Patty in Wisc

This was an ad/blog on my puter when I went to my email. To get a govrnmnt check for around $12,000.00, all you have to do is pay $2.79 for postage! Now give them your address & cc # and also the 4 digits on back of your card to pay for the postage. It doesn't say who is billing you! Whoever it is can use your cc # for anything.
How can they let this crap be on as an ad?
I wonder if this link will even go there as they might have enough #'s & closed the site so as not to get caught. So many scammers out there, it makes me very angry.
I keep getting fake emails (fishing) from my bank to update info. DON'T DO IT! It is not my bank although they use the same logo & looks real.
I don't know, could someone else try this & let me know if you get $12,000.00 from the goverment? If so, I'll do it.
Why can't these ppl get caught???
Just look at this!

Jeff Gets Grants - How I Got a Free $12,000 Financial Aid Check From the US Government

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Patty




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Patty in Wisc has sadly passed away 9/05/11. We will miss you Patty.

Richard

Almost as bad as paying money to dispose of phosphorus disguised as fertilizer for some chemical company.

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damaclese

Patty i get e-mails like that all the time its infuriating to say the least!if i dint get stuff like that i would not have to dealt over 100 MSG a day out of my in box not only is it illegal but think of the cost to are ISP to rout and deliver all that junk mail every day. knowing fully well how throughly publicized it is people still just give out there info nilly Willy as up please
they say God protects fools! its buyer beware in the 21st century!

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Patty in Wisc

You're right Paulo, I get about 300 spams a week! It all goes in a folder automatically so I usually don't see them. This was not a email, it was a ad. Usually they are for creams to get rid of wrinkles, or pills to get a bigger penis LOL. And, they are there when I go to my inbox so you can't miss them.
I recently found a $100.00 transaction that I didn't make. I called my bank & they said it was online & asked if I bought something online Feb 9. Last time I bought online was from Wellspring for fertilizer in Nov. How did someone get my #?? My bank says they got lucky with trying #'s at random. They punched in a # that worked & it was mine! That card got cancelled 2 days later. Watch your statements!
It is very scary that even without using my card - it being in my wallet, someone had access to it. BTW, my bank covered it so I am not out that $.

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saltydad

We're going through that hassle now. A charge that was not from us showed up for an Asian travel site. The bank did not pay it, but we',re waiting on the new account now. So for the time being we're in a cash-only economy. Actually not a bad time to do so but terribly inconvenient.

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Patty in Wisc

Inconvenience is RIGHT! After they cancelled my card, I went grocery shopping & in checkout I realized I can't use my card & didn't have enough cash. They put groceries at main desk & I went home to get my checkbook. Wrote the check & their machine wouldn't accept it. Their 3rd party check authoriztion denied it. I have good credit & enough $$ in account to cover but they go by what the MACHINE says. I called my bank...got the store manager etc. Mngr went by what MACHINE said. Total shopping trip was about 3 hours & I went home hungry with no groceries. I was so mad I was about crying. Bank was closed & ATM was useless - I didn't have a card!

I just saw another ad at a different forum for a free govrnmnt grant.
granthost.com
This one will take a check but it costs $19.95 for the kit for a FREE grant.

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Patty in Wisc has sadly passed away 9/05/11. We will miss you Patty.

turtile

You gave them your credit card?

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Chironex

Identity theft is on the rise. Most people think it has to do with credit (actually less than 27% is), medical records, drivers licenses, criminal records/character and social security numbers are being stolen/misused at an alarming rate.

The cost to restore your identity is enormous and requires a lot of knowledge of the law, procedural issues and usually the average amount of time just to get it back is about 600 hours!!! This is time that you must take, generally during working hours.

I know because I am in the business of protecting people's identity.

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Patty in Wisc

I gave no one my credit card. Actually, it is a debit/credit card. The bank cancelled the card & sent a new one. I have the new card now & cut up the old one.
Whoever got so lucky as to punch in the right numbers of my card does NOT know my name. As the bank said, they just kept punching in numbers till one worked. I don't know how the hell that works -- how can they do that?
My bank (US BANK) says it was a transaction with TCF (? I think that is also a bank) over the internet. I would love to have more details of this. Hope my next statement shows something.
BTW, the reason I found out 2 days later (2-11) was because I called my bank automated for the latest transaction history to see if I was low in account. When they said $100.00 was transferrd from overdraft protection I said ????no way??? & called a live banker. She cancelled my card right then.

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xavierdlc61887

best way to do it is just to actually type in the link to your bank site and login manually, paypal,ebay,aol, if u get emails like that go to the website manually thats how i have always done it and some sites even tell u the same thing k well hope this helps and yeah it is frustrating how scammers do that sort of thing

adrift

That is sucksville.

Ahh sweet memories. A few years ago -- for a while just to keep medical insurance -- I worked at a large retailer. I don't know some of the finer details -- usually I was in back, but worked front end to cover breaks and when they were short handed on check lanes. For one summer, I was one of two backup cash counters. The primary cash counter worked M-F, and us backups each did one day each weekend each to stay in practice. (The actual cash wasn't bad, once you got used to having 3 video cameras on you (left, right, rear) while you count out $25,000 to $35,000 in Benjamins, but the check reader took some real TLC and understanding to keep happy.)

Yes, you are right, there are 3rd party check authorization services (perhaps only 1 or 2?) that retail stores can use. Rent, mortgage, and bank to bank checks don't get recorded in this system. As far as I can tell it is retail stores only. But your credit rating is not checked (the routing # & checking acct # on the check don't reveal your SS#), nor can they determine your account balance. And probably with good reason. Would you want someone to know your checking account balance simply by knowing your account number with no password, etc?

So good credit and $ in the bank won't help.

Simply, the checking account number is looked up in the 3rd party's database. How much "credit" you get (the max amount of check you can write) depends on how many good vs bad checks you have written during some magic time interval. Also, that ratio will determine if the cashier must ask you for ID, to key that in.

If you have never written a check at a retail store (such as myself) they may ask for your ID and STILL limit your check to $25 or $50. After you put 1 or 2 good checks through the system even for just a few $, usually you can write checks for much more. The specific amounts and time frames were never revealed to me.

They don't have much choice. The POS systems are set up to be used by idiots, are highly automated all the way from the checkout register to the bank, and any sort of overrides or clever tricks will draw the wrath of the front end supervisor and/or cash counter because you messed up their numbers which are monitored by "loss prevention" dept and corporate. The chain I worked for there was no approved mechanism, even for the store manager, to override the authorization. Sure, it was easy to make a "mistake" and put the check in the drawer by hitting the cash instead of the check button. But you didn't hear that from me.

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Patty in Wisc

KJ, thanks for that explaining. I NEVER bounced a check and it was the first check I wrote out there... I always used my debit card. The total was also over $50.00 so that may be why, but they didn't say. They DID say that the company has been known to make mistakes. I am tempted to write another check there.
I forgot to say that the clerk gave me 800 # for that company to call from their phone & when I did, a recording came on asking for the check # (not my name or bank etc) & then said a check has bounced. Then it said next available operater will be 15 minutes! I was about in teers by then. I never bounced a check. I hung up & left. GRRRRR

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Patty in Wisc has sadly passed away 9/05/11. We will miss you Patty.

adrift

So one bad check (in their records) and no good ones = 100% bad.

One thing I don't know, but I sure wonder, is if they record the REASON a check is rejected (if they even get one). Consider this: Someone grabs a bank statement from your mailbox or your trash one day. They make up a fake check with your checking account number and pass it off a a large retailer. It gets processed and sent to the bank. The bank detects the check is fake and refuses payment. The retailer gets notice of the refusal and notifies the 3rd party authorizer...

With that case of someone "getting lucky" with your debit card # and the possibility that someone has used your checking account number on a bad check, maybe someone did get hold of your mail -- or your wallet even if briefly -- and copied some numbers.

Do you have teenage kids who may have had friends over for a party? Did you leave your wallet in a hotel room when you went to the pool or the beach and you returned to find the room made up, but nothing missing? Did you ever have a missing credit card bill, or one strangely open? If you rent, has anyone come in to service things -- pest control, A/C, annual appliance survey?

These may be purely luck, or you might have early clues that someone has stolen info from you ... the tip of the iceberg.

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Patty in Wisc

None of the above KJ, but you sure are making me think!! No statements missing, I keep my checks in drawer & no one here except my fiancee'. Purse stays w/ me always.
Also, no checks were drawn other than what I wrote. When that company said "bad check or check bounced" there was no reason for that. I think because it was the first check I wrote there, they decided to deny it.
Hey, thanks for all the info. Should be a 'heads up' for all of us.

So, did anyone go for that financial grant money?

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Chironex

Just to tag onto whatKJ was saying, have you ever written a check? Of course you have, so how tough is it for an employee to quickly make a copy of your check. They have your name address, bank routing number, account number and generally, your telephone and driver's license number.
Now all they do is transfer the routing number, telephone number, account number into a check printing software program and print checks with a new name. They create a phony ID to match and voila - they can write checks all day long. Taking it a step further, now they can return the merchandise purchased in a few days and get cash!

It happened to me about ten years ago.

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adrift

Care to see a movie of how to work the system?
Rent the movie "Catch Me If You Can" (2002). Amazing story.

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