[SUPREME1]

I'd buy your brother a beer and you a shot, if we were all in a bar and you just told me this story.



So awesome.

[Salmonax]

haha, just recently watched this episode :) so funny. Stimpy can't resist pushing the red button and just yells "I CAAAAAAAAAAAAAN'T!!!!" and goes for it lol.

I always loved his expression and how he just disappears under the table after pressing it.

I have received over 125 fake checks or money orders in the last six months.

That's odd - how were you identified as a target?

[Flying_Phoenix]

I have received over 125 fake checks or money orders in the last six months. What they claim is that the balance is for a courier/transport service that will pick up the item being sold. At the last minute they cancel or modify the transaction, asking you to send the balance (minus a few hundred for you) back to them or to their transportation agent.

I was thinking this was the situation but refused to believe that someone could be THAT stupid.

[Oblivion]

This just gets better and better. The little fuckhead stole an additional $200 from my mom's purse before he left today.

This has been a truly awesome weekend.

[Turok_TTZ]

This just gets better and better. The little fuckhead stole an additional $200 from my mom's purse before he left today. This has been a truly awesome weekend.

Damn that sucks. You have my sympathy mate.

[KO Traveling Hobo]

This happened in February, but he's still looking for a way to pay the bank back? Meaning he got his $400 a month or two ago and hasn't been forced to pay up yet?

I'm not saying your brother isn't retarded, but it sounds like he got free money.

[cutmeamango]

Does your brother smoke... weed?

[Oblivion]

This happened in February, but he's still looking for a way to pay the bank back? Meaning he got his $400 a month or two ago and hasn't been forced to pay up yet? I'm not saying your brother isn't retarded, but it sounds like he got free money.

No, he still has to pay it back, but it's on an installment plan or some shit.

[Flying_Phoenix]

This just gets better and better. The little fuckhead stole an additional $200 from my mom's purse before he left today. This has been a truly awesome weekend.

This kid is almost my age. How can you be so stupid at 21?

Does he have...I don't know...a........JOB!?

[BakedPigeon]

Alright, kiddies, y'all may want a bottle of some type of hard liquor before you proceed any further. The story I'm about to tell you actually occurred, and as retarded, or skull splittingly idiotic as any of it may sound, be aware that all of this is (sadly) 100% true. Okay, so I have a little brother, who is currently 21. He's been living with my dad, and my mom's been living with me. So he stops by yesterday planning on staying for the weekend. My mom, being the type of person she is, immediately starts snooping in his bag and finds two checks written out to my brother. My mom asks him who they're from. Here's where the fun begins. You know those various craigslist postings where some random guy tells you to that he'll send a check that you can cash, where you can keep some money while sending back the rest? Yeah... So he goes ahead, cashes this particular check, which was for $2,600, keeps $400 and sends the rest back. He gets a call from the bank letting him know that it was a fraudulent transaction, and they tell him to inform the police. Apparently they can't reclaim the rest of the money cause it went overseas, and now he's on the hook for $2,200. Now, one would think that this would be an unfortunate lesson that one would wisely learn from, and never deal with such people again. YOU'D THINK THAT, WOULDN'T YOU. My genius bro, it turns out, has been STILL getting checks, from these same people (these were the checks my mom found in his bag). Now, here's how that portion of the conversation went. Me: So what the hell are these checks? Him: Oh, they're new ones. Me: What?! You're still trying again with this shit? Him: No, of course not. Me: Then why did you sign them both? Him: I wasn't planning on cashing them. Me: Still doesn't explain why you signe... Him: Besides, they already turned me down. Me: So you DID try once again! Him: Well, yeah but only cause I knew they would turn me down. Me:...okay. I'm curious when did you cash the first check? Him: Some time early February. Me: When did you try to cash these new checks? Him: Like 3 weeks ago. Me: *head asplodes* Yes, that's right. After getting fucked over by these people, he thought it would be a great idea to try AGAIN, just a few short WEEKS after the first incident happened. And I didn't include this wonderful nugget: Me: Okay, assuming that you lucked out, what the hell were you planning on doing with your new found monies? Him: I was gonna pay back the money I owed from the first time. Me: Well, then. So...after all that, I tried to do my best to point out that he's a fucking idiot and that he's playing an EXTREMELY dangerous game here. Unfortunately, when reason and common sense didn't seem to have any effect, one has to resort to fear, and I simply asked him if this shit was worth going to butt pounding prison. The penalties here in California range from 1-3 years in the State pen. He said that he's not worried because (again, NOT making this shit up!) he feels that his fellow prisoners will leave him alone cause he's skinny and doesn't know how to fight. .... Fuck. my. life. Who knows what other shady things this twit has been doing without any of us knowing. He is in for an extremely painful future. :/

This could all be explained by a addicted drug user, does he do drugs?

[finowns]

What stops someone from keeping the whole $2600?

[RiccochetJ]

What stops someone from keeping the whole $2600?

Other than the fact that the Bank wants the money back and you were the one that cashed the fraudulent check?

[finowns]

Other than the fact that the Bank wants the money back and you were the one that cashed the fraudulent check?

Why would you send the rest to whomever gave you the check?

[Raonak]

OMG...

he feels that his fellow prisoners will leave him alone cause he's skinny and doesn't know how to fight.

Icing on the deligious cake of stupidity.

[KO Traveling Hobo]

Why would you send the rest to whomever gave you the check?

I'd imagine that mailing the bulk of the money away makes it clear that you're just dumb as hell and not an actual criminal. If you keep the money, then it's a more willful crime.

[VanillaCakeIsBurning]

You probably shouldn't ever let him back into that house again unless you like having possessions stolen.

My condolences OP, if my sibling did something similar there would be consequences.

I'm not sure if there's much you can do to help. I'd think that you can't change a person just with some words and effort alone. If they don't want to take the first step, then things will remain the same.

[iammeiam]

Why would you send the rest to whomever gave you the check?

This thread is a GAFfer almost getting wrapped up in one of these scams.

Essentially, it's often presented as a 'job'--up to and including semi-official-looking documentation. So the incentive is to keep doing this to keep earning more and more money for a ridiculously easy job (cash check, wire money, profit!)

[Brannon]

This just gets better and better. The little fuckhead stole an additional $200 from my mom's purse before he left today. This has been a truly awesome weekend.

You should call him and tell him verbatim, 'what in god's fuck is the matter with you?'.

[Randolph Freelander]

The brother isn't dumb for falling it for it the first time. He is for not falling for it the second time but still trying to defraud the bank.

No, he is a certified idiot for falling for it to begin with. Falling for it 3 times means he is the dumbest person alive.

You don't have to "trawl craig's list," as another post put it, to immediately recognize the scam.

Edit: and obviously I've never been there, I didn't even know the right name!

[RandomDancing]

I wonder what bank your brother did this with.

The other weekend I deposited a check into my empty bank account. Just for easy numbers, say the check was for $300, and I deposited $100 of that and had $200 withdrawn during the same transaction. Because the check had not yet cleared, my bank account didn't have enough in it to cover what I withdrew from the check, and because I withdrew more than I deposited, my bank put a hold on my ability to use my card and spend any of the $100 waiting to be deposited. I imagine unless your idiot brother has more than $2600 in his bank account (if he does, I'm obviously doing something wrong with my life), then such a system would have prevented the idiocy that occurred here.

[Cipherr]

I like how you assume we all trawl craigslist and are familiar with the myriad of bullshit scams being perpetrated there.

He explained enough of it even if you dont man.... But still, this comment cracked me up.

[Slavik81]

If this is representative of his usual behaviour, it sounds like his money should be held in trust by a guardian. No idea what the legal requirements are for getting that, but if I were you I'd be researching it.

I can't get my head around why the bank would allow you to take the cash away, with the possibility of it bouncing.

Because there are relatively few people as dumb as the OP's brother.

[cat litter]

I will up you on that: my bro is 20, living with a woman twice his age (started when he was 15), got a child with her this January. He sees no problem with that.

That sounds like my dream when I was 15, besides the kid part.

And sorry about your brother op, please don't give up on him.

[Oblivion]

Well, I told several of my cousins about this, and they agreed to talk to him. I can only hope for the best, now.

[Aaron]

Well, I told several of my cousins about this, and they agreed to talk to him. I can only hope for the best, now.

Unless this 'talk' involves a beating I doubt it'll do any good.

[Oblivion]

So I sent my bro a bunch of links to several prison rape videos and studies of rape and violence in prisons on FB. His response:

I don't care how many times you show me those videos, it still hasn't convinced me to NOT do those stuff. I know what i am doing and if i go to jail, then thats my fault

:/

[JGS]

No, he is a certified idiot for falling for it to begin with. Falling for it 3 times means he is the dumbest person alive. You don't have to "trawl craig's list," as another post put it, to immediately recognize the scam. Edit: and obviously I've never been there, I didn't even know the right name!

the first time around, the scam is kind of hard to recognize. It's not a nigerian prince thing usually.

The next couple of times, he didn't fall for it. he was a part of it and was hoping to pull a number on the bank. That's why he's stupid. he wouldn't go to jail for the first offense, the other one(s) are fraud themselves.

I wonder what bank your brother did this with. The other weekend I deposited a check into my empty bank account. Just for easy numbers, say the check was for $300, and I deposited $100 of that and had $200 withdrawn during the same transaction. Because the check had not yet cleared, my bank account didn't have enough in it to cover what I withdrew from the check, and because I withdrew more than I deposited, my bank put a hold on my ability to use my card and spend any of the $100 waiting to be deposited. I imagine unless your idiot brother has more than $2600 in his bank account (if he does, I'm obviously doing something wrong with my life), then such a system would have prevented the idiocy that occurred here.

It depends on the bank. Some banks are offline, meaning they couldn't release funds because the system doesn't even know a deposit was made until later that night when it "posts". Oftentimes, they won't put a hold on a check anyway.

Your account may be offline. Otherwise, it would have been foolish for the bank to give you 200.00 while putting a hold on the remaining 100.

My bank is in real time so we have to make decisions on whether to trust the check or not.

[johnsmith]

So I sent my bro a bunch of links to several prison rape videos and studies of rape and violence in prisons on FB. His response: :/

He deserves what's coming to him. I'd cut contact with him because he's only going to come to you to borrow or steal or ask you to bail him out.

[Oblivion]

He deserves what's coming to him. I'd cut contact with him because he's only going to come to you to borrow or steal or ask you to bail him out.

He's now demanding that I give him money on a consistent basis otherwise he'll enact his scheme ahead of schedule.



....



HE'S BASICALLY THREATING ME WITH A GUN POINTED AT HIS OWN HEAD, WHAT THE FUCK.

[Imm0rt4l]

He's now demanding that I give him money on a consistent basis otherwise he'll enact his scheme ahead of schedule. .... HE'S BASICALLY THREATING ME WITH A GUN POINTED AT HIS OWN HEAD, WHAT THE FUCK.

Yea, you can't even entertain the idea.

[SwiftSketcher]

Update thread for when he's arrested kthx.

And also, I would steal back that money he stole from your mom, what a fucking dickhole.

[Ice King]

Oh man, I remember that one thread last summer where some gaffer thought he had lucked out doing the whole check thing. Then everyone proceeded to call him a massive idiot and he freaked the fuck out. Then he went real quiet and I don't remember what happened to him.

Man, that thread got me through like a full week of work, it was so entertaining.

EDIT

This thread is a GAFfer almost getting wrapped up in one of these scams. Essentially, it's often presented as a 'job'--up to and including semi-official-looking documentation. So the incentive is to keep doing this to keep earning more and more money for a ridiculously easy job (cash check, wire money, profit!)

Oh man, that's the one! Thanks, my train ride is going to be much better now that I have some grade A reading material.

[Downhome]

Stop caring, stop trying to help, and stop talking to him about it in any way.

Let him fall for the scam now that you've already explained it. Let him get in trouble, and then go to prison. If you keep trying to help, it will ruin you in the process in the long term.

I'd just about be willing to have the cops talk to him about stealing from your mom.

At the very least I'd kick him out of the house or totally cut off contact with him until he gets his crap together. It sucks, but trust me. In the long term, it's a lot better than going along with it for years. Before you know it years will have gone by, he'll still be doing this stuff if not even worse stuff, and you'll have your life ruined by it all as well, in one way or another.

[coldfoot]

The part I don't understand is that if he's the one being scammed, why would he go to jail?

[krae_man]

I've had people walk up to me while I'm at an ATM trying to scam me with a similar con.

One dude gave me some BS sob story about losing his wallet and he boss giving him a "Bank Transfer" so he can take a cab home(in another city). I told him my account has 5 day holds on deposits to get him to leave me alone. Then like 6 months later the same dude asked me again with the same story. If I didn't believe it the first time, what makes you think I'll believe it a second?

The best one was when someone walked up to me while I was at an ATM with this con, in a bank, while the bank was open. I gave that guy a firm loud no and he noticed the security guard on duty walking over and bolted :lol

The part I don't understand is that if he's the one being scammed, why would he go to jail?

He's the one who cashed the bogus cheque. Granted proving Mens Rea is a little harder. "you should have known this was a scam" would probably be the argument. Anyway, generally speaking as long as you pay the money back you're fine.

[Mammoth Jones]

My friend recently got fucked by this scam. Was a craigslist ad for working at home and at some point they sent him a check and then asked him to take a small portion of that money and pay for something.

Otherwise a smart dude. But he was out of 2,000 and he's unemployed. His bank chose not to hold him liable for the money but they closed his account and won't do business with him.

[coldfoot]

He's the one who cashed the bogus cheque. Granted proving Mens Rea is a little harder. "you should have known this was a scam" would probably be the argument. Anyway, generally speaking as long as you pay the money back you're fine.

I believe it's all about intent, and a criminal suit would not be filed due to the difficulty of proving it, although repeated behavior would definitely be strong evidence towards this.
Of course the bank is free to pursue the money owed in a civil suit regardless of the intent. But you don't go to jail for those.

[JGS]

The part I don't understand is that if he's the one being scammed, why would he go to jail?

He wouldn't go to jail for being scammed.

He will go to jail for being a scammer

[Dr.Acula]

He's the one who cashed the bogus cheque. Granted proving Mens Rea is a little harder. "you should have known this was a scam" would probably be the argument. Anyway, generally speaking as long as you pay the money back you're fine.

I believe it's all about intent, and a criminal suit would not be filed due to the difficulty of proving it, although repeated behavior would definitely be strong evidence towards this. Of course the bank is free to pursue the money owed in a civil suit regardless of the intent. But you don't go to jail for those.

The argument would be that if you're doing someone else's banking in your name, and that you're being paid to do the banking, then you should have a reasonable suspicion of illegal activity, i.e. money laundering.

[phosphor112]

Beat him until he's unconscious.

When he wakes up, do that again.

When he wakes up again, do it again. This time while he's out, hit him in the nuts about 15 times so he can't have kids.

Let him wake up tell him he's a fucking idiot and punch him one more time in the jaw.

[Tashbrooke]

I feel your pain >.<

[VanillaCakeIsBurning]

It seems like he intends to bring you down with him. I would cut off contact with him and move on.

Mere words aren't going to magically re-construct his behaviour.

[Eppy Thatcher]

Whenever i hear stories like this or the one where grandma kept sending the nice people in africa her entire life savings even after friends/family/THE COPS told her it was a scam and she needed to stop and her only reply was "But what if one of them isn't and they need my heeeeeeeeeeelp" (best old lady creaky voice) ... all i can think is cull the herd. There are certain situations where you just kind of "Welp" and throw your hands up.

nothing you can do bout it. Make sure he doesn't know your SSN or bank account info and move along ....

[Oblivion]

Well, he hasn't gone to butt pounding prison yet, but he did go ahead and rent a car for $150 for 3 hours. No, that's not a type-o. That's $50 an hour. He paid for it with financial aid money that he got for taking classes that he happens to be failing (every single one of them).

And this twit thinks he can make it on his own somehow. God, someone shoot me.

[NotTheGuyYouKill]

Well, he hasn't gone to butt pounding prison yet, but he did go ahead and rent a car for $150 for 3 hours. No, that's not a type-o. That's $50 an hour. He paid for it with financial aid money that he got for taking classes that he happens to be failing (every single one of them). And this twit thinks he can make it on his own somehow. God, someone shoot me.

Why...? Why would he do that?

[Loofy]

Me: So what the hell are these checks? Him: Oh, they're new ones. Me: What?! You're still trying again with this shit? Him: No, of course not. Me: Then why did you sign them both?

Wait... why would he sign the checks unless hes the one giving it?

[Dresden]

Why did he rent a car for three hours?

[Skeyser]

Being a dumb-ass and falling for scams is one thing, but stealing from your own mother? That's about as low as you can get.

[Oblivion]

Wait... why would he sign the checks unless hes the one giving it?

I'm guessing he signed it then the bank or whatever tried to run it and said it's not legit or something.

Why...? Why would he do that?

Why did he rent a car for three hours?

When asked he said: "Because I can."

[Neoriceisgood]

This thread makes me feel good about myself!