Returned deposit money order scam

[JerryGilmore]

What is the name of your state? MA

I recently was a victim of a bad money order scam. I deposited a large money order for $3,400.00 (6/16) I was told by bank personnel that if the money order cleared in 3 business days, that the check was good. This was not true, after 3 weeks (7/5), I got a returned check and now my account is deficient.

What are my options? I don’t have the money to repay this. Doesn’t the bank have insurance to cover this? Is the bank in any way culpable? Do I have any legal recourse? It seems that 13 business days is an abnormal long time to wait for a returned check given today’s instant clearing technology. Also, money orders should have fraud or security preventative measures.What is the name of your state?

 

[ecmst12]

A money order is the same as cash, how can it be bad, unless it was counterfit?

 

[seniorjudge]

What is the name of your state? MA

I recently was a victim of a bad money order scam. I deposited a large money order for $3,400.00 (6/16) I was told by bank personnel that if the money order cleared in 3 business days, that the check was good. This was not true, after 3 weeks (7/5), I got a returned check and now my account is deficient.

What are my options? I don’t have the money to repay this. Doesn’t the bank have insurance to cover this? Is the bank in any way culpable? Do I have any legal recourse? It seems that 13 business days is an abnormal long time to wait for a returned check given today’s instant clearing technology. Also, money orders should have fraud or security preventative measures.What is the name of your state?

You tried scamming the bank with a fake money order and got caught; don't come whining to us.

 

[Zigner]

A money order is the same as cash, how can it be bad, unless it was counterfit?

....or reported lost or stolen....

 

[Debt Guy]

Q. Doesn’t the bank have insurance to cover this?

A. No.

Q. Is the bank in any way culpable?

A. No.

Q. Do I have any legal recourse?

A. Yes but only to the person from who you took the check.

Q. It seems that 13 business days is an abnormal long time to wait for a returned check given today’s instant clearing technology.

A. Not unusual if the check was counterfeit.

Q. Also, money orders should have fraud or security preventative measures.

A. Actually, people need to wise up that a money order or cashier's check is only a piece of paper.

My guess is that you were the victim of a con. You cannot cheat an honest man. You wanted something for nothing. You got nothing for something.

 

[angiesmom]

A money order is the same as cash, how can it be bad, unless it was counterfit?

My ex got a money order like this sent to him, too. It's a scam, and they ARE counterfeit money orders. OP, if you got caught up in the same scam, then you got a money order in the mail and you weren't sure why. It was your responsibility to call the bank and find out if it was good and also try to find the person who apparently sent it to you to find out why it was sent to you before you spent the money.

 

[JerryGilmore]

Yes, this is correct. My daughter replied to a scam. I only relized this after the fact. I asked the bank how long it took to discover the money order was a fake. They told me up to 3 business days. Obviously the clerk was not knowledgable about fake money orders. I have learned the last couple of days that it is my responsibility as the account holder not to accept bad checks and fake money orders. I now consider this as a very expensive lesson.

Having said this, I am now going to try to see if I can get the U.S. Post office to post a web page so that normal people can verify that a U.S. Postal money order is vaild. The technology is here now to do this. This would really make accepting Postal Money orders much safer. The only requirement would be to enter the serial number of the money order and the computer would reply with a "Valid/Invalid" response. So no privacy issues would be a problem.

 

[nobody]

If this was a US Postal Money Order your first clue should have been the amount. The maximum for a single Postal Money Order is $1000. Here are some links available from the post office. Simply entering a serial number on a web site is not sufficient as amounts can and often are altered on faked/forged money orders.

http://www.usps.com/postalinspectors/moalert.htm

http://www.usps.com/cpim/ftp/notices/not299/welcome.htm

http://www.usps.com/missingmoneyorders/security.htm

Also, if you are unsure of a US Postal Money Order - take it to the nearest Post Office and ask the Postmaster to check.

 

[angiesmom]

Yes, this is correct. My daughter replied to a scam. I only relized this after the fact. I asked the bank how long it took to discover the money order was a fake. They told me up to 3 business days. Obviously the clerk was not knowledgable about fake money orders. I have learned the last couple of days that it is my responsibility as the account holder not to accept bad checks and fake money orders. I now consider this as a very expensive lesson.

Having said this, I am now going to try to see if I can get the U.S. Post office to post a web page so that normal people can verify that a U.S. Postal money order is vaild. The technology is here now to do this. This would really make accepting Postal Money orders much safer. The only requirement would be to enter the serial number of the money order and the computer would reply with a "Valid/Invalid" response. So no privacy issues would be a problem.

Like nobody said, you just have to call the Post office. If the money order is from a bank, call the bank it was issued from to verify it.

 

[efflandt]

Even if there was a way to check the serial number and amount, the scammer could have printed up a dozen or more counterfeit checks with same ser.# and amt. So checking that may not do any good.

I have even heard of people depositing a check to the same bank a cashier's check was supposedly from, getting a positive answer when asking if the check is good, only to find out later that it was not.

Expedited Funds Availablilty Act specifies when deposited funds should be available, but that does not necessarily mean that a check has cleared yet. I would be curious what the scammer provided for identification (which may also be bogus) and what they received from the OP in exchange for the bogus check. If the OP was asked to wire part of the money somewhere, that would be VERY suspicious.