SCARS Institute's Encyclopedia of Scams™ RomanceScamsNOW.com Published Continuously for 25 Years

SCARS Institute’s Encyclopedia of Scams™ Published Continuously for 25 Years

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Scams Come In Many Flavors

This One Involves You Depositing Checks For Scammers

You got a contact through social media, or received an email? Maybe you fell in love with someone online? Whatever way they got to you, the wonderful, trustworthy person you are talking to just needs a small favor! Just a little thing. You would surely do this for them, right?

Someone the new person knows or is in business with owes them some money for whatever reason. Whatever the reason, it will be a good story, full of details. What the details are don’t matter, there are a million variations, but it all comes down to the same thing.

The other somebody is willing to send a check, but oh no! Your friend doesn’t have a way to cash the check! Maybe you could do it for them?

So you friend will arrange for the check to be sent to you. You just need to deposit in your bank account for them, or if you don’t have an account you will need to open one.

Once you have deposited the check in your account, you can take the money out and send it to your new friend.

Maybe they will even send a couple of checks, or a few only a few days apart.

You are so willing to help your new friend, because you just know they can be trusted! You send them the money by Western Union, MoneyGram, or some other way where you pay cash or have it debited from your bank account. Maybe you send it to them on your Credit Card, because you know the check is good and you will be repaid.

Fake CheckExcept for one small problem …

The check is FAKE!

Now your bank account is overdrawn – disastrously.

Worse you took the money out. Now you have a giant hole in your bank, everything you need to live on is at risk. Maybe you are now totally broke!

You sent the money to your wonderful new friend who said everything was going to be great!

You ask your new friend about it and they have a perfect excuse, it must be something simple. They will send you another check to replace it.

You get the new check and deposit it.

Oops! It’s made of rubber again. And your bank charges you even more fees, maybe they even close your account for bad checks.

You plead with your new friend, you ask what could have happened. Your friend blames it on the other person that sent the check to you. Your friend says you should talk tot hem to get your money.

Only problem is that the person that sent the check can’t be reached. Then your friend is angry with you for bothering them when it is all your fault (or some other equally wonderful reaction).

You still don’t quite understand what happened, but you know something is wrong. You call your bank and they are not very helpful – they say you are responsible for the negative balance and the fees, but they suggest that you call the police if it is as you say.

You call the police and they tell you it was all a scam. You are devastated. How could your perfect new friend do this to you?

No you have to face the reality: you are out hundreds, thousands, tens of thousands of YOUR money. You have a fake check, and NO ONE is going to get your money back.

If you are lucky and the check came from an address within your country, the police will have someone to go after, but they are very busy and this is a non-violent crime. They will call you when they have news. In the mean time the bank has to be paid back.

What you have just read goes on every single day, in fact hundreds of times a day.

Were you stupid to have trusted your new friend? Yes you were, and now you have to pay for it. However, you will get past it. You are still alive, you have your real family and friends.

Yes you should have know better. Didn’t your parents warn you about talking to strangers?

BUT now you have learned an important lesson about safety online. A costly lesson to be sure. You paid the price. You were dumb. Are you going to stay dumb?

We sincerely hope not, because you have a debt now to be repaid. The debt is to yourself.

You were foolish, but you learned the hard way, and you are stronger now because of it. So what are you going to do now?

You are going to go through a variety of stages as you recover from this. They will be hard, but you are now stronger and smarter because of it.

Recovery starts with admitting what you did, and making a commitment to never let it happen again.

Sounds simple, but it’s not. You need help and support. You will probably be like most victims – family and real friends have a hard time understanding how you could do this to yourself.

We understand!

Your first step is to join a group that understand what you went through, because everyone in it has been the victim of a scammer too!

Go Here and Begin Healing: https://www.facebook.com/groups/RomanceVictimsGroup

Being a victim of an online scam is not much fun, it always costs you something. Money, or time, or your heart. You always come out scarred.

But you can get even, at least a little bit. You need to do a few things, and these are positive steps that will help you begin to move on.

Start with sharing and getting the support of others (as we said above).

The report everything to us, we publish it and help others avoid becoming victims.

If we have enough information, we can hurt the scammers in the thing they care about most – the money! Who knows we might even convince local authorities to arrest them. However, it starts with your report to us here: https://www.romancescamsnow.com/how-to-report-scammers-fraudsters/report-scammers-here/

If you have been through this, we sincerely wish you the best.

If you have not, now you know!

-/ 30 /-

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Published On: March 13th, 2016Last Updated: December 30th, 2017Categories: ♥ GALLERIES & CONTENT COLLECTIONSTags: , , , , , , 0 Comments on The Fake Check Scam1044 words5.3 min readTotal Views: 4536Daily Views: 2

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Important Information for New Scam Victims

If you are looking for local trauma counselors please visit counseling.AgainstScams.org or join SCARS for our counseling/therapy benefit: membership.AgainstScams.org

If you need to speak with someone now, you can dial 988 or find phone numbers for crisis hotlines all around the world here: www.opencounseling.com/suicide-hotlines

A Note About Labeling!

We often use the term ‘scam victim’ in our articles, but this is a convenience to help those searching for information in search engines like Google. It is just a convenience and has no deeper meaning. If you have come through such an experience, YOU are a Survivor! It was not your fault. You are not alone! Axios!

A Question of Trust

At the SCARS Institute, we invite you to do your own research on the topics we speak about and publish, Our team investigates the subject being discussed, especially when it comes to understanding the scam victims-survivors experience. You can do Google searches but in many cases, you will have to wade through scientific papers and studies. However, remember that biases and perspectives matter and influence the outcome. Regardless, we encourage you to explore these topics as thoroughly as you can for your own awareness.

Statement About Victim Blaming

Some of our articles discuss various aspects of victims. This is both about better understanding victims (the science of victimology) and their behaviors and psychology. This helps us to educate victims/survivors about why these crimes happened and to not blame themselves, better develop recovery programs, and to help victims avoid scams in the future. At times this may sound like blaming the victim, but it does not blame scam victims, we are simply explaining the hows and whys of the experience victims have.

These articles, about the Psychology of Scams or Victim Psychology – meaning that all humans have psychological or cognitive characteristics in common that can either be exploited or work against us – help us all to understand the unique challenges victims face before, during, and after scams, fraud, or cybercrimes. These sometimes talk about some of the vulnerabilities the scammers exploit. Victims rarely have control of them or are even aware of them, until something like a scam happens and then they can learn how their mind works and how to overcome these mechanisms.

Articles like these help victims and others understand these processes and how to help prevent them from being exploited again or to help them recover more easily by understanding their post-scam behaviors. Learn more about the Psychology of Scams at www.ScamPsychology.org

Psychology Disclaimer:

All articles about psychology and the human brain on this website are for information & education only

The information provided in this article is intended for educational and self-help purposes only and should not be construed as a substitute for professional therapy or counseling.

While any self-help techniques outlined herein may be beneficial for scam victims seeking to recover from their experience and move towards recovery, it is important to consult with a qualified mental health professional before initiating any course of action. Each individual’s experience and needs are unique, and what works for one person may not be suitable for another.

Additionally, any approach may not be appropriate for individuals with certain pre-existing mental health conditions or trauma histories. It is advisable to seek guidance from a licensed therapist or counselor who can provide personalized support, guidance, and treatment tailored to your specific needs.

If you are experiencing significant distress or emotional difficulties related to a scam or other traumatic event, please consult your doctor or mental health provider for appropriate care and support.

Also read our SCARS Institute Statement about Professional Care for Scam Victims – click here to go to our ScamsNOW.com website.

If you are in crisis, feeling desperate, or in despair please call 988 or your local crisis hotline.