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I am homeless and have been for the last 8 months. Finding work has been difficult as I am physically and mentally handicapped.

This girl on Facebook who was friends with somebody I know hit me up and offered me financial help, and at first everything seemed legit. That is until she told me that she needed me to spend $1400 of the $1600 she sent me on Bitcoin and invest it in an account that she would have access to.

At this point I grew suspicious, even more so when she kept asking me for the login info to my bank account. After multiple attempts to get her to verify her identity, she kept refusing to send a video and began getting hostile.

I have since blocked her and reported the incident to the FTC. The cheque has yet to enter my account, but the name signed on it seems to be the one that she identifies with and part of me still believes that there's a chance it is her money.

My question is, will I get in trouble for accepting this money? What do I do now? I wouldn't mind taking $1600 off of a scammer, but if there's a chance that this is somebody else's money who also fell victim to this scammer, I can't ethically do that. Not to mention, it scares me to think about the potential legal consequences.

End Anti-Semitic Hate
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Jedediah Cleveland
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    I just wanted to say, congratulations on not sharing the login info to your bank account. That is something nobody should ever do under any circumstances - an online banking password is only to be used for logging into the bank's website or app - and the fact that the person asked for it is already highly suspicious. – David Z Sep 23 '23 at 21:43
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    This is most likely a scam but so what? If you've reported your doubts to the bank, the cops and the FTC… and anyone else they can think of… how can anything that goes wrong be your fault? – Robbie Goodwin Sep 23 '23 at 22:23
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    Does this answer your question? Scam or Real: A woman from Facebook apparently needs my bank account to send money – shoover Sep 23 '23 at 22:40
  • @RobbieGoodwin Assuming you don't deposit the check, then you are right. But if you deposit the check, knowing that you aren't entitled to keep the money (since the OP makes clear that she was told she wasn't entitled to it), then if the check bounces, it is your fault. – David Schwartz Sep 23 '23 at 23:37
  • @DavidSchwartz What did I miss? Surely, the worst of OP's doubt was '… there's a chance that this is somebody else's money…' which is a long way from 'makes clear that she was told she wasn't entitled to it'. – Robbie Goodwin Sep 24 '23 at 12:39
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    @RobbieGoodwin "... she told me that she needed me to spend 1400 of the $1600 she sent me on Bitcoin and invest it in an account that she would have access to" -- That is the OP being told that they are not entitled to keep the money. The OP is knowingly passing someone else's money through their account. – David Schwartz Sep 24 '23 at 21:26
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    @DavidSchwartz that is your interpretation, likely correct, but that is not what the OP was literally being told. The scammers prey on, well, not the brightest people. The OP was able to see through the ruse, but most their marks would not. – littleadv Sep 25 '23 at 02:56
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    Since this girl refuses to prove it's really her, you can assume she isn't. Please reach out to the real one through a reliable channel (in person, over the phone, through your mutual friend, but NOT using Facebook) and inform her that her account has been hacked. – Fabio says Reinstate Monica Sep 25 '23 at 12:03
  • @littleadv My point is simply that if the OP deposits the check, they are at fault because they know that they are not entitled to the money since they were told that by the person who gave them the check. When you deposit a check in a bank account, you are vouching for the validity of the check and your entitlement to the funds. The bank is entitled to rely on your representation. – David Schwartz Sep 25 '23 at 18:09
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    @DavidSchwartz since they were told that by the person who gave them the check - no, they were not. – littleadv Sep 25 '23 at 18:18
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    @DavidSchwartz Sorry but you won't get better than littleadv's concession. However strong your grasp of logic, the OP never makes it anything like clear that she actually believed she wasn't entitled, leet alone that she was 'told' anything useful. – Robbie Goodwin Sep 25 '23 at 18:49
  • From reading the OP, it seems that at the time that the check was deposited there was no indication that some of the money was intended to be returned, but that the "friend" requested that after the check was deposited. In any case, it is entirely irrelevant as far as the bank is concerned -- if the check bounces, the bank will charge OP a fee (as well as reverse the funds deposited). If they had already moved the money out of their account, when the funds are reversed, it might cause an overdraft, which could mean even more fees. So yes, you can "get in trouble" that way. – Herohtar Sep 25 '23 at 19:21
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    However, if "get in trouble" was intended to mean legal trouble, then most likely you will not, as long as it is clear that you were under the impression that it was a legitimate gift and you took appropriate steps once you did realize it wasn't. However, you are not entitled to the money (as it very likely doesn't even belong to the person who sent it), so you could get in trouble if you try to keep it. – Herohtar Sep 25 '23 at 19:23
  • @Herohtar "The cheque has yet to enter my account" – David Schwartz Sep 25 '23 at 22:06
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    @DavidSchwartz That reads more like the funds have yet to enter the account, otherwise it's a really weird way to say you haven't deposited the check. And indeed, the comment on the top answer confirms: "She got me to deposit the check but I haven't done anything with it." – Herohtar Sep 26 '23 at 05:28
  • I'm in NZ. I would like to send you a SMALL amount of money, based on how I feel after I've read this post and comments over the last day or so. Others may wish to do so too. Is there some way I (and/or they) can do so? Paypal would work if you have an email linked account. Or ???? . || NB: (1) This is a genuine offer. (2) No need to buy bitcoin or whatever :-) :-( . (3) I mean only small, but others may chip in also. (4) My email addresss is in my profile if that works better. – Russell McMahon Sep 26 '23 at 05:42

4 Answers4

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The check is most likely fraudulent/forged, and will eventually bounce. The scam is to convince you to convert most of that money to bitcoin to which the scammer then would have access and would undoubtedly transfer somewhere else. By the time the check bounces (could be weeks), the bitcoin would be long gone and the scammer with it.

Do not deposit the check, it can only get you in trouble. Shred it and move on.

littleadv
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    She got me to deposit the check but I haven't done anything with it. I contacted the FTC as soon as I realized she was a scammer, but that was only after I deposited the check. what should I do?? – Jedediah Cleveland Sep 22 '23 at 20:47
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    Contact the bank, tell them that the check is most likely going to bounce and ask them to reverse/block the deposit so that you don't accidentally use the money. – littleadv Sep 22 '23 at 20:48
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    @littleadv - Possibly also worth contacting the local PD to advise them that they think they've been the unwitting victim of a scam. If they get a visit before that happens, it looks a lot more like they've been caught in the act and are making excuses. – Valorum Sep 23 '23 at 08:54
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    If someone deliberately overpays you and wants the excess passed somewhere, especially via an untraceable mechanism, *at best* you are being used to launder illegal funds, but more likely you are just being swindled with a bad check. Do not walk away from this "opportunity"; run. – keshlam Sep 23 '23 at 12:31
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    @keshlam Hmm, that describes every cash transaction with change! They give me $10 for a $9 charge (deliberately overpaying me), and then I give them an untraceable $1 bill. – nanoman Sep 23 '23 at 19:43
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    This scam comes up multiple times a day on /r/scams on reddit. The typical play is they send you a check and use one of thousands of reasons to send them the money back - often by wire transfer. Then days or weeks later, the check bounces and the bank claws the money out of your account regardless if you still have it. If you've already deposited the check, just leave the funds there. DO NOT TRANSFER OR SPEND IT. Call the bank's fraud department and tell them you got scammed. They deal with this issue all the time. – selbie Sep 23 '23 at 21:01
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    @nanoman Indeed, the key factor which was probably implied but wasn't mentioned in the comment you replied to is that the initial transaction can be reversed. But a cash transaction can't be forcibly reversed (except by theft). – David Z Sep 23 '23 at 21:37
  • An interesting continuance would be if OP has a creditor that manages to seize the contents of the bank account for a debt, then the check finally bounces. – Joshua Sep 23 '23 at 23:52
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    If you have already deposited the check contact your bank immediately, maybe you can avoid the fee for depositing a bounced check (could be $35 or something like that). – Spehro Pefhany Sep 24 '23 at 03:09
  • @Joshua - It's not uncommon for someone to hack a bank account and then make transfers, but the introduction of a cheque would strongly suggest this is some form of advance payment fraud. Cheques are pretty damned rare these days – Valorum Sep 24 '23 at 09:56
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    @Valorum in the US checks are being used quite frequently. American financial system is still as it was in 1960s, with very little changes. – littleadv Sep 25 '23 at 01:31
  • @littleadv And here I thought that "the 1960s" would more be a description of German financial culture "Cash, please - what even is s credit card?" – Hagen von Eitzen Sep 25 '23 at 04:39
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    @Valorum you're forgetting how backwards parts of the US are – Hobbamok Sep 25 '23 at 08:30
  • Because of the OP's statement that part of me still believes that there's a chance it is her money I would like to be a little clearer that it IS fraudulent/forged and it WILL bounce. – Aurast Sep 25 '23 at 13:57
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    @nanoman A better comparison would be they give you $100 to pay $1, you give $99 in change, and the $100 bill is counterfeit. There is a reason that most retail outlets don't take anything above a $20 bill anymore. – Michael Richardson Sep 25 '23 at 15:53
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    Being homeless, I'm assuming that you have a low account balance to start with. You will also want them to block the check to prevent bills/debtors/etc from pulling the money out (which you would then be liable for). – Sean Duggan Sep 25 '23 at 18:09
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    Banks also like to close accounts that have been used in fraud this way. So call them yesterday and tell them you are getting scammed and get ahead of this. Once the check bounces they might just close your account and keep your money. (Technically you might get your money back in 6 months but they make it very hard.) – Ukko Sep 25 '23 at 18:43
  • @nanoman ever heard of the Casino's being owned by the mafia? Or of business working potentially at loss, but with cash, like used car trading ... there are a lot of examples ... – EarlGrey Sep 25 '23 at 20:57
  • By the time the check bounces (could be weeks) Weeks? Seriously? How can it possibly take that long? – John Gordon Sep 26 '23 at 01:09
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    @JohnGordon can even be months. Personal account holders have 60 days after the statement to report fraudulent charges. So depending on the statement cycles it could take up to 90 days for the report to come in, and then another god knows how long for the charge to actually be reversed and hit the depositor's account. – littleadv Sep 26 '23 at 01:17
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Tl;DR

There is no money and there is no girl.

Someone's Facebook got hacked and the scammer has chosen you as a target.

I wouldn't mind taking $1600 off of a scammer, but if there's a chance that this is somebody else's money who also fell victim to this scammer, I can't ethically do that.

It's 99% likely not the scammers money unless they are a terrible scammer.

Regardless, your situation has all of the hallmarks of a scam:

  • Offering too-good-to-be-true financial assistance
    • Sorry, but unless you have a personal relationship with a person, no one is gonna blindly give you money
  • Asking for login credentials of any sort
    • I don't even know where to begin with describing why voluntarily giving out your login credentials is always a bad move
  • They get hostile when you don't comply
    • A sense of haste/FOMO/urgency/trouble/hostility makes the victim perform bad actions faster, the scammer relies on this
  • Bitcoin
    • If you don't understand the seedy underbelly of this technology then getting scammed is a terrible way to learn
  • Pays you too much money and requests the excess to be returned
    • They give you dirty/non-existent money, you give them clean money. You are a mule but even worse because you don't even get a carrot for your troubles; you just get to live with the consequences.

My apologies for your homeless situation but you are prime prey for scammers. Stay vigilant or else you will find yourself with even less money.

MonkeyZeus
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I'm afraid it's almost certainly a scam. She sent you a cheque for $1600 then asked you to invest $1400 of it in a bitcoin account for her? You're right to be suspicious.

If it was a cheque and you haven't lodged it to your account then the money is still in her account. So why could she not just spend the $1400 on the bitcoin herself then send you the other $200?

littleadv has already described the nature of the scam, but as to whether it's hers or some other victim's, the likelihood is that it doesn't even exist.

komodosp
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  • Is there a reason to believe that the money actually is in her account? Writing a check / cheque means putting marks on a piece of paper; this action may be completely separate from the balance in the corresponding checking account. – Technophile Sep 25 '23 at 21:29
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    @Technophile - I severely doubt it. But I'm just pointing out the flaw in her logic - i.e. that if she was honest and not a scammer, then she could easily invest $1400 herself and send Jebediah the balance, since Jebediah has not yet lodged it. – komodosp Sep 25 '23 at 22:50
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If you deposited the check into your account, do nothing else and wait for your bank to figure out that someone tried to scam you and the check wasn't covered.

The bank put $1,600 into your bank account. In a week or a month or six months they will take $1,600 out of your bank account. That's it. Don't spend the money (because the bank will remove it from your account, whether you have money or not). DO NOT under any circumstances send money to the person that gave you the check.

gnasher729
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