I'm A Victim of Forge Checks

Hello Everyone here in the legalmatch community, im new here i hope i can get good advice from each of you...

my name is mark davis, student, and im a victim of cashing out forge checks on my bank (wells fargo)

Heres my story...i hope you guys dont get bored...i really need your advise

somebody emailed me on 05/07/08, and saying that i can live in his house for free no charge at all, i just have to take care of his house, at that time im planning to move to sacramento, CA, because i cant find a cheaper apartment in stockton and my school is close to sacramento...at that time i know it was a joke/scam because no one will let you live in thier house for free(you have to pay for everything this days), so i email back the guy and said "ok i will live in your house but can i move in right away, like 2days before he emailed me(05/09/08)" he replied "sorry, im in london right now, im going to visit the US on may 31st, if your still interested email me back" i didnt email him back because im really desperate to move to sacramento because my school starts in june, i still have a lot of things to do, so anyway, i found an apartment already and moved the next day(05/09/08)..

i thought im never gonna hear from this guy again but...

he emailed me back on(05/12/08) and asking me if im still interested, and he add an offer i think nobody can refuse(student speaking), he told me i can live in house for free and he will hire me as an assistant on his jewelry company business, he said all i will do is, get the checks from his clients, cash it out, deduct 10% from it (thats my salary), and send him the money through western union...i know in my mind that this deal is to good to be true, but in my situation, i have to try to believe, MAYBE, this is real...i said "ok im going to try it" and he ask my name address and contact number, and he will do a background check on me, i gave him all that, and replied i passed the BG check, and he said can you start right now because im falling behind schedule(he add this info "i can get the money from the US to here, london, in 20-25 days, and if you cash it out in the US, it will be 3-5 days tops) i said ok...

on (05/15/08) he email me back and he said im gonna receive a package with a money inside(he didnt stated how much was it), cash that out, deduct 10%, and send it to me(pretty easy right)... i did all that send him the money and all, nothing happens, so that means that the check i good or its legal...and he thank me for my trust blah blah blah...and he emailed me again on (05/20/08), saying im going to recieve 2 more checks, OK???

i went to the bank and the teller said we cant cash you this check because its not cleared yet you have to wait 1 business day for the check to be cleared, i ask, is the check gonna be cleared tomorrow, she said yes, ok, and the teller suggested that i deposit the 1st check so i can just withdraw it tomorrow(05/21/08), i went to the bank again(05/21/08) to cash the 2nd check and before i cash that check, i ask the teller did the check i deposited yesterday cleared out (because i have doubts that this is not legal) i ask the teller twice, and she said "yes, the checks cleared out" cool..im going to withdraw $1,700 since i got 10% on the 1st check and 10% on the 2nd check, and she gave me the money, and i cash the 2nd check too...i send the money again to "andrew smith" through western union...he thank me again blah balh balh...the next day i recieve another two checks in the UPS, same amount $2,000 each checks, same deal, i went to the bank to cash the checks out, and the teller ask me "did you report your card stolen/lost" .. "no" .. "becaused it showed in our system that you have (-$1,500) on your account", and she let me talked to a banker. i ask the banker why is my account like that, i know i have $1,800+ on my account that i will never touch, its just for my rent and she said you deposited a forged check to us on(05/20/08), theres no balance left on that account number, they hold/locked my accounts, and suggested that go to the police and file a report, i immediately said to her "but the teller said the check cleared out, so i withdrew it, she said its not our fault, usually it will take to 3-5days to cleared out a check, then why did the teller told me that the check cleared out??? she said "theres nothing we can do"....

i email andrew ASAP, asking him if the checks are fraud??? and he said no!!! so i dont believe him now, because the actual bank told me that the checks are fraud, so i did my research on my own and found this.. WARNING! Check Scam!
after i found about that site(thats the check issued from) i totally freaked out because i just move to sac city and the $6,000 i cash out is a fraud, and my account is hold/locked....

My question is what can i do in this situation, i mean i know i have fault in this too, because i trusted a guy on the internet, but this would never happen if the bank alerted me early and didnt lie to me about the check cleared out, if it really took 3-5days to clear a check, why did the very first check he sent me didnt reported fraud or sent back?? right now my account is on hold and i have -$1,500 on my checking and i have available balance on my credit card (about $1,200), and today i check my accouny online and they took everything on my credit card($1,200) and subract it to my checking account(-$1,500) and charged me with almost $70 of overdraft fee, so now my credit card is full and my checking got (-$300)....so who do you think is really responsible for this??? me or the bank??? what can i do, do i have to file a claim??? i dont really know what to do...please help me out, if you have questions to me im going to answer it gladly, im gonna be in this forum until i got a hold on my situation...

Thanks for reading my story and im happy for any response you give me, good or bad....

Mark Sean Davis

Unfortunately, there is very little recourse for victims of check scams. Interestingly enough, all through your posting you indicate you knew it was stupid and you knew it was wrong, yet you did it anyway. Why is that? Did you ever ask yourself even once---"WHY would someone I DON'T even know be asking me to cash a check? Furthermore, if it was legit why would they trust me and assume I wouldn't keep ALL the money?"

Also, I find it unfair that you try to blame the woman at the bank for your cashing a bad check. It isn't her job to confirm the veracity of your checks. So, no, you have no recourse against the bank and I find it regrettable that you would even attempt to blame them. She inadvertantly ( according to you) gave you incorrect information, so you proceeded to cash ANOTHER check? At what point do you take responsibility? I suspect if you simply LOOK around the bank, you will see that there are signs ( in every bank I've been in , at least) that say FUNDS MAY NOT BE AVAILABLE FOR THREE TO SEVEN BUSINESS DAYS. ( or something to that effect).

Report the check scam to the local authorities. While there is really nothing they can do, reporting the scam will allow officials to keep accurate tabs on such happenings so at least, others in the area may be made aware. Also, the US Secret Service can investigate such matters as well.

Hopefully, you will have learned at least two things from this: First, if something seems too good to be true, it is. Always. Secondly, if your head is telling you its a bad idea, it is. Always.