Bank Policy Violated

[Adrina]

What is the name of your state? AL

Hi, my husband recently got a letter in the mail stating that he won the lottery. this letter had a Canada mailing address, a legit phone number and fax. they said to call them after we received the letter. they said to cash the check and send the money to 2 tax agents in canada by western union. we went to the bank, cashed the check, and sent them by western union. and now the bank called us stating the check is bad and they want their money by the next day at noon or else they will call the police.

The problem is that we feel the bank violated our rights as a customer bc they did not follow their banking policy and expect us to take full responsibility. if they followed their policy we would not be in this problem. i spoke with a bank representative at another branch from this bank and they specifically stated that they were not allowed to credit a foreign check without 1st holding it (which could take up to 2 weeks) to make sure its good or no. another thing is, they didnt even mention to us that they stopped my acct. so now we have checks coming back charging returned check fees.

I have called around to the Bar Association, Bankers Association, etc. they all say that it is our responsibility to pay the full amt back bc its like a contract between us and the bank. we are a customer there so that means that any check we give them we are responsible to make the check good. but this was a Foreign Check with a large sum. i still dont feel we are the 1's who are responsible.

Any comments??? Is there nothing we can do to keep from having to pay all this money back?

[Litigation!]

Originally Posted by Adrina

What is the name of your state? AL

Hi, my husband recently got a letter in the mail stating that he won the lottery. this letter had a Canada mailing address, a legit phone number and fax. they said to call them after we received the letter. they said to cash the check and send the money to 2 tax agents in canada by western union. we went to the bank, cashed the check, and sent them by western union. and now the bank called us stating the check is bad and they want their money by the next day at noon or else they will call the police.

The problem is that we feel the bank violated our rights as a customer bc they did not follow their banking policy and expect us to take full responsibility. if they followed their policy we would not be in this problem. i spoke with a bank representative at another branch from this bank and they specifically stated that they were not allowed to credit a foreign check without 1st holding it (which could take up to 2 weeks) to make sure its good or no. another thing is, they didnt even mention to us that they stopped my acct. so now we have checks coming back charging returned check fees.

I have called around to the Bar Association, Bankers Association, etc. they all say that it is our responsibility to pay the full amt back bc its like a contract between us and the bank. we are a customer there so that means that any check we give them we are responsible to make the check good. but this was a Foreign Check with a large sum. i still dont feel we are the 1's who are responsible.

Any comments??? Is there nothing we can do to keep from having to pay all this money back?

My response:

Yours is #3.

Read this thread - - [url]http://forum.freeadvice.com/showthread.php?t=311160[/url]


IAAL

[SusanMargaret]

Adrina,

I would not take the advice of IAAL. If you click on his name, Litigation, and then click on the number which displays his posts, you can see that almost all of his replies are smart mouthed. It is apparent that he is not an attorney. If you need advice get a real lawyer.

[Litigation!]

Originally Posted by SusanMargaret

Adrina,

I would not take the advice of IAAL. If you click on his name, Litigation, and then click on the number which displays his posts, you can see that almost all of his replies are smart mouthed. It is apparent that he is not an attorney. If you need advice get a real lawyer.

My response:

Shows how much you know . . .

IAAL

[klhofbauer]

Original Poster: I'm not trying to be mean gal, but, are you really truly this naive & trusting? Or even gullible? .. when did your husband DRIVE up to CANADA and PLAY the lottery?

I'm sorry, but I cannot believe the absolute gullibility of some people! do you watch the news? Do you read newspapers?

BTW... I've got some swamp land here in the Arizona desert I'd LOVE to sell you!

As far as your question: Yes, YOU are on the hook for the money. It's not the bank's fault.

I would suggest that you start using the computer to google things like:

Canadian Lottery Scam:
[url]http://phoenix.about.com/cs/seniors/a/canadianlottery.htm[/url]
[url]http://www.canadiancouncilbbb.ca/prize.html[/url]
From the second URL above:

Please be advised that it is illegal in both Canada and the United States to ask for money upfront if you have legitimately won a prize/sweepstake. To our knowledge, these scams are presently affecting Americans, Australians, Canadians, New Zealanders, and citizens of the United Kingdom.

Please do NOT send in the requested money, as you will receive absolutely nothing in return. You should ask yourself "When did I ever enter a Canadian lottery?".

Lottery Scam: (has a listing of all their known lottery "companies" that are scamming)

[url]http://www.fraudwatchinternational.com/internet/lottery_operatives.shtml[/url]

Unfortunately, there's about zilch you can do, you are on the hook for the money.

KH

[Ladynred]

I'm sorry, but I cannot believe the absolute gullibility of some people! do you watch the news? Do you read newspapers?

No kidding. I can't believe people fall for this garbage ?? Lesson 1 - IF IT SOUNDS TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE - IT IS !!!!!!!!!!!

[Dandy Don]

How can you expect to cheat a bank out of its money by giving it a bad check and not expect to be held responsible? Although I do admit you were cheated as well, since you acted out of good faith, but you were foolish to believe you could get something for nothing.

You need to be contacting your state attorney general about this, so that the attorney general can go after the Canadian company and perhaps get your money back that way.