Arrested for attempting to cash fake check

[Top_Fuel]

A guy selling two bikes on craigslist received an email from a buyer willing to pay $600 for them. The buyer said he would cut a check for $2,000 on his business account and arrange shipping. He told the seller the extra cash was to cover his time and shipping costs. :rollseyes

OK...we all know it's a scam...but keep reading...

The seller receives a Bank Of America check in the mail for $2K. Instead of depositing it at his own bank, he goes to a BOA branch to cash it. Supposedly he has no clue the check was a fake. :dw:

He approaches the teller, shows her the check and asks if there are funds to cover it. The teller says there are funds in the account. He then signs the check and asks her to cash it. What the guy doesn't know is there is a fraud alert on the account advising tellers to watch for phony checks. :uh oh:

The bank calls the police. The guy is cuffed, arrested and charged with 3 felonies. He sits in jail until his dad bails him out several hours later. The next day the District Attorney checks the guy's story and drops the charges.

Unfortunately for this guy, he now has an arrest record. He has to hire an attorney to have the arrest expunged. After spending $14,000 in attorney fees, his arrest record is cleared.

He wants the bank to pay his legal fees, which they have refused to do.


Link to original story

 

[203Cree]

Dumbass. That's what you get for being stupid.

 

[Redfire Vert 03]

Cashier's checks are your friend....not personal checks!

 

[NyteByte]

Yes, he was stupid, but what he went through was absurd and he deserves compensation. He should be compensated for way more than the $14K in legal fees he incurred.

He was the victim here.

What the bank did was wrong and what the police did was wrong. They both should be sued.

 

[Top_Fuel]

Cashier's checks are your friend....not personal checks!

There are TONS of fraudulent cashier's checks out there.

Here's the problem with the above story...and it could happen to anyone...

Suppose someone sends you a fake check for an item...but they send you the exact amount they owe you. There's no reason for you to suspect any fraud. The check looks legit, so you head down to the bank it's drawn on to cash it. Boom! You just tried to cash a phony check and are subject to arrest?!?!?!

Even when questioned about this story, Bank of America could not say how someone should approach them to verify a check is real. :shrug:

 

[Sinister04L]

The fact that he was arrested is absurd. I got burned with a fake Bank of America cashier's check when I sold my bike a few years ago. I ended up having to file against my insurance for a "theft by deception" to get my money out of the bike, which was long gone.

Why would he spend $14,000 in legal fees to get the arrest taken off his record? Who cares? As long as the charges were dropped, it'll never count against him. Stupid.

 

[JiggaStyles09]

There are TONS of fraudulent cashier's checks out there.

Here's the problem with the above story...and it could happen to anyone...

Suppose someone sends you a fake check for an item...but they send you the exact amount they owe you. There's no reason for you to suspect any fraud. The check looks legit, so you head down to the bank it's drawn on to cash it. Boom! You just tried to cash a phony check and are subject to arrest?!?!?!

Even when questioned about this story, Bank of America could not say how someone should approach them to verify a check is real. :shrug:

yea that sounds like a bunch of bullshit to me. how can the guy go to a bank, ask the teller "is this check ok for me to cash?" have the teller confirm the check is ok. and then all of a sudden say oh no sorry i was mistaken, this check is bad and you are going to be arrested, sorry.

granted you should be wary of personal checks for 2 grand from anyone much less someone who you dont know. but if he goes to a bank to verify funds and the bank ok's it, i dont see that as against the law.

 

[LandShark]

I call BS.... $14000 / 250 = 56 hrs.. . How in the hell could an attorney burn 56 hours filing one court document and appearing in court to have his record expunged. Either a. the story is true but the amount is way overblown.. or b. the story is false and just another intarweb myth... or c. the guy is dumb and hired an attorney that chases ambulances.

Thats just my opinion, I could be wrong ya know.

Ed

 

[Top_Fuel]

As long as the charges were dropped, it'll never count against him.

Have a background check run and that felony arrest will show up. You'll spend the rest of your life explaining to potential employers why you were arrested...

Many people believe that if their case was dropped or dismissed they don't have a record. This is inaccurate. A record begins once you've been arrested. The case may have been dropped, dismissed, or nolle prosequi but your arrest history remains. Anyone who wants to check your past can discover that you were arrested and for what you were arrested. Hence, the term arrest history better reflects the nature of a sealed or expunged record and the procedures involved.

Source: [COLOR="DarkOrange"]http://www.floridaexpungements.com[/COLOR]

 

[Sinister04L]

Have a background check run and that felony arrest will show up. You'll spend the rest of your life explaining to potential employers why you were arrested...

You don't have to explain arrests, only convictions.

 

[Top_Fuel]

...the story is false and just another intarweb myth...

The story is real: http://www.dvorak.org/blog/?p=7174

As for the legel fees, I don't know how they got to $14K. I know he was charged with 3 felony counts, so maybe that had something to do with it. :shrug:

 

[Top_Fuel]

You don't have to explain arrests, only convictions.

I'll tell that to the investigator the next time my Top Secret clearance is reviewed... :lol1:

 

[Top_Fuel]

how can the guy go to a bank, ask the teller "is this check ok for me to cash?" have the teller confirm the check is ok.

I think this is where it gets into a grey area with EXACTLY what the guy said to the teller.

He didn't say "hey, I got this check from an on-line transaction. It's for $1400 more than I was asking for and I think it might be phony". He just asked if the account existed and were there funds in the account. That's probably where things started to go down-hill.

I know we're splitting hairs, but something tells me if he had been completely up-front, he wouldn't be in this mess. :shrug:

 

[Sinister04L]

I'll tell that to the investigator the next time my Top Secret clearance is reviewed... :lol1:

Well obviously if you have a job that has some type of "top secret clearance" it might affect you, but something tells me that the braintrust in the story doesn't have that. :lol:

 

[Top_Fuel]

...something tells me that the braintrust in the story doesn't have that. :lol:

:lol1:

 

[RDJ]

Yes, he was stupid, but what he went through was absurd and he deserves compensation. He should be compensated for way more than the $14K in legal fees he incurred.

He was the victim here..

Agreed with this 100%

What the bank did was wrong and what the police did was wrong. They both should be sued.

This is total bullshit. The bank has no liability since they were acting on the instructions of the owner of the account ....

The police have no liability because based on the information available they did their job. It could, however, be argued that they should have done more of an investigation before making an actual arrest.

The person that the guy needs to sue is the guy that wrote the bad check .. and himself for being such a dumbass that he figures a thousand dollars extra was for his "time". But he is not likely to find the guy that wrote the check... and suing yourself is being only slightly more of a dumbass than at first.

 

[04cobra408]

i work at a bank and we have tons of fake cashier checks money orders etc.... people always coming in saying but its a cashiers check its good as gold, WRONG!!! not anymore unfortunatlly. Tons of customers are falling for this scam!. BUt yeah that is wrong though that he got arrested .if there was alert on the account they did what they (the bank) had to due following bank and federal policy. but the people writing the checks should the ones punished if it is found the depositing person was truely unaware of the scam.

 

[Turkish]

We get Fraudy checks all the time at work and have never once arrested the individual cashing the check. We make the customer aware of the check being a fraud or scam then notify the police of the check. Customer is free to go... That is BS what that bank pulled and should be repromended for their actions. If those charges were dropped by the DA without prejudice the victim shouldn't have had to hire a laywer for the expungement, that is BS too.

 

[Top_Fuel]

If those charges were dropped by the DA without prejudice the victim shouldn't have had to hire a laywer for the expungement...

That's the thing I didn't know. Once you're arrested, that record is there forever...even if you're innocent and never charged. The only way to remove it is to go through an expungement process. LEOs will always see your arrest record even after an expungement.

See related thread in the Donut Shop...

http://www.svtperformance.com/forums/showthread.php?t=323548

 

[Top_Fuel]

Here's a comment from someone who managed a bank...

This guy is very gullible and not very smart. Here is my evidence: He ignored all the red flags (feeling uncomfortable with the buyer, check is for way more than he asked, buyer never tries to see the merchandise for sale, buyer in another country, etc), and he only asked the teller if there are sufficient funds to cash it instead of going to the manager to explain the situation and get advice.

I agree that the manager should have taken him into an office to inquire how he got the check...BUT the manager didn't have to. This guy didn't have to try to cut and run with the $2k either.

I used to manage a bank for 5 years. I did this almost every day. Surprisingly, not everyone knows about the Nigerian fraud ring and we help ignorant people understand it. But many times it's hard for us to distinguish between the criminals and the victims. I think it's suspicious for someone to approach my teller and ask if there are enough funds on a fraud check when normally people who are uneasy about a check consult with a manager.