Does anyone know what these numbers printed on this check (deposited via mobile deposit) represent? I am a USAA member, but this is my business check, drawn off of a non-USAA bank, that was stolen, altered, and mobile deposited by the scammer/fraudster into their USAA account.
The first # is the date.
As far as I know, all of my USAA account numbers are 10 digits long, so none of the others seem to be an account number, unless 3519 is the last 4? Any information will help. I called USAA, and they told me it was ‘date, transaction ID, and account number’ but that does not make sense.
Hey, I’m actually a Check21 expert (Law that governs deposits) and a scam expert. USAA isn’t going to tell you anything useful. They will cite privacy, and may require a subpoena. The Police should be investigating this and if you investigate it, it will ruin anything they do. If you reported it as a counterfeit, your bank should have given your money back. Just because they deposited it, doesn’t mean they are the scammer. More likely they got scammed also. Like this: scammer buys an item, builds confidence in the mark, and convinces them to accept a check. They leave with the item, and the person who sold it receives nothing. The root word of con-man is confidence. There are a million different scams and I’d be happy to explain all of them to you. You should close that account or use positive pay.
@Bryn
Account is closed. Positive pay is used for suppliers that I pay every month, and that is set up on a different account entirely. This is a vendor that I might pay 2 - 3 times a year, as we don’t have a frequent need for custom-sized, aluminum-clad windows. They will be paid via ACH in the future, though, surely. But it isn’t worth the setup.
I have a feeling that the ‘Payee’ is the scammer in this case. The check is not professionally altered. It’s so obviously altered that I am surprised that USAA did not reject it, considering it was an 8300.00 check (originally 2300.00 with the 2 (& ‘Two’) turned into an 8 (& ‘Eigh’ with no room for a ‘t’ at the end)). I also have a feeling that, if the Payee did not do this themselves, that a friend or family member victimized them.
Hinesville Police Department actually told me that I would have to be the one to call USAA (so I did) and that my best bet would be to pursue charges via the county Magistrate Court – they acted as if it was not worth investigating. I will be submitting a summons for the Payee and if they do not show up to Magistrate Court (a victim surely would), I have an overwhelming amount of evidence and a bench warrant will be issued for the Payee in their absence. Summons are sent certified, not served, but hopefully the scammer will be caught in this case.
@marybachman
There is usually an overwhelming amount of evidence in these cases. The cops just typically don’t want to be involved if the victim is the bank itself. I know you and your supplier may be annoyed, but both of you are likely financially mostly unaffected. Really, you are just pissed off. If they told you to call USAA they are washing their hands of it. I once had a detective tell me ‘I’m not your collector.’ to which I responded, ‘Good thing this is a theft and not consumer debt.’
Best advice: Live and learn. Also, don’t leave your stuff out, people steal. They steal everywhere/everything. I’m sure you are nice, but I assume you steal too, and the cops you called… they steal.
@Bryn
Well, I am not washing my hands of it. Check fraud is a criminal charge and I am pressing for a bench warrant. The Payee will get pulled over eventually, or if they are a victim, they will get the summons and show up in court with their own evidence/defense. You assume I steal? The only thing I steal is the case of water (or, occasionally, dog food) under my cart when I am rushing to get out of WalMart.
How likely is it that the scammer was able to convince someone named ‘Quorey TXXXXXXX MXXXXXXX,’ not a business, but an individual, that a check drawn off of Liberty Glass Company, signed by me – and my signature is legible, not a scribble – with a memo line stating my invoice # (left intact) – that this check was their form of payment? Before you answer, the only thing changed on the check was the Payee and the first digit of the legal line and amount box, and it was a very exact amount – 2264.18 to 8264.18. Seems to me like a newbie who put it in their own account and then withdrew it and closed said account OR stole or had access to someone else’s (the payee’s) USAA account and debit card. The Payee is 33 years old, lives in Fayetteville, NC - I found his Instagram and Soundcloud. Payee lives a very… let’s use the term ‘urban’… lifestyle. His recent post 4 days ago shows approximately 30-40 each 100.00 bills and a few dozen 50.00 bills. A post from last month shows him donning a ski mask and a flask vest, with a handgun in his left-hand and a Draco in his right, captioned ‘Get within ARMS length and see bout my team gun emoji’. He could absolutely be a victim, but the screenshots are attached to my packet of evidence. It isn’t hard evidence of anything, but it does seem fishy that the only picture of hard cash was posted 4 days ago, and there aren’t any other similar photos of cash.
He is an idiot feeding his crippling addiction to fentanyl and is incapable of not being ruthless in the pursuit of that habit
He is as you describe, an organized thug who calculated the risk of prosecution, and knows that white collar crime doesn’t mean big jail time. Though he has no plans of getting caught, he will likely get bail repeatedly for this crime and if you know the system, it will be a revolving door of bail-jumping
The payee is a ‘Smurf’ as you suggested in the first sentence. Who has simply been duped into running the check and transferring the funds to the kingpin.
Bryn said:
Additionally, the fact that it was deposited to a USAA account is fishy. Most likely a family member in your case.
Def. not one of my family members! Probably one of the fraudster’s family members, though. The payee line was altered to a name that I do not recognize. Luckily, they wrote their full legal name (first, middle, and last - lol) and it has a VERY unique spelling. Corey with a ‘Qu’ instead of a ‘C’ and a unique last name as well. I paid a supplier, mailed the check, and the entire batch of mail was stolen from the supplier’s mailbox.
@marybachman
Okay, got it. That makes sense. This happens a lot more than you think, typically with apartment rent drops. I will say it’s way too common for these people to put their real names on them like idiots. He is certainly going for felony forgery but it has to be reported in the jurisdiction where the crime happened (The supplier). When I see these, it is incredibly obvious and I turn them down.
