Scams targeting college students

[Groomlakearea51]

For those with high school seniors, and kids in college.... This happened here to one of our kids.

Okeechobee News; 28 January 2009

“I was just trying to find some money for school,” said a community college student who very nearly got caught up in a scam.
As it turned out, Jeremiah Payne escaped without any di­rect loss of money. However, his bank closed his account and sent him a check for $332. When his Bank of America ac­count was closed he had $371 in the account.
Apparently, the bank de­ducted some fees, he said.
“ They try to target kids who don’t know about scams and stuff. I didn’t know -- until now,” said Jeremiah of the scammers in a telephone interview.
The 19-year- old Okeecho­bee High School graduate was targeted not by one scam, but two.
First, he was contacted on Nov. 9, 2008, about being a mystery shopper and was sent a check for $4,800. So, he went to his bank and deposited the check. A few days later he learned the check was counter­feit.
“ You would never have known it was counterfeit -- it had water­marks and stuff,” explained Jer­emiah.
Jeremiah was instructed to send some of the money he was to receive to Post Offi ce box 1261 in Orem, Utah.
Similar to another mystery shopper scam, the target is sent a check. They are instructed to keep a certain amount for themselves, then wire the rest via Western Union to a person and address given them. Next, they are told to fill out a form evaluating the Western Union store.
Often, by the time the ‘mark’ fi nds out the mystery shopper check was no good they have already sent money to a stranger and are left with a diminished bank account and bank fees to pay.
Jeremiah’s next brush with an online scam came after he filled out an online form in early December in hopes of receiving some money for school.
“I’m paying all my own ex­penses,” he said. “I went to a Google search engine and went to one (site) that was safe and I wouldn’t get a virus and stuff.”
Jeremiah, a southpaw hurler for the BCCC Titans baseball squad, said he really needs the fi nancial help because he doesn’t have much free time to work ­­other than in the summer.
After he had filled out the form, he received a check for $4,950.30. He was then told to deposit the check and transfer $3,000 to a Lynette Carter in New York via Western Union or a moneygram. The $3,000 was to cover taxes and such, he was told by Chap­man, Bird, Grey and Tessier, Inc. (CBGTI). Then, once that money had been received, Jeremiah would then be sent the rest of his money.
Jeremiah, who plans to trans­fer to either the University of Central Florida or Florida Atlantic University to pursue his studies to become a pharmacist, did as he was instructed and put the check into his account at the Bank of America.
And, as it was with the mystery shopper check, the CBGTI check was bogus. Jeremiah was first told that this check was good, but learned later that it was counter­feit and that the bank had closed his account on Friday, Jan. 9.
Besides being upset at the two companies that had tried to take advantage of him, Jeremiah was disturbed over the bank’s ac­tions.
“I was mad at the bank. Why didn’t someone tell me it (the check) was bad? The person I spoke with (at the bank) said it wasn’t their job,” said Jeremiah. “I was told later that I could re­open my account, but I told them I wasn’t going to re- open my ac­count with them.”
A call to the local Bank of America seeking comment on their policies and procedures was not returned.
An official at the bank told Jer­emiah on Monday, Jan. 12, that his money would be sent to him in the form of a cashier’s check.
“ The bank didn’t send me a let­ter, call me or send me an e-mail -- nothing!” exclaimed the 2007 Okeechobee High School gradu­ate of his account being closed. “ The bank rep said ‘all I can say is, have a nice day’.”
After narrowly escaping two scams, Jeremiah said he has learned a valuable lesson and is passing on that knowledge.
“It’s total crap, people trying to rip you off,” he said. “I’ve told everybody I know, if you get a check, don’t put it in the bank.”

[BLSamuel]

The banking industry I think is flaky at times. If I put cash in my account at 2:35 PM and the deposit cutoff is 2:30 PM, it is not posted until the next business day. Yet, if one then withdraws cash at the bank or in person it is taken out the same day.

And why isn't it the bank's responsibility to ensure checks are valid? Shouldn't they better be able to identify a bad check than a normal person. A normal check in the US drawn on a US bank I think should clear overnight. A check on a line of credit or credit card I think takes 5 days to clear and they usually hold most of the funds for up to 5 days until the check clears.

And fees are crazy. I once cost a club I belong to a $4 fee for the above scenario. Put in cash just after the cut off. Transferred out to pay a bill much later. The withdrawal posted that day, the deposit the next, socking us with a monthly service charge as we feel below the minimum threshold. Some banks even do that to kids or declare dormant and collect fees if don't use the account frequently enough.

Crazy

I wouldn't trust anyone sending a check asking for money in return. That's a major scam red flag. Though some things sure sound legitimate ...

[wuzzzer]

I was charged a fee once because a check I deposited from someone else bounced. Why do I get penalized for that??

[tommyboy]

This is crazy. My gf is in college, and over the last month, we've received a certified money order for over 5,000, and another for around 750 bucks. We didn't deposti/cash either one due to the fact that it seemed to "scammish". Why in the world would someone send us a check for 5 grand? And that one didn't have any letter or anythng saying to send a certain amount to someone else. But the second one for 750 did say to take 15 percent of it, and send the rest to some dude in China............. Luckily for us, we were smart enough to not cash/deposit them. they're both just sitting in our safe. We kept them just in case someone along the way tried to say we were stealing money from em........