Mike McDougal Check Fraud Clermont, Florida

Mike McDougal is a high school friend of my husband. He sent my husband a text message asking him to do a favor for him. He said that he was in the process of moving and that he needed us to cash a check for him because he couldn't find his debt card or drivers license.

My husband agreed to help him out even though I didn't think it was a good idea. He thought he could trust him. Mike wrote the check and my husband deposited it in the ATM at our bank. The bank made the funds available within 48 hours. My husband then withdrew the money and sent it to him via Western Union.

A few days later our cards were declined at the store due to insufficient funds. We checked the account to find out that the check we deposited was returned for an unknown reason.

We contacted Mike to see what the issue was and he said he would look into it. He said that it was a bank error and that he would Western Union the money back to us. A few days later we still did not receive the information needed to pick up the money. We continued to contact him and he assured us that he had handled it and that we would be receiving the money soon.

He continually blew us off and said that we would get it soon. He became increasingly frustrated with us for contacting him about the money.

I was already suspicious about him and decided to call Western Union to see if there was ever a transaction processing in my husband's name. There was no record of it. I then contacted our bank to find out exactly why the check had been returned. The bank rep told me that it was due to the fact that the check was connected to an account that had been closed prior to the check being issued.

I'm so upset that my husband's generosity has been so grossly taken advantage of. Its only 13 days til Christmas and my family is going to go without a lot of things because of this selfish crook. We are pursuing every legal action that we can. Hopefully our Christmas present this year will be justice.