Community Forums => General Chat => Topic started by: mouse_clicker on July 10, 2003, 09:20:59 AM
Title: Junk mail not so junky?
Post by: mouse_clicker on July 10, 2003, 09:20:59 AM
I just read this guy's account about how he got a fake check for $95,059.35 in the mail as part of an advertisement. He deposited the check as a joke and the bank actually accepted it! Read his story over at his website- it's a loooooooooong read, but well worth it.
Title: Junk mail not so junky?
Post by: KnowsNothing on July 10, 2003, 09:46:17 AM
I didn't read the whole thing, just about 2 pages, but.....HOLY CRAP! Is this even real, or is he just some loser in huge debt with an overactive imagination? I don't see how something like this could actually have happened, so I think it's bogus, but still, if it did happen in real life, I repeat....HOLY CRAP
Title: RE: Junk mail not so junky?
Post by: Lecter on July 10, 2003, 10:08:45 AM
Ehh this sounds fake to me, but he went through an ATM machine?? Didn't a person see this and if they did, didnt they notice the check was blue, the guy was in debt, the words "non-negotiable" were on the check, and it as probably made of a paper material, nothing near what a real check was made of. Maybe it is true but I dont know, sounds sceptical to me.
Title: RE: Junk mail not so junky?
Post by: nitsu niflheim on July 10, 2003, 10:11:45 AM
Even is this really happened, it's fraud. If the check wasn't real then the money he got would be the bank's.
Quote We have to report to IRS any cash withdrawals excess of $10,000 -- some people bad guys, trying to hide money.
Bank's have to notify the IRS when depositing $10,000 as well. Banking regulations.
Title: RE: Junk mail not so junky?
Post by: Smithy on July 10, 2003, 10:22:01 AM
There was a real story just like this. It may even be that one but I don't remember the page looking like that. Anyways, it did happen and the guy ended up giving the money back in the end after the bank had harrased him. It wasn't fraud either because he didn't endorse the check. He only deposited it. It was pretty much a big mistake on the banks part and the moron company that made the check.
Title: RE: Junk mail not so junky?
Post by: nitsu niflheim on July 10, 2003, 10:27:41 AM
Quote There was a real story just like this. It may even be that one but I don't remember the page looking like that. Anyways, it did happen and the guy ended up giving the money back in the end after the bank had harrased him. It wasn't fraud either because he didn't endorse the check. He only deposited it. It was pretty much a big mistake on the banks part and the moron company that made the check.
It's still fraud because he made the bank believe that the check was real and that he was entitles to the money. That is fraud. Depositing into his account is in a way endorsing because he is claiming the money.
Besides, the routing number and account number at the bottom of the check would have to actually exist of the bank would have caught on. If the check was real then the guy was a total moron.
Title: Junk mail not so junky?
Post by: mouse_clicker on July 10, 2003, 01:02:35 PM
"It's still fraud because he made the bank believe that the check was real and that he was entitles to the money. That is fraud. Depositing into his account is in a way endorsing because he is claiming the money."
But it WAS a real check- if you read the whole thing he explains extensively all the laws explaining as much. For all intents and purpouses he eally did recieve a check in the mail for $95,000 (since the non-negotiable doesn't necessarily make a check fake). He didn't even expect it to deposit- he didn't even sign the thing for crying out loud- he put a little smiley face on the back. If anything he was making it even more obvious to the bank that it shouldn't work.
And it is real- read his little FAQ at the end of page ten- he even tells you how you can look it up.
Quote There was a real story just like this.
You probably did hear about it- the guy said his story ran in the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, he was on Dateline, NBC and ABC Nightly News, almost got on Leno and Letterman. It was probably overshadowed afterwards, though, but the O. J. Simpson court ruling.
Title: Junk mail not so junky?
Post by: Grey Ninja on July 11, 2003, 08:11:08 AM
Someone please explain to me why I spent an hour reading that story? lol... I have to go home and go to sleep. I have to work in 12 hours.
But I really didn't intend to read it at first. I was just going to skim it like I do most things, and get the gist of it. By page 3 though, I was reading every word. Christ that was good.
Title: Junk mail not so junky?
Post by: mouse_clicker on July 11, 2003, 08:27:45 AM
That happened to me too- I wasn't too intent on reading the whole thing, but the writing just pulls you in and won't let go of you until the very end. It's obvious why that guy wrote a book.
Title: Junk mail not so junky?
Post by: Uncle Rich AiAi on July 13, 2003, 05:41:48 AM
Heh.
It's nearly 1am and I'm still reading it. A very interesting read!
Title: Junk mail not so junky?
Post by: strat on July 14, 2003, 05:08:43 PM
Yeah I read that about a year ago...it's a good read.
