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Scam.. or not? I got a real check for $5000

What will happen?

  • Jail time, this fool is going down FOW SHOW.

    Votes: 4 5.1%

  • He gets a $5,000 check from karma!

    Votes: 9 11.5%

  • OP murdered in alley by angry Vietnamese man: accidentally sent life savings to college student

    Votes: 16 20.5%

  • Check is fraudulent and the OP has to pay bank fees.

    Votes: 27 34.6%

  • Y'all got punk'd.

    Votes: 22 28.2%
  • Total voters
    78
  • Poll closed .
#101
soulgeezer said:
And, here are the PeopleFinders results for "P Boison." Still not a likely suspect in the bunch (and using the initial only provided *one* more possible "Paul," anyway).

Invalid Link Removed
Click to expand...

In fairness however, and given the origin of the check, he might be a recent immigrant without a good permanent address and/or utility bills, etc in his name, or he may be one of the other PBs having just moved to LA.

Or he could just be a homeless drifter like Ray. ;)


On a personal side-note, I was recently using that site to stalk... err look up ex-girlfriends that I've lost touch with. :ninja: I found one that seems to be a match (right general address history), but I also found a copy of a church newsletter (from her general town) with a mention of an 'in memoriam' donation in her name. So, I looked further and genealogy.com returns a death record for her as well but very little info, just a date. I'm still not positive it's the same woman (pretty sure though). Does anyone know a good way to search for death record information? I'm (obviously) not related to her so I'm unsure I can just ask for it from county records (and I don't even know what county I'd have to ask anyway).
 
#102
I got a similar check issued from some real bank in Virginia for 10k. Check looked real and the bank was real. :hmm: Thought about it for awhile and dropped it into the shredder. :crying:

Rule of thumb for anything like this is - If you didnt enter a contest you are sure is legit and aren't expecting it, it is bogus. Plain and simple. They put people in prison for check fraud. :hiding:
 
#103
If nothing else, although it seems like 99% sure it must be some sort of scam, if the cheque ever clears (ie its okay) I would move that money straight out of the Chase account and close it into another account such as an online savings account which the funds can only be accessed through your own personal banking account.

If this is a sort of identity fraud to get access to your bank account details, by moving the money and closing the chase account you will have left a dead end as the chase account cannot be used for fraud to do things like, fund terrorism!

Of course, this is just a guess because I dont know if the scammers can get around this, but I would not be inclined to let the cleared money sit in an account which the sender of the cheque may know the details of as well as your name and address.
 
#104
I bet a fake check that within 5 days he ( OP ) is contacted and asked to cash the check and return the money that was sent to him by mistake.

They will probably tell him to keep some of it as a reward for being so kind and honest.

Then , in a month the check will bounce leaving the OP with a $5000.00 debt and all kinds of other problems .

I know Jonathon is smarter than they are and will not send any cash pulled from this check .
 
#107
bburk said:
Does anyone know a good way to search for death record information? I'm (obviously) not related to her so I'm unsure I can just ask for it from county records (and I don't even know what county I'd have to ask anyway).
Click to expand...

Social Security has an online database of everyone for whom they pay a death benefit showing date of birth, date of death and location. I think that's what you get from genealogy.com.

You can take that and search local newspaper obituaries.
 
#113
Steve said:
Social Security has an online database of everyone for whom they pay a death benefit showing date of birth, date of death and location. I think that's what you get from genealogy.com.

You can take that and search local newspaper obituaries.
Click to expand...

Thanks, yeah that's where I came to the dead end. While there is a record for the name, all it says is that it was issued in PA (her home state) and a date.

Name [Invalid or Expired Link Removed]- *removed*
Birth [Invalid or Expired Link Removed]- 24 Apr 1978
Death - 23 Apr 2001 P
Age [Invalid or Expired Link Removed] - 22
Last Residence [Invalid or Expired Link Removed]- 00000 (72)
Last Benefit [Invalid or Expired Link Removed] - (not specified)
Issued By - Pennsylvania
SSN [Invalid or Expired Link Removed] - *removed*

I do have the ssn and issuing state, but no luck in the obits. What really bugs me is the date of death. That would have been within a year of the last time I talked to her. I always thought we just lost touch with each other (we both moved to different states at about the same time), but now it looks like something happened and no one who knew her would have known to tell me. Ideally, I'd like to find out the cause of death and maybe some of the circumstances, but it looks like I'd have to play detective and start calling possible relatives. I really don't want to cold call her mom or someone and start asking those kinds of questions... :(
 
#114
There will be no repercussions, as long as Jonathan does not spend the money. If he gets contacted by the sender (and he likely will) saying that it was a mistake, he simply gives the money back to the bank, then the bank issues a credit back to the original bank where the funds were drawn. No money gets sent to Paul Boisen, all funds are returned back to the original bank in Vietnam. If any fees are required to exchange the money back into the Vietnam bank account, they will be paid by the person claiming it was a mistake and that they want their money back. It's all very simple.
 
#117
disenchant said:
What I would be worried about you deposit the check, the scammer gets the bank info and then goes and withdraws the $5000. By the time the check is found to be a phony he's made off with the $5000 and then YOU owe the bank $5000 plus fees.
Click to expand...

The bank will protect the customer if this happens. The scammer would be stealing the money and the bank would be responsible.

What Jonathon should do is contact the sender and ask why the money was sent.
 
#118
JonathanD said:
Yep, I went to Chase bank(where I don't have an account) and they opened an account with the deposit. The money will sit there for a month and then I will come back and see if its there.

Jonathan
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