IT People in Canada? Help?

[Chromatix]

Relevant extract from that page:

Anytime a scam involves a cashier’s check, official check, or money order from a bank, and you believe that it could be counterfeit, you should contact the issuing bank directly to report receipt of the check and to verify authenticity. When contacting the bank, do not use the telephone number provided on the instrument, as this number is probably not associated with the bank, but rather with the scam artist.

To locate a bank’s mailing address, you can check the FDIC’s Web site at: http://www2.fdic.gov/idasp/main_bankfind.asp

In addition to contacting the appropriate banks, there are others whom you also should notify if you receive a counterfeit item. They include:

Scams, generally–Federal Trade Commission (FTC):by telephone at 1-877-FTC-HELP or file an electronic complaint via their Internet site at http://www.ftc.gov.

However, I'm also going to echo the advice about *not* cashing the cheque - even if it appears to be genuine. Your friend hasn't agreed to start working for this company, so she isn't obliged to do anything for them - and that the company would *presume* this is, at best, suspicious. And that's if, against all odds, this isn't just another money-laundering scheme or fake-cheque scam.

[Rapscallion]

If it sounds too good to be true, it is.

Rapscallion

[fireheart]

Yeah....make a copy of it, send the copy back to Canada and take the real one to the police.

[lupo pazzesco]

Mk, now that this is all said and done (we hope), I can finally detail what happened.

After friend called, freaking out all over the place, I had her scan and email me a copy of the check. At this point, she told me she had been informed she needed to open an account at a specific bank for this company's payroll to be direct deposited, and the guy she's been in touch with has the info for direct deposit.

I told her don't do ANYTHING, except go to the bank, explain what she'd explained to me, and close the account.

Meanwhile, I reached out to my friends/contacts (meaning you guys as well! ). From that, it was gleaned that the routing number doesn't match the bank. I was able to call the bank, and ask them if they could verify the legitimacy of the cashier's check. They asked me to fax it in, and I did, and within 5 minutes I got a call back, informing me they did NOT write that check, it IS fraud, don't touch it. Everything has been sent to their legal department.

So I called friend back with the info, and told her if she wanted to come in to the store (I was at work, mind you, the whole time, doing this while staying on top of all my other projects...), we'd package everything up, info on the company, the check, the envelope it came in EVERYTHING, and send it to the Florida bank they fraudulently tried to claim issued the check. She was feeling a LOT better, and getting well and truly pissed. She said she'd call me if she made it to that side of town.

She called a couple hours later and informed me she had closed the account at the bank she was told to open an account at, and shared the story. THAT bank told her, they could submit everything and launch an investigation of their own, so she turned in everything to them, and called it square.

She's also going to play dumb if the guy calls, because she doesn't want him to go poof, and wants to give every chance of catching him, if at all possible. So I told her, if he calls, asking about the check, just play dumb.

As in "Oh! Well, I'm finishing out my two weeks at my current job, and I don't get off shift until the bank closes. But I'm planning on taking care of it this weekend. what all did you want me to get once I've cashed the check?"

And once he hangs up, note the number, day, time, and report it to the bank she turned in all the info to, and keep trucking on.

So, that's where we stand. Thank you to everyone. I wasn't sure what scam was going to occur, but when it hit, she really freaked out. I knew enough from this site, to tell her not to give them ANYTHING when I first heard about this so called company, don't pay for "background checks" or "drug tests", etc, etc.

Friend isn't out any money, but she's had a relatively exhausting day yesterday, and I'm glad I was able to reach out here and give her some peace of mind. I'm sharing that link from earlier with her, so she can be more aware moving forward.

Thanks guys!

[Chromatix]

Keeping a level head is the best defence against scams like this.

[lordlundar]

I would like to add, if it is a Canadian origin, contacting the Canadian Anti-Fraud Center is also advisable. The FTC will no doubt investigate and it will filter to the RCMP as well, but this will make a joint investigation easier.