If customers express fear of fraud, they need an honest answer.
Q. I own an out-of-state property, which I advertised for rent on the Internet. This resulted in numerous conversations with a subject from England who sent me a bank check for the first month's rent, security deposit, and other "moving expenses." He stated that his employer was relocating him to the United States and would issue only one relocation check for all expenses. He requested I then wire the other expenses to appropriate vendors.
I was highly suspicious of a scam, but deposited the check in my Bank of America account, instructing the prospective tenant that no money would be wired until the check cleared my bank.
Before I wired the money, I wanted to double check that the money had cleared. On the fourth day I telephoned Bank of America customer service. In plain language I explained how I received the check and wanted to make sure I would not be a fraud victim. I told the representative that the prospective tenant wanted me to wire the additional money and I needed to confirm that in fact the check had cleared and could not bounce. The representative verified what I viewed in my online account and . . . told me the check had "no holds" and that "the money is in my account to be used." I then wired the money.
The next day the check bounced. Shouldn't Bank of America be responsible for the loss?
Michael J. Pevarnik, Hingham
A. This is clearly a more creative scam than the norm. The typical game is that you get the check and are told to cash it as a favor to the person (to avoid taxes or other legal impediment) and then keep the rest for your troubles.
Believing the check to have cleared, not realizing there is a waiting period after the money shows up in your account, you're asked to wire the rest.
But in this case, the target was actually providing a service and not expecting to profit. Plus, he took the extra step of checking with the bank.
As he found out, that was no guarantee, although he should have been warned that there remained a chance for the check to be deemed a fraud.
"This is very unfortunate when this happens and we do empathize with the customer," Bank of America spokeswoman Nicole Nastacie said. "We encourage our customers to know who they are doing business with and not to accept checks from unknown parties."
She went on to say customers are responsible for their own losses. Considering that is bank policy, when a customer expresses fear of fraud they need to get an honest answer about when the money is truly available. He didn't seem to get the full story. It is still good practice to remember to not cash checks for strangers.
For more information visit the Massachusetts Attorney General's website and click on the Scams and Identity Theft option listed under Consumer Protection, then select the Fake Check Scams option. Additional information can also be found at www.Fakechecks.org.
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