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Check Fraud by a Third Party After a Phishing Scam

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  • 10-06-2018, 03:35 PM
    dstormhelp
    Check Fraud by a Third Party After a Phishing Scam
    My question involves criminal law for the state of: Iowa

    I fell for the "new" gift card/phishing scam.

    A couple of days before everything happened, I had received a call that appeared to be from my bank, and they had the right information; being at work and trying to do my job whilst being called and talked to on the phone, I verified their questions. About a day later, a man approached me on a social media app and gained my trust. He had "heard" that I was getting some money that I didn't know about and he needed my help. I'm pretty young, but not always so naïve, which is why this disappoints me endlessly. He had me withdraw it and send it to him via gift cards. Later on I found out that the money never should have touched, however my bank had failed to send me proper/timely notification of this and proceeded to let me withdraw these funds, in person, at one of their branches.

    The teller did not mention that it was listed under confirmed fraud, and did not say anything about the message stating not to touch the funds until the following Monday. It wasn't until late the evening of the withdrawal and sending of the money to this man that I saw the message on my mobile app. I had not received an email or call. I called customer service and they referred me to their fraud department, who told me that nothing could/would be done about it since I willingly withdrew the funds.

    They withdraw all of the funds in my account around 8pm that Monday, leaving me deep in the negatives to make up for the fraudulent checks. I have received two letters, a week later, telling me of these fraudulent checks and referencing the Check 21 Act.

    I did not deposit these checks, nor did I sign them. They were deposited by this man, and I need some help on whether or not there is anything I can do as a form of rebuttal.
    the Check 21 Act cover this bank against a rebuttal if I was not the one to sign or deposit these checks?

    Please help me come up with a legal argument, or refer me to the proper laws that I may need to show I was a victim of this scam; and advise me on if the Check 21 Act covers this bank against a rebuttal if I was not the one to sign or deposit these checks?

    Thank you!
  • 10-06-2018, 04:05 PM
    adjusterjack
    Re: Check Fraud/Scam, Check 21 Act
    You have no recourse against the bank if that's what you are thinking. Your recourse is against the scammer if you can find him.

    If you have any fraud protection with your bank, it will be addressed in your account agreement. If you didn't keep the agreement when you opened the account I'm sure that the bank representative will give you one now. Follow the instructions and hope for the best.
  • 10-06-2018, 04:11 PM
    flyingron
    Re: Check Fraud/Scam, Check 21 Act
    I'm still not understanding what happened here. Did you withdraw the money and turn it into gift cards or not? Check 21 is the check clearing act that allows the procesing with only copies (called subsitute checks) of your checks.
  • 10-06-2018, 05:16 PM
    adjusterjack
    Re: Check Fraud/Scam, Check 21 Act
    Quote:

    Quoting flyingron
    View Post
    I'm still not understanding what happened here.

    Maybe something like one of the scams reported on the FTC website:

    https://www.consumer.ftc.gov/blog/20...ont-bank-check
  • 10-06-2018, 05:21 PM
    dstormhelp
    Re: Check Fraud/Scam, Check 21 Act
    I did withdraw it and do the gift cards, however they were checks not signed by me, nor my own. I wasn't even aware of what they looked like until after the fact.
  • 10-06-2018, 05:51 PM
    flyingron
    Re: Check Fraud/Scam, Check 21 Act
    What checks are we talking about?
  • 10-06-2018, 05:55 PM
    dstormhelp
    Re: Check Fraud/Scam, Check 21 Act
    Quote:

    Quoting flyingron
    View Post
    What checks are we talking about?

    The person e-deposited checks into my account. They were not replicas of my check, they did not represent me or my bank, and they did not have my signature anywhere on them.
  • 10-06-2018, 07:12 PM
    adjusterjack
    Re: Check Fraud/Scam, Check 21 Act
    Quote:

    Quoting dstormhelp
    View Post
    The person e-deposited checks into my account. They were not replicas of my check, they did not represent me or my bank, and they did not have my signature anywhere on them.

    But you took out the money and bought gift cards and then the checks turned out to be no good.

    I would think that "They were not replicas of my check, they did not represent me or my bank, and they did not have my signature anywhere on them" would have been enough of a red flag to warn you of the scam.

    Again, read your account agreement and see what kind of fraud protection you might have.
  • 10-06-2018, 07:28 PM
    dstormhelp
    Re: Check Fraud/Scam, Check 21 Act
    I didn't get to see the actual visual of the check that they used until I got the letter today, a week later. I will re-read my account agreement, but I was 17 when they set it up and I don't remember them saying anything about it or going over it with me. My bank is notorious for a lot of...issues, either way. I should've started banking elsewhere a long time ago. Thank you for you advice! :)
  • 10-06-2018, 07:46 PM
    flyingron
    Re: Check Fraud/Scam, Check 21 Act
    OK, now I understand fully. Sorry, but whether you signed the checks is completely immaterial. You had bad check deposited. You took out money assuming they were good. The checks bounced (or ended up being defective in some other way). Them not being your checks or having your signature is immaterial. YOU TOOK OUT YOUR MONEY assuming you had a valid deposit.

    The only way Check 21 plays here is that it was what allowed you to withdraw money before the checks fully cleared. While Check21 gives the banks the authority to deny access to checks they think are fradulent, it doesn't put any obligation on their part to do so.

    THis is an old scam of sending bogus checks of some form, perhaps making them look more realistic (like cashiers checks or whatever) and convincing people to render money or goods based on the apparent payment.
    It's near impossible for a depositor to know when the check really clears until it bounces.

    No responsibility on the banks part. Where did you mail these gift cards? At least it wasn't a western union transfer. You should report it to the police, but don't expect much.
  • 10-06-2018, 08:28 PM
    Mercy&Grace
    Re: Check Fraud/Scam, Check 21 Act
    Never assume a check has cleared. Call your financial institution to verify. Be very careful who you give your information out to. Anyone can sign up for Facebook and other social media. All you lost was money. Some people have lost their lives.
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