help, counterfeit check victim

Hi, my name is Steve. Two days ago I realized I have been a victim of a job offer scam from Craig’s list, more or less as described here ( http://www.craigslist.org/about/scams involving counterfeit checks and western union money transfers). I’m a 20 year old attending college, living on my own bill and without any relatives/friends in this country to help me. I’ve lost all my savings of about $4000 which I had for supporting myself and use for to pay rent and school tuition until I find a job, and right now I'm facing a tough situation.

Assuming your extensive knowledge with scams I would highly appreciate your help to help me figure out what to do, where to start and what are my best chances/options? Mainly I wanted to ask what are the realistic chances for scam victims get their money back when they report to Financial attorneys, federal trade commission, Police Department, Dept. of Justice, FBI etc? Every place I looked for help only gives prevention tips or states that your money is gone and you should contact a local department, therefore makes me think that in general it is not really possible to recover from a scam. Neither have I found any proof of financial scam recoveries relative to my issue.

My second question involves my bank which I used to cash the checks. I failed to notice any major warnings beforehand due to my inexperience with banking systems, and delusive information the bank provided me with. Being uncertain about the check I received I decided the best precaution to take was to ask at the very financial institution that handled my own funds; my bank. The bank answered my concerns telling me that after I deposit the check it will take about 2 days to confirm it had funds and release the amount into my account where then the money would be safe and unable to be canceled/removed/whatever-the-case ( I specifically emphasized on the last part when asking ). Sure enough the check indeed released on my account two days later which further convinced me the checks were legitimate because as I was told at my bank (which I assumed by nature is an institution created with a purpose of knowing/dealing with finance and serving their customer) that if the money released it was safe and solid. At that time it hasn’t even crossed my mind the checks may be counterfeit, only thing I knew about checks was to make sure it has funds available and address my remaining concerns at a legitimate financial institution; a bank (just like having math concerns addressed by math professor would seem trustworthy). It seemed everything was ok so I preceded to send out two Western Union money transfers for supposed shipments thinking I was providing help to my future employer (scamer). Funny thing is that four days later the bank withdrew the one check’s amount from my account because, as I found out, the check was filled out wrong (that’s what I was told and it didn’t seem like a big deal). And of course two more days later bank withdrew the second check amount, when I called they informed me it was counterfeit and that obviously I was responsible for all liabilities. This leads me to the second question; Would I have any chance to reclaim my money presumably contacting financial attorney and going against my bank and their inconvenience, even though I’m aware banks are not held responsible for scam liabilities by law?

I deeply appreciate your thoughts and responses.

Sincerely,
Steve

Hello, and welcome to Scamwarners. This is indeed a common scam and I'm sorry to hear you were a victim of it.

Every place I looked for help only gives prevention tips or states that your money is gone and you should contact a local department, therefore makes me think that in general it is not really possible to recover from a scam.

Unfortunately, this is usually the case. There's not much you can do to get your money back if the scammer has already picked up the transfer. (If not, you can usually have the WU office cancel it if you're fast enough, but from your post it sounds like it's probably been too long.)

The bank answered my concerns telling me that after I deposit the check it will take about 2 days to confirm it had funds and release the amount into my account where then the money would be safe and unable to be canceled/removed/whatever-the-case ( I specifically emphasized on the last part when asking ).

This part bothers me though. If you got them to specifically say the check would not be canceled they shouldn't have canceled it. There's probably something in their terms of service that covers this, but it can't hurt to ask your bank manager about it.

I can tell you what happened to my sister. This was over 5 years ago, I warned her from the beginning to stop that it didn't seem right. But she was convinced he was for real. She meet him on Craigs List. It started out as a long distance romance. He sent her flowers and different gifts. He quote traveled alot. Was based in New York, quite handsome (model from Focus Hawaii), and he spoke with an accent. But he told her he was original born over seas. He told her he got stuck, forget what country, and needed her to cash a check his friend had. It only took about 3 checks and then the bank closed down her account, took all her real money and was going to charge her with counterfieting. The checks are not real but they are pulling money from real accounts. In the United States the real account owner has the right to get back their money. That is why they withdrew the money from your account. As for your money, the bank doesn't have it the government does. How can they determine which is your money vs scammer money. At least that is what they told my sister. Luckily the bank did not file fraud charges, but she can never again get a bank account in her name. She has to have a co-signer. I am really sorry that you lost all your money, but by the time you hire a lawyer, it will cost more than what you lost. I don't know of any victims groups, but it would not hurt to look. Maybe legal aid can point you in the right direction to help at least clear your name.