Was I scammed? They gave ME cheque

My boyfriend regularly posts ads on Craiglist looking for extra weekend jobs and have had some great jobs from that. Recently, someone contacted him with an offer. The offer came from a woman, who asked him to drive her husband around while he is in the city. Then, the following happened:

1. She sent a cheque for $1900.
2. My boyfriend cashed the cheque.
3. She asked him to send $1500 to someone via Western Union and he did just that (she made him aware that he would need to do this when the cheque arrived). The money was supposedly to be sent to someone to send a car out to the city we are in so my boyfriend could drive the husband around in it.
4. Informed her money was sent.
5. No contact for about a week.
6. A few days ago, she informed him that the husband got sick and so couldn't come. No mention of the money.
7. Yesterday, boyfriend checks bank account and see that the cheque is 'holding' and calls his bank up who asks him to call the sender.
8. He calls the woman, and gets through to her 'secretary' who says the cheque got cancelled because the husband got sick.
9. Bank wants $1600 back.
10. Woman says if boyfriend gives her $300 (the total leftover from the cheque after sending $1500 + $100 fee to send the money) that she will fix it.

Name of the woman emailing was Lisa Bell, cheque affiliated with University of Toledo.

I am really at a loss and confused by this whole situation. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

I'm sorry to tell you that this was a scam.

The cheque is counterfeit, so don't think of sending any more money to anyone. Your b/f is already going to get the full amount of the cheque charged back to his account, with unpaid charges, and he'll need to explain what's happened to the bank. They'll want their money back as the cheque always was worthless and you can't argue the matter because strictly your b/f has passed counterfeit paper.

This is a very common scam and if you advertise for work, you'll get many similar offers.

It's a nasty scam, because you not only lose money but can get in to an awful mess with your bank.

In essence the scam is simple. You've cashed a worthless piece of paper and paid the money to the scammer before it's cleared. There is no such thing as any job that involves you paying in a cheque and passing on cash. A lot of people fall for it, and it's an easy thing to fall for if you mistake a cheque as being cash.

Thank you for your reply.

I think we will have to accept that somehow or another we will have to give the bank the full amount back plus unpaid fees. This may sound silly but is there no way they can be reprimanded for their actions? Like if we made a police report or something?

Alas that is not going to do any good the scammer is using fake email, and because the funds were sent via WU I have to say that your money has gone.

I would advise your B/F to contact the bank and explain the situation to them, they may be able to help but I have the feeling he will be liable for the full amount

Also I would contact the police and get it in the system at least the bank will see that you have been doing something about it

Good Luck

Anytime someone you don't know personally tells you to send him money via Western Union or MoneyGram, it's a scam. If someone sends you a check and tells you to forward the money or some part of it via WU/MG, the check is either counterfeit or proceeds of another scam.

The woman is not going to fix it. She's a scammer. She may not even be a woman. There is no sick husband; the whole story is a fraud and a lie from beginning to end.

10. Woman says if boyfriend gives her $300 (the total leftover from the cheque after sending $1500 + $100 fee to send the money) that she will fix it.

She/he wont, you will just have lost another $300. Don't send anymore money, either to them or anyone who claims they can get your money back for a fee, it's another scam.

Did the bank clear your check before your b/f returned the money to them? I read that one check victim did manage to get the costs of the dud check covered by complaining to the bank about their use of terminology but I stress this will be a long, uphill and possibly fruitless task. Banks do not give away money without one hell of a fight.

A 'clear' check isn't really clear and can be recalled for about 90 days after it has 'cleared.' Banks should really make this more transparent but they usually don't. After such scams banks very often can get the victim to take out a loan to pay back the amount of the check which, of course, they charge interest on.

Hi ck88, Welcome to Scamwarners. Sorry to hear that you were the victim of a scam. I wanted to add that you really should report the theft to the police. Not that there is any chance of catching the scammer, but to get a report in the system. The scammer is probably not in the United States. If you post up some of the emails that the scammer sent, with full headers, we might be able to trace the IP address. I suspect that this scammer is in Nigeria. Posting up the emails could also help prevent somebody else from becoming a victim of the same scam. Make sure you delete out your boyfriend's email address and any other person information when posting.

This link gives information on how to find email headers using various email service providers. http://www.fraudaid.com/find_headers.htm#service