Mystery Cheque Received

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This exact same thing happened to my friend. She was living in Europe (had lived in Scotland for 6 years). Out of the blue a cheque arrives for £4k, plain white envelope, no details - and she did exactly the same as you - tried to get the bank to let her know who it was from etc.. they couldn't tell her anything. She put the cheque in the bank and £4k cleared. ... then after a week, it was reversed and she was charged the bounced cheque (which her bank refunded).

Very very strange - bank couldn't tell her anything..

emweaver

toniq wrote: »

You could do an electoral role trace for the person the money is from as u have an area where the bank is so that could be a start, even 192.com could get u going in the right direction.
Maybe a family member has passed on? a friend of parents etc?
Unlikley for someone to have your name and address correct and make an error with that sum of monies.

Flick through a phonebook and you will find a persons name and address.

emweaver

jonesMUFCforever wrote: »

My opinion it is part of a scam and fraud.

It may well be that the real owner of the funds is out of the country and has not checked their statement yet and found their account lighter by £4k.
The scam works like this - the person who sent you the cheque may well get in touch again soon apologising for sending you the cheque and asking for its return - you of course no longer have the original cheque (greed!) and because its been 3 weeks you assume that the cheque will no longer bounce. So you return the funds using one of your own cheques (laundered funds!)- that will be debited from your account in days - then the original drawer will be wanting his money back - guess who's account will be debited with £4k??

So from being £4k up you will soon be £4k down - and expect a visit from plod if this is found to be part of a big fraud ( it is becoming more common).
You need to come up with a convincing reason why you banked a cheque from someone you do not know and was not expecting. The reason given so far -the bank told me to pay it in is likely to get you a jail sentence.

Don't forget the 2-4-6 rule for cheque clearance does not apply for fraudelent cheques written.

this is exactly what i was thinking! almost happened to us and at the same time several others in the county. it was in the local papers about a month later!

emweaver

dont do a direct money transfer as the cheque can still bounce! contact the police! i would never have banked it until i found out where it was from


ps. the cheque we received was from a bank in Leeds yet the scammer was somewhere in Africa

jonesMUFCforever

tyllwyd wrote: »

But if the cheque was drawn on one particular account - and you made sure the money was credited back to that same account - wouldn't that cut out the third party fraudster?

Yes it would.
My advice is to let the banks sort it out.
On no account whatsoever refund the money to anyone by cheque or transfer from your account.

jonesMUFCforever

ShelfStacker wrote: »

Not strictly true. You have to be a knowing party in the fraud, rather than just a victim.

Honestly, stick the money in a savings account and leave it for a while.

So you get a cheque from someone you do not know, and was not expecting. Would this not spark just a little suspicion in your mind or under the PofCA would a 'normal' person think this a 'normal' transaction?
I think not and by moving the funds (indeed paying the cheque in) in my mind would implicate him in the fraud and he would have to explain to the authorities his actions.

So the perpetrator gets off scot free leaving OP in the deep doo doo

Biggles

tyllwyd wrote: »

But if the cheque was drawn on one particular account - and you made sure the money was credited back to that same account - wouldn't that cut out the third party fraudster?

I'm not an expert on these scams; and I'm assuming the OP isn't either. All I know is, I wouldn't want to be out of pocket a few thousand while I waited for the banks to decide whether they had been correct to bounce the cheque or not.....

There's only one way to be safe: if you're asked for a repayment within six years, go to the bank and the police before doing anything.

worried_jim

There's only one way to be safe: if you're asked for a repayment within six years, go to the bank and the police before doing anything.[/quote]


Perfect ! just leave the money in a separate account earning interest and untouched.

Rustvaar

On the topic of OP being held accountable, sure enough he's responsible for his actions but when a bank advises you pay the money into the account - There's got to be some responsibility on their end for such a misguided piece of advice if it does turn out to be scam-related?

Brooker_Dave

jonesMUFCforever wrote: »

My opinion it is part of a scam and fraud.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7693131.stm