Should I cash this check? I really need help!?

Question

I put an ad on Craigslist for babysitting. Someone wanted me to babysit for them and pay me 500/week. They said that they were moving from Canada to the US and needed a nanny. They said they were going to send me a check for my upfront pay and some money to buy groceries and cleaning supplies. The check came and it is $2850. I am to put it into my bank account and take a picture of the deposit slip. It is a check from Aspen Skiing Company in Snowmass Village, CO. It was sent in a Flat Rate Mailing Envelope, but the sender name is different than the name that the man whose kid I would be watching gave me. The envelope says "Mike Huang" and the guy's name was Felix Williams. These people are suppose to be coming to SC on Sunday and I don't know if this is a scam or not. I don't even know how this could be a scam, but a friend suggested it is. I really need someone's help and advice!

Sounds fishy, doesn't it?

Answer 1

100% scam.



There is no job.



There is only a scammer trying to steal your hard-earned money.



The next email will be from another of the scammer's fake names and free email addresses pretending to be the "secretary/assistant/accountant" and will demand you cash a large fake check sent on a stolen UPS/FedEx billing account number and send most of the "money" via Western Union or moneygram back to the scammer posing as the "supply company" while you "keep" a small portion. When your bank realizes the check is fake and it bounces, you get the real life job of paying back the bank for the bounced check fees and all the bank's money you sent to an overseas criminal.



Western Union and moneygram do not verify anything on the form the sender fills out, not the name, not the street address, not the country, not even the gender of the receiver, it all means absolutely nothing. The clerk will not bother to check ID and will simply hand off your cash to whomever walks in the door with the MTCN# and question/answer. Neither company will tell the sender who picked up the cash, at what store location or even in what country your money walked out the door. Neither company has any kind of refund policy, money sent is money gone forever.



When you refuse to send him your cash he will send increasingly nasty and rude emails trying to convince you to go through with his scam. The scammer could also create another fake name and email address like "FBI@ gmail.com", "police_person @hotmail.com" or "investigator @yahoo.com" and send emails telling you the job is legit and you must cash the fake check and send your money to the scammer or you will face legal action. Just ignore, delete and block those email addresses. Although, reading a scammer's attempt at impersonating a law enforcement official can be extremely funny.



Now that you have responded to a scammer, you are on his 'potential sucker' list, he will try again to separate you from your cash. He will send you more emails from his other free email addresses using another of his fake names with all kinds of stories of great jobs, lottery winnings, millions in the bank and desperate, lonely, sexy singles. He will sell your email address to all his scamming buddies who will also send you dozens of fake emails all with the exact same goal, you sending them your cash via Western Union or moneygram.



You could post up the email address and the emails themselves that the scammer is using, it will help make your post more googlable for other suspicious potential victims to find when looking for information.



Do you know how to check the header of a received email? If not, you could google for information. Being able to read the header to determine the geographic location an email originated from will help you weed out the most obvious scams and scammers. Then delete and block that scammer. Don't bother to tell him that you know he is a scammer, it isn't worth your effort. He has one job in life, convincing victims to send him their hard-earned cash.



Whenever suspicious or just plain curious, google everything, website addresses, names used, companies mentioned, phone numbers given, all email addresses, even sentences from the emails as you might be unpleasantly surprised at what you find already posted online. You can also post/ask here and every scam-warner-anti-fraud-busting site you can find before taking a chance and losing money to a scammer.



6 "Rules to follow" to avoid most fake jobs:

1) Job asks you to use your personal bank account and/or open a new one.

2) Job asks you to print/mail/cash a check or money order.

3) Job asks you to use Western Union or moneygram in any capacity.

4) Job asks you to accept packages and re-ship them on to anyone.

5) Job asks you to pay visas, travel fees via Western Union or moneygram.

6) Job asks you to sign up for a credit reporting or identity verification site.



Avoiding all jobs that mention any of the above listed 'red flags' and you will miss nearly all fake jobs. Only scammers ask you to do any of the above. No. Exceptions. Ever. For any reason.



If you google "fake check cashing job", "fraud Western Union scam", "check mule moneygram scam" or something similar you will find hundreds of posts from victims and near-victims of this type of scam.

Answer 2

It's a scam... there is no babysitting job.



Once you confirm that you have the check they will ask you to cash it and send some of the money via Western Union to somebody else. Either they claim to have accidentally overpaid you or you need to forward them money to a different state because they lost their wallet, etc. and are now stuck without money.



When you do that... you will forward real money... and as soon as it is sent off through Western Union the check they sent you (the $2850) will bounce and the bank will want the money they gave you in lieu of that check. Now you have to pay the bank back and the money you sent off can not be traced and the scam artist got real money for a fake check.

Answer 3

No no no no no no no.



That's the biggest scam on the internet - you cash the check, it bounces, or it's counterfeit. It's a scam. Even craigslist warns about these. Here's on version going on in Hawaii. May I suggest you take the check and bring it to your local police, tell them where it came from and make a copy of the ad that you responded to.



http://www.hawaii247.com/2012/11/09/police-warn-public-about-craigslist-internet-scam/

Answer 4

It's got SCAM written all over it. DO NOT CASH THE CHECK!!! Just trash it. Even though it is possible, I would have to ask why people moving from Canada to South Caroline would be drawing a check on a Colorado bank? They want a copy of your deposit slip so they can glean information about your bank account (the account number that you enter on the deposit slip along with your name). There is no babysitting job that is so valuable to anyone that they would risk paying you (an unknown individual to them) almost $3000 in advance.

Answer 5

It's a scam. There is no legitimate reason for them to want a picture of the deposit slip.

Answer 6

of course it is a scam, in a couple of days they will contact you and say we meant to send you "X" where x is a value far less then 2850 say 850 and they will ask you to wire back 2000. then in a couple of weeks when the check bounces your will be royally screwed

Answer 7

Scam.



First of all, nobody would pay you up front, or give a total stranger a large check "to buy groceries", which they could do themselves one hour after arrival.



Second, anything involving more than one country smells of scam.



Third, that whole thing about the deposit slip--scam. The deposit slip will have your account number on it, which they can use to raid your bank account.



Fourth, why would the check be from the Ski Company--doesn't make sense.



Fifth, the confusion about names.



Sixth, it's on Craiglists--which is filled with scam artists.



Seventh, it violates Craiglist rule #1--only deal with local people and only deal in cash.



If after all that, you're not convinced, simply reply that you're not able to accept a check, but look forward to meeting them when they are in SC and you can see them in person to firm up arrangements. You'll find "Sorry, but our move has been postponed..." or some other lame excuse.