I Need Some Kind Of Help.Not Trucking Related

[whitewolf53]

Boy O Boy,did i ever screw up.About 4 months ago i received an e-mail from this so called lawyer,claiming that i had an inheritance coming to me.All i had to do was send him $1,200 dollars to get the bank to start processing the paperwork.
Well figuring it was a scam i told him i did not have $1,200 dollars,and seeing that he is a lawyer he could put up the money and i would pay him back after i got the inheritance.
He claimed that he did not have the money,but could find an investor for the money required.
About 2 weeks later,i get an e-mail from the so-called investor,telling me that they were sending me some postal money orders and to deposit them in my account and then wait further instructions.
The next day i got FedEx knocking on my door with a package.I opened the package and there was $3,350 dollars in postal money orders.Thinking they were counterfeit,i held them up to the light and saw the watermarks on them,so i thought they were good.
I took them to my bank and deposited them.The bank never questioned them.
The next day i get an e-mail from the investor telling me to send them by Western Union too two seperate people in Lagos,Nigeria.
So go to the bank to send them,by Western Union.The head teller there tells me that they have to keep them for 1 week before they can release the money.But he said he would see what he could do.So after being on the phone with whoever he was talking to he got the money released.
One week later i go to use my check card and am told it is not any good.
So off i run to the bank to find out what is wrong.They tell me that the money orders were counterfeit and they have locked up my checking and savings account and i owe them the money for the counterfeit money orders.I am at a loss on what to do right now.
ANY KIND OF HELP WOULD BE GREATLY APPRECIATED.
WHITEWOLF53
x( x( x( x( x( x(

 

[Lawrence]

Let me be the first to say - ouch. I'm very sorry to hear of your misfortune. The first thing I would do is read this information and file a report.

http://www.secretservice.gov/alert419.shtml

http://home.rica.net/alphae/419coal/

Lawrence,
Expediters Online.com


Deja Moo: The feeling that you've heard this bull before.

If you can smile when things go wrong, you have someone in mind to blame.

A billion Chinese can't be wrong, eat rice.

Talk sense to a fool and he calls you foolish.



-----------------------------------------
Thanks For Visiting EO!



http://www.expeditersonline.com/hotnews/sterling_eo_forum.jpg


Please Help Us Get The Word
Out About Expediters Online.com!
-----------------------------------------

 

[whitewolf53]

Thank you Lawrence for that info,i will check it out,the thing i cant figure out is why am i responsible for this when the bank accepted the money orders and then went to great lengths to to get the money sent over on western union for me.When they were suposed to hold it for one week.
Whitewolf53x( x( x( x( x( x( x( x( x( x( x( x(

 

[The Gibster]

I would also add to check the FTC website, although it sounds like the whole matter originated overseas with the scam artists. You can be perceived as truly the victim in the scam, and that might get the bank to see it from your side.

It's probably gonna be a very, very long battle.

Any local offices of the gov agencies mentioned that you can go to and actually sit down and talk to an agent? Remember, emals and forms don't do a very good job at portraying emotion, or the seriousness of facts.

Good luck to ya!!

 

[RichM]

I get that crap once in a while,somebody who is a so called I get these propsals from Nigeria,N Korea,Pakistan and so on. These scams are actually run by the Russin mafia. Good luck,I think the bank is somewhat responsible. Let us know how this turns out.

 

[davekc]

I would also contact your local attorney generals office. They will be able to give you some assistance on the local level with regards to your bank.
The attorney general will but you in contact with bank regulators, and probably the postal inspector.
Sorry to hear about your situation. I hope your post helps other folks from maybe getting into the same predicament.
Davekc

 

[terryandrene]

whitewolf53

I, too, am sorry to hear of your misfortune. I get one or two of these offers every week. The latest scam seems to be offers for too-good-to-believe software such as windows XP for $60.

I wouldn't be too harsh on the bank, if I were in your shoes. They set aside their policy, at you request, to accomodate you, not take advantage of you. They did so, I suspect, on the basis of your good standing with them and the probable fact that you had sufficient resources in your accounts to warrant a payout pending certification of the money orders.

Once again, I join the others in wishing you a favorable outcome from your expensive lesson.

Terry

 

[miko]

These days one does not need a scam like this.
Good luck, I hope it turns out for the good for you!
Please be very careful in the future!

 

[Crazynuff]

There are a lot of scams around lately using fake money orders and cashiers checks , especially originating in Nigeria and many other people have had their banks also accept the money orders only to find out later they were counterfeit . This is not a new scam . Your bank should have been more careful . Another method swindlers use is searching auto classifieds and using phony money orders or cashiers checks to buy cars . I often go to clarkhoward.com and read the main page there and the message boards to keep up to date on newest scams .

 

[Tennesseahawk]

I agree... the head bank dude should've had a red light go off as soon as he saw LAGOS, NIGERIA. Way too many money scams have come from there. Everytime we get one, we forward it to the Secret Service or FBI. Good luck on getting your money back, but I doubt they can do anything in Nigeria.

 

[whitewolf53]

Terry:I did not verbally request them to set aside their policy on this,i did not even know what was going on.The teller went to the head cashier with the paperwork from Western Union and i just stood there and waited.Finally he came back and said that they were not supposed to do this,but he went to bat for me and got it approved.He told me that in deals like this the bank has to hold it for one week.Also i am a new depositer there and did not have that kind of money in my accounts to cover those money orders.
I thought the banks were covered on insurance on something like this,Dont they recoup the money if they are robbed?????
I think they are trying to double dip on this.Collect the money from the insurance company,and then try to get it from me too.
Whitewolf53x( x( x( x( x( x( x( x( x( x(

 

[highway star]

That's a big 10-4 on the bank picking up on this scam. This has been around for a while now. My rule on e-mail is, if I don't recognize the sender, I don't open it. It not only keeps you away from those kinds of temptations, it helps keep you away from the virus of the day.

 

[ConfusedMuse]

I totally agree with TennesseeHawk you need to contact theFBI. Sure hope you kept all the emails they will definatly want to see them. Wish you all the luck and as it usually happens if it's too good to be true, it usually is. By the way snopes.com is an excellent site to check out all those seemingly unbelivable but Aunt Sue says it's true stories we all get in our email inboxes.

 

[RichM]

Just Curious,did you ask who died and left you the inheritance? That would certianly be a tip off.

 

[The Gibster]

Just curious WhiteWolf, from your post it looks like you ate up about a month, more or less.

Have you had any other messages from the alledged lawyer, the investor, or been able to get the bank to budge at all in 2 1/2 - 3 months?

The Gibster

 

[BlazingSky]

I just wanted to say "that's horrible" what those creeps did to you, and I'm so sorry this happened. It's so horrible to know that there's people like that in this world. I wish they didn't even exist, because the whole world would be a much better place without them.

I would contact the FBI, and give them all the information you have on these low-lifes. I got ripped off by some con-artists in Florida on an offshore investment deal a few years ago. They took all the money to some bank in some other country. But the FBI knew of the scam because there were so many reports on these creeps. The crook was tracked down, put in jail, and each investor was given a certain allotment of money back when the case was settled.