Suntrust held me liable for fraudelent activity to my account? ripoff Merritt Island Florida

but what if the scammer went to one of those ATMs that have Western Union in them? (They exist they were in all of the 7-11s in Killeen, Tx and I worked at one.)

All the person had to do to get their money was call up western union (from the phone on the machine, and pick number 2, the machine cashed checks as well.) and give the name and location of the sender, and then give the name and location of the receiver. If they weren't in the area where the receiver was supposed to be, they just had to give a good reason as to why they were someplace else and they got the money.

I really don't know why Western Union didn't use the same ID card reader that the check cashing company (in the same ATM) did, but they never did.

but what if the scammer went to one of those ATMs that have Western Union in them? (They exist they were in all of the 7-11s in Killeen, Tx and I worked at one.)

All the person had to do to get their money was call up western union (from the phone on the machine, and pick number 2, the machine cashed checks as well.) and give the name and location of the sender, and then give the name and location of the receiver. If they weren't in the area where the receiver was supposed to be, they just had to give a good reason as to why they were someplace else and they got the money.

I really don't know why Western Union didn't use the same ID card reader that the check cashing company (in the same ATM) did, but they never did.

but what if the scammer went to one of those ATMs that have Western Union in them? (They exist they were in all of the 7-11s in Killeen, Tx and I worked at one.)

All the person had to do to get their money was call up western union (from the phone on the machine, and pick number 2, the machine cashed checks as well.) and give the name and location of the sender, and then give the name and location of the receiver. If they weren't in the area where the receiver was supposed to be, they just had to give a good reason as to why they were someplace else and they got the money.

I really don't know why Western Union didn't use the same ID card reader that the check cashing company (in the same ATM) did, but they never did.

but what if the scammer went to one of those ATMs that have Western Union in them? (They exist they were in all of the 7-11s in Killeen, Tx and I worked at one.)

All the person had to do to get their money was call up western union (from the phone on the machine, and pick number 2, the machine cashed checks as well.) and give the name and location of the sender, and then give the name and location of the receiver. If they weren't in the area where the receiver was supposed to be, they just had to give a good reason as to why they were someplace else and they got the money.

I really don't know why Western Union didn't use the same ID card reader that the check cashing company (in the same ATM) did, but they never did.

Not just anyone can pick up the money, either A, the person recieving it or B, the person sending it, the person recieving has to have a valid gov't id to pick it up, and i didnt put up security pass code so they had to have id, anyone could get ahold of handle numbers, so they couldnt just go by handle numbers thats why u give them that they need photo id pick up only. I should of been smart and used a security pick up code and let them try to figure it out but i didnt know it was a scam, well anyways im not really mad anymore, i got f**ked thats all there is to it.

The scam isn't about the check. It's about the money transfer.

Anyone who knew details about the money transfer -- the name and address of the recipient, the amount, and the money transfer control number -- could have picked up that money from any store. It says so on the Western Union website.

That's the scam.

The scam isn't about the check. It's about the money transfer.

Anyone who knew details about the money transfer -- the name and address of the recipient, the amount, and the money transfer control number -- could have picked up that money from any store. It says so on the Western Union website.

That's the scam.

The scam isn't about the check. It's about the money transfer.

Anyone who knew details about the money transfer -- the name and address of the recipient, the amount, and the money transfer control number -- could have picked up that money from any store. It says so on the Western Union website.

That's the scam.

The scam isn't about the check. It's about the money transfer.

Anyone who knew details about the money transfer -- the name and address of the recipient, the amount, and the money transfer control number -- could have picked up that money from any store. It says so on the Western Union website.

That's the scam.

Suppose I get sick of flipping burgers at McDonalds, and I take my final paycheck and copy the account number, and routing number from my REAL paycheck, and print it onto a phony cashier's check.

Then I send the check to you. then ask for the money back. Now, since you are now older and wiser, you call the bank it is drawn on, and tell them you have a check drawn on account 12345, for $4,000. is it good? (they don't do this anymore, but..) They look it up and tell you 'yup, that account has sufficient funds to cover that check', and you think you are golden, and you send me the money.

A couple of days later the check hits the bank, and someone catches that the McDonalds payroll account is on a check labelled HAPPY DAYS BANK CASHIER'S CHECK. You know how the story ends. This is exactly what someone did to you. The check has legitimate encoding on it, and a good account number, just not the cashier's check account number. It's just like someone held you up at gunpoint, and it sucks.

Suppose I get sick of flipping burgers at McDonalds, and I take my final paycheck and copy the account number, and routing number from my REAL paycheck, and print it onto a phony cashier's check.

Then I send the check to you. then ask for the money back. Now, since you are now older and wiser, you call the bank it is drawn on, and tell them you have a check drawn on account 12345, for $4,000. is it good? (they don't do this anymore, but..) They look it up and tell you 'yup, that account has sufficient funds to cover that check', and you think you are golden, and you send me the money.

A couple of days later the check hits the bank, and someone catches that the McDonalds payroll account is on a check labelled HAPPY DAYS BANK CASHIER'S CHECK. You know how the story ends. This is exactly what someone did to you. The check has legitimate encoding on it, and a good account number, just not the cashier's check account number. It's just like someone held you up at gunpoint, and it sucks.

Suppose I get sick of flipping burgers at McDonalds, and I take my final paycheck and copy the account number, and routing number from my REAL paycheck, and print it onto a phony cashier's check.

Then I send the check to you. then ask for the money back. Now, since you are now older and wiser, you call the bank it is drawn on, and tell them you have a check drawn on account 12345, for $4,000. is it good? (they don't do this anymore, but..) They look it up and tell you 'yup, that account has sufficient funds to cover that check', and you think you are golden, and you send me the money.

A couple of days later the check hits the bank, and someone catches that the McDonalds payroll account is on a check labelled HAPPY DAYS BANK CASHIER'S CHECK. You know how the story ends. This is exactly what someone did to you. The check has legitimate encoding on it, and a good account number, just not the cashier's check account number. It's just like someone held you up at gunpoint, and it sucks.

Suppose I get sick of flipping burgers at McDonalds, and I take my final paycheck and copy the account number, and routing number from my REAL paycheck, and print it onto a phony cashier's check.

Then I send the check to you. then ask for the money back. Now, since you are now older and wiser, you call the bank it is drawn on, and tell them you have a check drawn on account 12345, for $4,000. is it good? (they don't do this anymore, but..) They look it up and tell you 'yup, that account has sufficient funds to cover that check', and you think you are golden, and you send me the money.

A couple of days later the check hits the bank, and someone catches that the McDonalds payroll account is on a check labelled HAPPY DAYS BANK CASHIER'S CHECK. You know how the story ends. This is exactly what someone did to you. The check has legitimate encoding on it, and a good account number, just not the cashier's check account number. It's just like someone held you up at gunpoint, and it sucks.

To the guy who asked me a question, yes i will probably ask them to make it look like a line of credit and pay it back, which would be kind of a benefit to me, and uneccesary benefit but it is cause it wont hurt my credit, another thing is it sucks that im not protected by any of these and there should be laws to prevent this from ever happening again, as a growing buisness owner these are things i should now be aware about, bit the the guy who said the most a bank could do if the routing and account numbers are real, from the institution, how come if this was a fake check, the account number and routing number came back to them as real meaning it was a real check right? if they came through then how come it came back? how come the chase bank thus then investigates it? how come they cant see who made this check, someone has to notate the account, this account has to be real somewhere, someone has to walk into the bank and do this, someone has to sign a piece of paper somewhere saying this is a cashiers check and the money is here, even though if it was a real check and he took the money out before it reached somewhere, somewhere someone along the lines has to know about this check?

I'd like to preface my comments by saying it's unfortunate that you got scammed.

>>in some cases i should be protected right?

Only when it's a withdrawl that you did not personally make are you protected.

>>i mean come on, we live in america where if i bank my bank should know or not wether the check im cashing is real or not,

No. A bank has little or no way of knowing a check is real or not. The most they can do is see if the routing and account numbers are for real institutions/accounts. They have no way of knowing whether or not the check is good until it is sent to the bank it originated from. This is true even for cashiers check. Although the check is considered as cash in the transaction, it is still treated like a check in the back end of things.

Much like if I accidentally give the bank counterfeit money, and they don't find out I gave it to them until later on - they're going to take that money out of my account since it wasn't real. Same thing with your cashiers check, it is assumed to be good, which is why it is often used in scams like this. Personal checks have to clear before you can use the funds.

>>they know i was scammed and the fact is they wont help me at all,

There's nothing they can do. You gave them a bad cashier's check. You withdrew the money before it cleared entirely. You are, unfortunately, responsible for the money. In the eyes of the bank, they have no idea whether or not you were just a victim or an active participant. Please note that I am not saying you were an active participant and a criminal, just that the bank has no way of knowing if you are or not.

>>even when i have a fraud victime alert on my credit report? funny huh?

Credit and checking are two vastly different beasts. Having fraud protection on your credit card is way different than being protected from a phoney cashier's check. The biggest difference is that with a credit card fraud, a charge is being made on the account the YOU didn't make. If you were able to show the bank that it wasn't you who cashed the phoney check, then you would probably be protected. But it was you. So you have no protection from that.

It comes down to being smart about things. Basic common sense. Didn't it seem odd to you that even though you cancelled the transaction before cashing the check, you were still asked to cash the check and send a money order back? That really doesn't make any sense, and should have raised a big red flag with blinking lights.

At the most, you should have cancelled the check and sent the other person $20 for the cancellation fee. The person you should be trying to find and get your money from (as well as arrested) is the person that sent you the phoney cashiers check, not the bank.

I feel badly that you were scammed. I wish that it was more widely publicized so that people wouldn't fall for this. My question is, what do you think the bank should have done?

You are a depositor of the bank, with a healthy balance, and you presented a check for cashing. The check wasn't labelled FRAUD, and you are a known customer...so what should they have done?

I think what they COULD do at this pooint, is convert the balance to a personal loan, and allow you to repay it over time. I think if you request this, they will likely accomodate you, especially considering that they have nothing to lose at this point. If you can spread that $2200 over a 3 year period, depending on rates, you could probably get a payment of about $75 a month. This should hopefully cut you some slack.

Ok you may be right, well luckily i opened up some new accounts with different banks and even told them my story, in some cases i should be protected right? i mean come on, we live in america where if i bank my bank should know or not wether the check im cashing is real or not, yeah suntrust might have that rule right to offset, which they told me on the first day if i tried to open another account thats what they would do, but the fact is is they know i was scammed and the fact is they wont help me at all, i think if they want there money back they would be alil more helpfull than they are, eventually they will get there money back, once i make alil more money with my buisness and i can actually afford to pay 2200 dollars to take care of this problem then yeah ill pay it back, but either way i feel as though nothing was done to protect me even when i have a fraud victime alert on my credit report? funny huh?

Ok you may be right, well luckily i opened up some new accounts with different banks and even told them my story, in some cases i should be protected right? i mean come on, we live in america where if i bank my bank should know or not wether the check im cashing is real or not, yeah suntrust might have that rule right to offset, which they told me on the first day if i tried to open another account thats what they would do, but the fact is is they know i was scammed and the fact is they wont help me at all, i think if they want there money back they would be alil more helpfull than they are, eventually they will get there money back, once i make alil more money with my buisness and i can actually afford to pay 2200 dollars to take care of this problem then yeah ill pay it back, but either way i feel as though nothing was done to protect me even when i have a fraud victime alert on my credit report? funny huh?

Ok you may be right, well luckily i opened up some new accounts with different banks and even told them my story, in some cases i should be protected right? i mean come on, we live in america where if i bank my bank should know or not wether the check im cashing is real or not, yeah suntrust might have that rule right to offset, which they told me on the first day if i tried to open another account thats what they would do, but the fact is is they know i was scammed and the fact is they wont help me at all, i think if they want there money back they would be alil more helpfull than they are, eventually they will get there money back, once i make alil more money with my buisness and i can actually afford to pay 2200 dollars to take care of this problem then yeah ill pay it back, but either way i feel as though nothing was done to protect me even when i have a fraud victime alert on my credit report? funny huh?

Ok you may be right, well luckily i opened up some new accounts with different banks and even told them my story, in some cases i should be protected right? i mean come on, we live in america where if i bank my bank should know or not wether the check im cashing is real or not, yeah suntrust might have that rule right to offset, which they told me on the first day if i tried to open another account thats what they would do, but the fact is is they know i was scammed and the fact is they wont help me at all, i think if they want there money back they would be alil more helpfull than they are, eventually they will get there money back, once i make alil more money with my buisness and i can actually afford to pay 2200 dollars to take care of this problem then yeah ill pay it back, but either way i feel as though nothing was done to protect me even when i have a fraud victime alert on my credit report? funny huh?

It was a scam all along. It was your idea to cancel the deal, but it was probably his to use Western Union, since that was the plan all along. You should report everything you know about the scammer to the police. They won't be able to help much because he's in another country, but it will help your case if the bank decides to accuse you of fraud.

The rules about cashier's checks don't apply here because you didn't have one. You had a fancy piece of paper with the words "Cashier's Check" on it. It was completely fake.

Every contract that every bank has a consumer sign for checking account gives them the right to take that money to offset any other bad debt that you have with that bank. That includes car loans, credit cards, other checking accounts, and even bad checks that you cashed even though at the time you didn't directly pass that activity thru your checking account.

They didn't ID you because they recognized you in person, which IS legally binding even if ID were required, which it isn't. Also you signed the check. Now you could alledge that someone else with your name cashed the check, not you, but since that isn't true it would be bank fraud on your part.

Ok im in on it? if you think i was in on it i wouldnt make such a big ruckus, matter of fact is that even if the bank knows me like you say they do, they should check id, and the fact is that since the bank does know me they know i wouldnt purposly pass a fake check and keep 1600 dollars. I had 1600 dollars in the bank already, and the fact that the check was in my name is i thought no one could cash that check but me so thats why i cashed it, when it comes to banking im not that smart. I admitt i made some stupid mistakes in this whole process, i probably did help the scammer, but the fact that you keep saying i kept 1600 is wrong, i lost 1600 hundred dollars dumbass. that is why im negative 2200, if i was in on it dont u think i should make a profit margin of more than 2200 dollars, if you think i did keep the money then why do i have wire transfers receipt saying i transfered the money to a lady named sara powells? i obviously couldnt pick that up, specially all the way in california and i live in florida, so in all these transactions where did i make 1600? where did i profit, cause it will for one hit my credit? i own a buisness. can i afford that to hit my credit no? how can the bank prosecute me, they told me from the day i found out it was a scam, but they did not know if the check was real or not, you can use a real check and re route it, alot of people used to do it in the 70's, that was one of the biggest check frauds ever, re routing real checks, watch the movie catch me if you can, maybe you will learn something, matter of fact is if you read up on bank law, the drawing bank is responsible for that check because they insure the money is there? chase bank was the drawing bank, if i was in on this i wouldnt b***h about it, i wouldnt complain, but the fact is i lost my money because i was, how can we so an innocent by standard in soemones sick and twisted pleasure in making money, i met this person on roommates.com, the same place where i have met my previous 2 roommates, thought it was safe, maybe not.... who knows who is in the right or wrong, alls i know is alot of people, accountants, lawyers, even the FRB, has told me im in the right and as a consumer im protected, so instead of just misunderstanding what i have wrote, look up the facts before you open your mouths and talk just to make your self look stupid. Because here is the fact I had 1600 in the bank, a check for 3800 comes back, makes my bank negative 2200, 2200 plus 1600 is 3800, so therefore where did i profit 1600?

You wrote:

"and yes i did have 1600 dollars in my account. i dont know why this was mentioned."

It is mentioned due to the fact that, since you are trying to mislead people-as established by the fact that you want people to believe you are innocent and gave ALL the money to the scammer-you kept $1600.

For someone so allegedly innocent, all you would have had to do was return the check-no cashing needed. There is/was absolutely no legitimate reason to cash the check had your alleged facts been true.

There is no investigation because no one knows where these scammers operate out from. YOU cashed a bogus check. YOU are responsible for it, Why don't YOU go investigate where the scammer is like you want someone else to do.

You state:
"i meant the bank never even check my drivers license or any form of identification so therefore they broke a major bank law"

Please cite this alleged "law". You, yourself pretty much admitted you go into this bank all the time-so they obviously know you well enough that they don't need alot of ID.

"the fact is im not mad at the person who screwed me."

You should be-this is who screwed you-NOT THE BANK. The more you try to convince yourself, or anyone else, the guiltier you look. THE BANK CAN PRESS CHARGES AGAINST YOU IF THEY WANT! YOU passed the bad check-not the bank.

Ok to everyone who thinks its fishy, here is the facts. the guy sent me the cashiers check. i decide the day before it comes that i dont want this person living with me. this person lives in another state. it might of been a scam to begin with. the idea of western union was his. he told me to take the money out of the check anyways. so doesnt really matter why i paid the money to send it back, cause either way, 8 days later nothing would seem out of the ordinary with my bank account. an the fact that i said that they didnt get my information, i meant the bank never even check my drivers license or any form of identification so therefore they broke a major bank law, but they did get my account information. so we can clear that up right now.

So yes i more than likely helped this man get away with all the money, but i was an honest person. i gave the money back where i could of been like this man and scam him and never let him see his money again. so you know im only 21 years old. im just straight out of the army. i dont know much of this world. i see how it is, people can be honest and get screwed anyways.

the fact is im not mad at the person who screwed me. im mad at the bank for not helping me. the fact that i have 4 months or else and no one wants to investigate this problem. this same person could be doing this to hundreds of other people and the bank isnt doing one thing about it. i just find it funny because the matter of the fact is that the bank makes more money off this than by not doing anything about it, and yes i did have 1600 dollars in my account. i dont know why this was mentioned.

If the check was real, everything you say is correct. The money would be there.

The money isn't there. The check was not real.

Perhaps they aren't telling you anything because they are investigating you. From the authorities' point of view: you laundered a phoney check through your bank account.
It was caught, and no one is out any money for the check. The transaction was cancelled.

Don't be mad at the bank. They did everything by the rules. Be mad at the guy who laundered a fake check through your bank account. Be mad at the clerk at Western Union who didn't explain to you that you were likely being scammed. And don't think they couldn't have known.

Question: You say you have names and addresses about the money transfer. Did the "renter" ask you to put a security phrase on the transfer?
If there is a security phrase, anyone can pick up that transfer if they also know the names and addresses.

Chuck is right. Why did you keep $1600 to only have to owe $2200 on a $3800 check? Why would you not have refunded the total $3800 to the alleged future room mate?

"I cash this check, thinking nothing of this. THE DAY BEFORE i tell the man who wants to live in my apartment that i decided i want to move out and i will be giving his money back, and wire it back to him via western union, no big deal right? "

Didn't anyone else see this? He cashes a check AFTER he tells the scammer that he decided NOT to rent him his apartment.

If the OP decided to move out, why cash the check and Western Union the money back? It costs $189.99 to send $3800.00 through Western Union. That's a lot of cash to waste when overnight mail would've only been $14.95 or even FedEx which is around $22.00. Why spend almost $200.00?

Another thing the OP says is "not knowing why my account information had to be present at the time of cashing and telling me is proper procedure". Then he says in his last post that the bank DIDN'T REQUIRE his info, thereby "breaking another bank law." Again, this whole thing sounds a bit fishy to me. JMHO.

You don't think the 10 pages of a google search for "counterfeit cashier's checks" is real?

You can try to justify being scammed all you want. Do you really think a scammer is going to care about 90 days blah, blah, blah? THERE WAS NO MONEY-THE CHECK IS COUNTERFEIT! The Nigerians have been doing it for years. You can cite banking rules until you're blue in the face. THERE WAS NEVER ANY MONEY.

I do believe you were ripped off......not by your bank but by the person "renting" from you.

Here is how the scam works......

person wants to rent from you, pays in full via cashiers check. A day or two later, says (insert story here) and for you to keep a small portion of the amount for your trouble and wire the rest back to them.

all seems well until your bank calls you back a few days later and says that you owe them for the fake cashiers check.

Just do a search for the numerous Nigerian scams and I am sure you will find a story just like yours.

Sorry, but I think you are on the hook for the $2200

Well to the people above, you may be right about some things but other things NO!!!!... First off the federal reserve board are the ones that told me that cashiers checks are prefered payment methods because of the fact it is hard to committ fraud with them, and if you dont believe me then i have the letters to prove it, and this is coming from the people who make the rules and regulations for bank law so, obviously you dont know much. 2nd of all i was the recipent of a cashiers check and not the customer, so the drawing bank is held liable, for one a cashiers check can not have funds taken out for no less than 90 days, so funds have to stay there for 90 days, and the fact that no has told me if the check was fake or not leads me to prove that this check was real cause no one will give me awsners. And the fact that the bank did not follow the pay by midnight deadline and didnt find out the funds were not there oh lets say 8 days later from the day of cashing the check not even a deposite and i find it funny that most banks dont see if cashiers checks are real because of the fact that they are 98% credible at times and they do go through, but that 2% is scary, because the fact that the teller and the bank went through everything to cover their end and not mine and suppousedly im banking with a bank that holds the bankee which would be me not liable for any unathorized transactions which this was or fraudelent check activity which this was. so when i have the FRB saying that the bank is in the wrong then we have a problem, so to the people above me, everything you guys said was based on your non brief knowledge of bank law and didnt really say anything credible to prove that im in the wrong, because wait till it happens to you, then your story will be different, oh and i find it funny that the teller didnt even check for my id when i went to cash the check, i believe thats another bank law broken

The fact that it is a Cashier's Check means nothing these days. They are EASILY forged. Fake Cashiers Checks are all the rage to scammers now.

It's quite common for someone to receive one (sometimes even out of the blue) with instructions to deposit it into your account, wire MOST of it to a designated person via Western Union, and you get to keep the rest "for your trouble". Of course the Cashier's Check bounces and you've already taken the money from the bank, so BAM!- you are liable. And the person on the other end of the wire is walking away with the money YOU have to pay back to the bank. Bummer.

If I may ask: Who's idea was it to wire the money to the guy who gave you the check, yours or his?

A cashier's check is NOT cash.
It is still a check, and as such can be refused at the other end.

Number 1 preferred payment? I doubt that's anywhere near true. Even a cashier's check still has to clear. An EFT is instant. Debit cards or Visa are faster, more secure.
A cashier's check can be forged -- that's why it still has to clear at the other end.

Wiring money is the same as giving cash to someone on the street. You withdrew cash from your account and gave it away. The bank can't reverse that.

Did you get references from the guy?