What do I do if I received a fake check, and deposited it into my Bank account, not knowing it was fake?

100% scam.

Don't waste your time emailing your "boss", the lying, thieving scammer that is trying to steal your money. He knows the check is fake and has bounced so he won't respond to your emails.

Walk into your bank, explain to them that you are the victim of a "work at home cash the fake check" job. You *might* be able to get the account reopened but will probably have to pay the $35 bounced check fee.

The next email was from one of the scammer's fake names and free email addresses pretending to be the "secretary/assistant/accountant" and has demanded you cash a large fake check sent on a stolen UPS/FedEx billing account number and send most of the "money" via Western Union or moneygram back to the scammer posing as the "supply company" while you "keep" a small portion. When your bank realizes the check is fake and it bounces, you get the real life job of paying back the bank for the bounced check fees and all the bank's money you sent to an overseas criminal.

Western Union and moneygram do not verify anything on the form the sender fills out, not the name, not the street address, not the country, not even the gender of the receiver, it all means absolutely nothing. The clerk will not bother to check ID and will simply hand off your cash to whomever walks in the door with the MTCN# and question/answer. Neither company will tell the sender who picked up the cash, at what store location or even in what country your money walked out the door. Neither company has any kind of refund policy, money sent is money gone forever.

When you refuse to send him your cash he will send increasingly nasty and rude emails trying to convince you to go through with his scam. The scammer could also create another fake name and email address like "FBI@ gmail.com", "police_person @hotmail.com" or "investigator @yahoo.com" and send emails telling you the job is legit and you must cash the fake check and send your money to the scammer or you will face legal action. Just ignore, delete and block those email addresses. Although, reading a scammer's attempt at impersonating a law enforcement official can be extremely funny.

Now that you have responded to a scammer, you are on his 'potential sucker' list, he will try again to separate you from your cash. He will send you more emails from his other free email addresses using another of his fake names with all kinds of stories of great jobs, lottery winnings, millions in the bank and desperate, lonely, sexy singles. He will sell your email address to all his scamming buddies who will also send you dozens of fake emails all with the exact same goal, you sending them your cash via Western Union or moneygram.

You could post up the email address and the emails themselves that the scammer is using, it will help make your post more googlable for other suspicious potential victims to find when looking for information.

Do you know how to check the header of a received email? If not, you could google for information. Being able to read the header to determine the geographic location an email originated from will help you weed out the most obvious scams and scammers. Then delete and block that scammer. Don't bother to tell him that you know he is a scammer, it isn't worth your effort. He has one job in life, convincing victims to send him their hard-earned cash.

Whenever suspicious or just plain curious, google everything, website addresses, names used, companies mentioned, phone numbers given, all email addresses, even sentences from the emails as you might be unpleasantly surprised at what you find already posted online. You can also post/ask here and every scam-warner-anti-fraud-busting site you can find before taking a chance and losing money to a scammer.

6 "Rules to follow" to avoid most fake jobs:

1) Job asks you to use your personal bank account and/or open a new one.

2) Job asks you to print/mail/cash a check or money order.

3) Job asks you to use Western Union or moneygram in any capacity.

4) Job asks you to accept packages and re-ship them on to anyone.

5) Job asks you to pay visas, travel fees via Western Union or moneygram.

6) Job asks you to sign up for a credit reporting or identity verification site.

Avoiding all jobs that mention any of the above listed 'red flags' and you will miss nearly all fake jobs. Only scammers ask you to do any of the above. No. Exceptions. Ever. For any reason.

If you google "fake check cashing job", "fraud Western Union scam", "check mule moneygram scam" or something similar you will find hundreds of posts from victims and near-victims of this type of scam.

You HAVE been scammed. First of all it's illegal for ANY employer to ask you to open a personal bank account or process ANY checks in a personal bank account. Second, NO employer would ever consider hiring a secretary without a single face to face interview. Third, NO employer can ask you to even start work until they have issued you both an I-9 and W-4 form

What you need to do right away is file a police report against the person who sent you the fake check, then sue them in small claims court to get any money back

You can't get out of CHEX System - you stay in the system for 5 years. Anyone who deposits a fake check is put into CHEX. The fact you opened an account the day you deposited the check looks like you were intending to defraud the bank. You are lucky they have not filed criminal charges against you

The police report against the person who sent you the check is your only proof that you are the VICTIM, not the perpetrator of this scam

Fake Bank Account

I've been through this. The law is completely backwards on this subject. Basically, a criminal can open up a factory and print millions of counterfeit checks without any worries of criminal charges. The criminal can mail them to everyone in America. But, if you try to deposit it, you're the criminal even if you go into the bank and explain to them before depositing it that you may be a scam victim. I simply asked the bank if they could make sure the check was good so I wouldn't be held accountable if the check was fraudulent, and they called the cops on me at the bank. The real criminal is never even saught after. Cops love to arrest innocent people too. If you insist on having a bank account, you can still get an account with Huntington Bank if you're in check systems. Open the account online. They offer asterick free checking. Even if there isn't a Huntington Bank location near you, you can use their app to take pictures of checks to deposit them. You'll get a debit card too.

I just received confirmation that a check will be sent to me from a company called IKF Technologies LTD. Its a work at home job paying $30 per hr with paid training for one week. They said that they will send me a check to get the material needed to perform the job. Once I receive the check I am suppose to deposit it into my banks ATM not to go inside. Once its cleared Im suppose to send it to the supplier who will send me all of my materials before training. I looked them up and the web site said they had been in existence since 2000. what should I do? from all the stuff I have been reading this sounds exactly like a scam

Call the banking commissioner in your state and explain the situation, You should also call the federal Trade Commission toll free @ 1-877-382-4357 and ask if they can do anything for you. If your boss calls again, just let it ring. To be on the safe side, put your name on fraud alert through Trans Union Fraud Dept. The toll free # is 1-800-680-7289. They'll notify the other 2 bureaus and must be renewed every 90 days in order to keep it active. Once this is done, if someone tries to open an account with your info, they have to notify you first before it can be processed. Better to be safe than sorry later.

The job was definitely a scam. I am 100% sure. No legitimate company would allow checks to be deposited into the personal account of a new employee. Your "boss" was not away on business in the UK. Your boss's business is sending fake checks by FedEx to workers in the U.S. and having the workers in the U.S. cash the checks and send money by wire transfer to your boss. And your boss is probably in west Africa, most likely Nigeria, perhaps another country, but almost definitely not the UK.

You should call the police, but they won't be able to do much to help.

Fake Cheque

I am 100 percent sure. It IS a scam. You have been scammed. If you haven't yet sent any money to this "boss" of yours, just pay the bank back for the bad check. If you have sent the money to him, then sad to say you are out of luck. The best you can do is throw yourself on the bank's mercy and see if they'll let you set up a repayment plan.

This is definitely a scam. You should never accept a check like that esp from a person you've never met. It's like: Why should you trust a person you've never met with their money just the same as why would they trust you with their money without meeting you?

It's common sense but it happens a lot. Don't trust emails from people who say " they currently live abroad but need you to cash a check for them" or "I am the sultan's son and am very powerful etc etc however i need an american intermediary".

I almost fell for it too.

On the bright side you no longer have to deal with any banks, credit bureaus, or any other financial institution for the next 5 years when your fraudulent check blemish disappears. Best get a lawyer to deal with the posible outcome and best of luck.