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  • Dealing with fraud

    I got an email from my bank today telling me of a overdraft of about $150.

    I should have a surplus of $150, and I damned well hadn't spent $300 on anything. So I log in to the bank web page and there was a check for over $300 that had hit.

    I write *1* check a month. For $12.20 for my dental insurance plan.

    The pictures of the check show it OBVIOUSLY doctored. THREE HUNDRED(Yes all caps) is written above Twelve Dollars(Spelled with that type of capitalization), and the 3 is outside of the box. Add to that there's a signature on back, not a company stamp.

    So I called the bank. They're pretty sure they'll be giving me my money back, but it will take something like 5 days to investigate this.

    I called the company that owns the building, since there's security cameras in the main lobby where the mail box is. I've asked them to go over the footage and find who stole my mail.

    I plan on pressing charges.

    I want to do horrible horrible things to this person.

  • #2
    Are we allowed to make suggestions?
    ACNL Dream Address: 5300-6013-1370

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    • #3
      Quoth Akasa View Post
      I plan on pressing charges.

      I want to do horrible horrible things to this person.
      I'm glad the doctoring of the cheque is so obvious - that should make reversing the cheque (relatively) trivial.

      And do press charges. Said person should have horrible, horrible legal things done to them.
      Seshat's self-help guide:
      1. Would you rather be right, or get the result you want?
      2. If you're consistently getting results you don't want, change what you do.
      3. Deal with the situation you have now, however it occurred.
      4. Accept the consequences of your decisions.

      "All I want is a pretty girl, a decent meal, and the right to shoot lightning at fools." - Anders, Dragon Age.

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      • #4
        Quoth darkroxas45 View Post
        Are we allowed to make suggestions?
        Please do.

        This is the first time I've dealt with this.

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        • #5
          Suggestion #1: keep us posted on how this goes down.
          Suggestion #2: call the postal inspector. They will rock the thief's world, and not in a good way.
          Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, you speak with the Fraud department. -- CrazedClerkthe2nd
          OW! Rolled my eyes too hard, saw my brain. -- Seanette
          she seems to top me in crazy, and I'm enough crazy for my family. -- Cooper
          Yes, I am evil. What's your point? -- Jester

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          • #6
            Also suggestion 3: call the dental insurance company, explain what happened and try to make sure you are still covered. Find out when they need payment by, and how, and get them paid up. If someone stole the 12$ check they were supposed to get, they haven't been paid this month.
            Pain and suffering are inevitable...misery is optional.

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            • #7
              Akasa, depending on your state's laws and the bank, whether to press charges or not may not be your choice.

              I was a victim of check fraud 20+ years ago. I had a roommate steal a check from my checkbook, write it out to the furniture rental place and print my name as the signature - nothing like my actual signature. My bank told me that once I signed a form stating that it was not my signature on the check, they would refund me the money and then the fraud would be their's to deal with legally. I never did follow up on what happened to the roommate, partly because I quickly found another place to stay.

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              • #8
                Two posts deleted from this thread for advocating violence/harm to the criminal. While we know the posts weren't meant seriously, let's stay on this side of the law. :scowly-face mod smiley goes here:

                Staying on this side of good taste is preferred, but not required. Especially as it's my personal preference.
                Seshat's self-help guide:
                1. Would you rather be right, or get the result you want?
                2. If you're consistently getting results you don't want, change what you do.
                3. Deal with the situation you have now, however it occurred.
                4. Accept the consequences of your decisions.

                "All I want is a pretty girl, a decent meal, and the right to shoot lightning at fools." - Anders, Dragon Age.

                Comment


                • #9
                  Quoth Seshat View Post
                  Two posts deleted from this thread for advocating violence/harm to the criminal. While we know the posts weren't meant seriously, let's stay on this side of the law. :scowly-face mod smiley goes here:
                  Sorry! As one of the people whose post was deleted, I apologize for the advocation (however facetious it was) of violence against a no-good, shiftless waste of skin and oxygen fraudster.
                  PWNADE(TM) - Serve up a glass today! | PWNZER - An act of pwnage so awesome, it's like the victim got hit by a tank.

                  There are only Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse because I choose to walk!

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                  • #10
                    Called the postal inspector.
                    Was given a reference number and told there won't be any updates until at least Monday. Also they won't call me with updates I need to call them.

                    Luckily I have a note pad that I put all my notes in.

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                    • #11
                      Once both the bank and the postal system are on the perpetrator, their life will become miserable.

                      Even so, make sure the dental insurance company is aware of the situation (if you got reference numbers from bank or postal system, pass both on), and make sure they get paid. Invite them to join with the legal slugfest onto the perp.

                      If you do end up out of pocket or otherwise given problems by the situation, feel absolutely free to seek appropriate legal/police redress. I won't advocate violence, but I do take glee in seeing justice done.
                      Seshat's self-help guide:
                      1. Would you rather be right, or get the result you want?
                      2. If you're consistently getting results you don't want, change what you do.
                      3. Deal with the situation you have now, however it occurred.
                      4. Accept the consequences of your decisions.

                      "All I want is a pretty girl, a decent meal, and the right to shoot lightning at fools." - Anders, Dragon Age.

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        The bank is probably on this already, but where was it cashed? Even if not a bank, they probably have good video of the face, and are the most likely party to be left holding the bag for the $300, so they are motivated to cooperate.
                        Suckiness is reinforced up OR down at every transaction. Accepting BS makes them worse for all of us; firm fairness trains them to suck less.

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                        • #13
                          Why did the depositing bank (or any check-cashing place) even accept the check if it was a) altered like that and b) made out to a company but endorsed by an individual?

                          My boss at my other PT job once neglected to fill out the written amount line on the check. Even though she had signed it and done the number line properly, I could not write the amount out myself but had to send it back and have her fill in the missing bit.
                          "I am quite confident that I do exist."
                          "Excuse me, I'm making perfect sense. You're just not keeping up." The Doctor

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                          • #14
                            I had an experience with a stolen checkbook back in the '80's. I promptly reported the theft to the local police and ended up closing the account, so none of the stolen checkes were honored or bounced. I did spend some time dealing with collection agencies about that incident.

                            Agreed with pressing charges and contacting the insurer. To avoid a repeat of this incident, ask about online or automatic debit payments-or come to think of it annual payments.
                            I'm trying to see things from your point of view, but I can't get my head that far up my keister!

                            Who is John Galt?
                            -Ayn Rand, Atlas Shrugged

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                            • #15
                              Quoth Dreamstalker View Post
                              Why did the depositing bank (or any check-cashing place) even accept the check if it was a) altered like that and b) made out to a company but endorsed by an individual?
                              I was wondering the same thing. Such an obvious change should have been rejected by the teller.

                              I'm no so sure the check was stolen out of the mail. I suspect it was stolen by someone at the dentist's office/insurance office or was doctored by someone at the bank.
                              They say that God only gives us what we can handle. Apparently, God thinks I'm a bad ass.

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