicious that you knew it was fake and were trying to steal from them. Good luck convincing them otherwise!
    - sgerenser 4y ago
      To add more context: the check is usually not completely fake. It has a legit bank routing and account number on it, typically a business that is also being scammed. So the money will likely actually get withdrawn from some random business’s account and only discovered weeks or even months later.
VonGuard 4y ago
Guy gets a "job" as a software engineer with a WHOLE lot of work, onboarding, paperwork, etc. Then the first thing they ask him to do is deposit a check into his account and send them the Cash immediately, before the check clears. They had the check UPS'd to his house, too.
- nigamanth 4y ago
  Yep, he gets the job and then they suddenly run into a lot of errors and whatnot and he has to pay their check. When he tells them its a scam, they start questioning him lmao. Look at their bad grammar in the full conversation though, this was the last dead giveaway.
  - kellyharsh 4y ago
    [flagged]
  - snotrockets 4y ago
    It's not bad grammar. It's just not American English.
    - titanomachy 4y ago
      Every other line of the IM transcript would be grammatically incorrect in any English-speaking country I’m aware of. “All hotel and booking has been made and trips has been plnanned” “Is this how you want to be difficult” “I will send you later” Where is any of that considered correct English? If my manager sent any of those message I’d be worried about a stroke.
      - snotrockets 4y ago
        Pidgin dialects of English are no less correct than more wildly use dialects of English (grammar rules are shaped by the speaker of a dialect or language, as they use it, they are only set from on high when some people like to declare others as "unwanted" users of that language. But I digress)
deleted 4y ago
[deleted]
baking 4y ago
The twist was the check was to cover his purchase of computer and supplies for his home office and after he deposits it he is told to wire $8,000 to a vendor for the equipment. Implied threat is that he is stealing from them if he doesn't wire the money. Of course even if he waits for the check to clear, the bank will still come after him for the money in a couple of weeks which is usually how long it takes for these bad checks to come back. Edit: Check was sent to him by UPS which avoids the use of mail fraud which the USPS Inspection Service can prosecute very aggressively.
- aidenn0 4y ago
  IANAL, but the mail fraud laws in the US includes interstate delivery via private carriers, so if they catch the scammers it's still a felony. It seems likely that USPIS wouldn't be involved though.
- jestarray 4y ago
  Actually I was not threatened that I was stealing if I didn't wire! I wish I was though because that would have definitely given it away. The receipt of my bank deposit they asked me to take a picture of just had more than enough to pay! I remember double checking the receipt in-case it had too much personal information and even was aware that I didn't want to show my balance but something in my brain just didn't combine all the pieces until I heard the words "wire transfer" which triggered memories of crime shows.
  - jaclaz 4y ago
    Besides all the other red flags, what would have (probably) triggered an alarm would have been the actual list of equipment (and its generic content). Set of furniture? Copiers? Graphics generator and software? Data storage and Microfiche? High speed Internet access? All coming from a same supplier, the same that provides the Mac and the "Dual Monitors", maybe it is "normal" in US, but elsewhere there would be several different suppliers, very detailed confirm orders, a lengthy contract for the Internet access, endless back and forth for fixing delivery and installation dates, etc.

bagels 4y ago

Classic fake check, send us the money before it clears scam. The premise this time is that the check is for office equipment for a fake job offer.

zerr 4y ago
When you receive the check, shouldn't you go to the bank and withdraw the cash with that? And bank lets you know that it is a fake check, thus denying the withdrawal. At what stage and why are you required to send your cash to someone else?
- lozenge 4y ago
  No, the bank doesn't know if it's a fake check straight away. They find out weeks later during a reconciliation process with the bank that printed the check.
  - smeej 4y ago
    And if you've attempted to withdraw it, they immediately become very suspicious that you knew it was fake and were trying to steal from them. Good luck convincing them otherwise!
  - sgerenser 4y ago
    To add more context: the check is usually not completely fake. It has a legit bank routing and account number on it, typically a business that is also being scammed. So the money will likely actually get withdrawn from some random business’s account and only discovered weeks or even months later.

VonGuard 4y ago

Guy gets a "job" as a software engineer with a WHOLE lot of work, onboarding, paperwork, etc. Then the first thing they ask him to do is deposit a check into his account and send them the Cash immediately, before the check clears. They had the check UPS'd to his house, too.

nigamanth 4y ago
Yep, he gets the job and then they suddenly run into a lot of errors and whatnot and he has to pay their check. When he tells them its a scam, they start questioning him lmao. Look at their bad grammar in the full conversation though, this was the last dead giveaway.
- kellyharsh 4y ago
  [flagged]
- snotrockets 4y ago
  It's not bad grammar. It's just not American English.
  - titanomachy 4y ago
    Every other line of the IM transcript would be grammatically incorrect in any English-speaking country I’m aware of. “All hotel and booking has been made and trips has been plnanned” “Is this how you want to be difficult” “I will send you later” Where is any of that considered correct English? If my manager sent any of those message I’d be worried about a stroke.
    - snotrockets 4y ago
      Pidgin dialects of English are no less correct than more wildly use dialects of English (grammar rules are shaped by the speaker of a dialect or language, as they use it, they are only set from on high when some people like to declare others as "unwanted" users of that language. But I digress)

deleted 4y ago

[deleted]

baking 4y ago

The twist was the check was to cover his purchase of computer and supplies for his home office and after he deposits it he is told to wire $8,000 to a vendor for the equipment. Implied threat is that he is stealing from them if he doesn't wire the money. Of course even if he waits for the check to clear, the bank will still come after him for the money in a couple of weeks which is usually how long it takes for these bad checks to come back. Edit: Check was sent to him by UPS which avoids the use of mail fraud which the USPS Inspection Service can prosecute very aggressively.

aidenn0 4y ago
IANAL, but the mail fraud laws in the US includes interstate delivery via private carriers, so if they catch the scammers it's still a felony. It seems likely that USPIS wouldn't be involved though.
jestarray 4y ago
Actually I was not threatened that I was stealing if I didn't wire! I wish I was though because that would have definitely given it away. The receipt of my bank deposit they asked me to take a picture of just had more than enough to pay! I remember double checking the receipt in-case it had too much personal information and even was aware that I didn't want to show my balance but something in my brain just didn't combine all the pieces until I heard the words "wire transfer" which triggered memories of crime shows.
- jaclaz 4y ago
  Besides all the other red flags, what would have (probably) triggered an alarm would have been the actual list of equipment (and its generic content). Set of furniture? Copiers? Graphics generator and software? Data storage and Microfiche? High speed Internet access? All coming from a same supplier, the same that provides the Mac and the "Dual Monitors", maybe it is "normal" in US, but elsewhere there would be several different suppliers, very detailed confirm orders, a lengthy contract for the Internet access, endless back and forth for fixing delivery and installation dates, etc.