I’ve just found out I’m a mole - what I do?

By joining our community you will have the ability to post topics and access other forums reserved for members. Registration is quick, simple and absolutely free. Join our community today by clicking here.

Hello I'm New here! Joined: 29 Nov 2008 Posts: 1

I got a cheque and I took it to a bank and asked if it was fake. The women looked at it and she said she could see no reason why it was fake. So I took it to my own bank for someone to get it transferred in my account now its waiting to be cleared.

Just yesterday I found I was a money mole and I seriously don’t know what to do.

Should I withdraw the £550 commission for my self and send the Nigerian the money he’s wanting?

Should I go to the police and tell them what’s happening?

Or should I withdraw as much of it as I can and go on the run for a bit.

I feel that if I don’t give this Nigerian scammer the money my family will be in danger. But if I go to the police I be persecuted anyways so I might as well withdraw the commission that’s mine.

Please can someone help us here?

Posted: Sat Nov 29, 2008 11:38 pm

Let the check bounce, just do not withdraw or spend any of the money. I'm sure a mod will be along shortly to help you out. In the meantime, head over to scamwarners.com and take a look around.

Baiting Guru Joined: 03 May 2007 Posts: 18313

Welcome here.

The first thing you should do is contact your bank immediately and tell them that you've found out the check is fraudulent. Do not do ANYTHING with the money. Do not keep any, do not send any money to the scammer.

You should stop all contact with the scammer. You can send him one email and tell him that the bank said the check was fraudulent and for him not to email you anymore and then block any further contact with him.

Please visit our sister site, www.ScamWarners.com where you will get more information and support.

Edited to add: It's a moneymule, not mole. Here is some information for you: http://www.banksafeonline.org.uk/moneymule_explained.html

Posted: Sun Nov 30, 2008 12:01 am

Be proactive with your bank, tell them exactly what happened in writing to your branch manager, you may as well tell your local police so at least it appears on their statistics (and might mean they take a more active role one day), and certainly do *not* attempt to withdraw the money (unless you fancy doing a spell for fraud!). Your bank will handle the cheque although it may take time.

Telling the scammer once and once only that the bank told you it was fraudulent and the police are involved, that will scare the scammer off. They won't come after you, they're frankly far too cowardly and lazy, by and large.

And just for completeness, the technical term is "mule" as opposed to "mole" - mules carry things Smile

You did the right thing in realising and asking, well done, and do please stick around. You'll find a lot of fun here, especially if you want to start taking revenge on scammers in general after this - read a load of the longer threads, listen to notobescammed's radio show on Sunday too (see the stickIes in this forum), sign up for a mentor, create some untraceable mailboxes, and make them suffer for nearly wiping you out financially!

Posted: Sun Nov 30, 2008 1:01 am

OldtimesBradford wrote:

Should I withdraw the £550 commission for my self and send the Nigerian the money he’s wanting?

No, of course not. Ultimately you will have to pay it all back. Don't line the lad's pocket with free money Confused

Quote:

Should I go to the police and tell them what’s happening?

Yes. Right now you are the victim of fraud and nothing more.

Quote:

Or should I withdraw as much of it as I can and go on the run for a bit.

If you do that silliness then you (and rightfully so) will be arrested.

Quote:

I feel that if I don’t give this Nigerian scammer the money my family will be in danger.

Not at all. Real victims find out the checks are fake all the time and don't send money. Lads scam, they don't hunt people down.

Quote:

But if I go to the police I be persecuted anyways

Unless you do the above (silliness) you won't be prosecuted. Once again, right now you are the victim of a crime. If you take it up a notch and remove some money then yes you can be arrested. Since you know (now) the check is fake then removing any money is theft.

Quote:

so I might as well withdraw the commission that’s mine.

No, the commission is NOT yours. Money from a fake check is stolen money. That kind of thinking isn't far off from the lad's.

Wannabe Baiter Joined: 24 Nov 2008 Posts: 80

I was a victim of this previously, only a high tech version. A Chinese company randomly gave me a /lot/ of money through paypal. I kept getting notices in e-mail of it and I just passed it off as 419. Then one day I checked and I was FLOORED that there was all this money in my account for no reason.

I took it up with paypal and they took care of it. You will be fine as long as you don't touch the money and keep contact with the bank at least, but hopefully let the police know. Keeping people informed will be what saves you in the long run from any legal issues.

Posted: Sun Nov 30, 2008 9:19 am

The only money involved is yours, if your account is in credit.

If you aren't in credit then the money is the banks, and if you don't pay them back or if you kick up any fuss they will likely have you prosecuted for passing a counterfeit cheque.

It's a dirty little trick, and one that can get you in serious trouble with the law apart from stealing your money.

It's possible to view these scammers as idiots - one of my current ones, after supplying them with fake bank details, asked for my mother's maiden name and the toll free telephone number of the bank ( Rolling Eyes

), but I view them more as hyenas lurking outside a bank sniffing for any chance to prey on the customers.

Baiting Guru Joined: 04 Jan 2006 Posts: 3193

The banks put all the responsibility on you for ensuring that the cheques you deposit are real. They will make funds available within their agreed timescale (four days usually), but this is often in advance of them actually getting the funds from the cheque. If the cheque is stolen, or forged with the account of a real company, it can even take months for it to be queried and found to be fake. However long it takes, the money always belongs to the bank. It is never yours.

When the cheque is found to be fake, the funds will be taken straight out of your account. If you have already removed them, then you will suddenly have the overdraft from hell. The banks will then demand you repay the money immediately. At that point there is a fair chance that they will involve the police.

It is a sad fact that the banks take no responsibility for checking that a cheque is valid before advancing the funds. Sometimes they can be quite draconian in pursuing victims of cheque fraud.

Your defence is to report this fraud immediately to the bank and the police, preferably in writing, and do not touch the money. Do not delete your correspondence with the scammer; it is evidence that you have been scammed.

Posted: Sun Nov 30, 2008 12:27 pm

Quote:

Should I withdraw the £550 commission for my self and send the Nigerian the money he’s wanting?

This is the worst possible thing that you can do. Not only will you have to pay all the money back but you'll also end up with a criminal record for fraud.

Tell the scammer you know it's a scam and that the bank has pulled the check as a forgery. That should be enough to shut him up. Don't worry about your physical well-being - there's nothing to be afraid of. These guys are only interested in paying victims and chasing someone down and harming them is just not in their interests. The chances are that this scammer is out in Africa and has no way of getting to you anyway, even if he wanted to.

Next, go straight to the bank and tell them that the payment is a dud. Take along all copies of email correspondence with you. You will not be prosecuted if you come clean - it's not in the bank's interest to go around prosecuting people who make mistakes and then own up to them before any damage has been done.

Do this immediately. Don't wait for the bank to find out that the check is a dud for themselves.

Posted: Sun Nov 30, 2008 3:47 pm

I think maybe sometimes people are confused by all the "bait safe" information here and suggestions that real life details can lead to harm.

There is an important distinction between a typical victim and a baiter. The victim generally finds out it is a scam, and if they respond appropriately, they drop the scammer and walk away. While the scammer has invested time and possibly money in the scam, investment is probably not too high, especially as it is likely much of their correspondence was script. A more extreme scammer may resort to threats by email or telephone to try to rekindle the scam or squeeze some money out anyway, but as a general rule, losing victims is part of the price of "doing business" and they will just move on to the next once they are sure there is nothing to be gotten. However, if the victim responds to threats with cooperation, you can be certain the scammer will continue to threaten.

A baiter, on the other hand, is trying to cause the most aggravation possible. The baiter may cause bank accounts to be closed, websites to be shut down, time and money to be spent filling out bogus forms and making phone calls, even money, time, and lots of aggravation on safaris. Check lad baiters often taunt the scammers (with how they "spent" the money, etc.) At the end of a bait, the scammer (ideally) is frustrated, disappointed, and often extremely angry, especially if he figures out the baiter has been playing with him.

Although the odds are low that a scammer or associates will actually go after anyone (who isn't lured to traveling to the scammer, that is), the likelihood of seeking retaliation on a baiter is higher than the likelihood of a scammer seeking retaliation on an average victim.

As a victim, the only safe and appropriate thing to do is report the scam to the appropriate authorities and cease all contact.

Baiting Guru Joined: 17 Sep 2006 Posts: 5905

OldtimesBradford wrote:

I feel that if I don’t give this Nigerian scammer the money my family will be in danger.

If a scammer had given you a real cheque (which wouldn't happen anyway) and you ran off with his money there is a chance he might come after you but think about it, this cheque isn't real, it has cost the scammer only the amount it costs him to produce a fake cheque which isn't very much. And as so many have pointed out victims finding out about the scam is an occupational hazard of this guys line of "work" just stop responding to him and co-operate with the police.

Posted: Sun Nov 30, 2008 9:32 pm

Hi OldtimesBradford and welcome to Eater.

Most points have been covered in the advice above.

I would add that if you still have ALL the emails between you and the scammer, that you print them off, arrange them in chronological order and that a copy to the bank and another to the police. This will demonstrate why you feel this is fraud, and should prove to them that you are a victim.

Some of the cheques sent out by the lads are very very good. They are often printed on the correct paper and the account details are often from real companies. If the cheques is honoured by your bank, then the fraud may not be picked up until a audit is carried out by the company. Hopefully the company's bank will spot the fake cheque before that, but maybe not.

As for your families safety, the chance of a scammer taking action is very very low. He may have your real life address, and he may have a friend in your country that posts out the cheques on the lads behalf, but he has no cause to take reprisals. To him you are just a victim who got lucky, and jumped off the hook. He will prefer to go after new fish than to chase after you.

Just reply that the bank have found something wrong with your cheque and tell him the whole thing was just too much to handle, thanks and goodbye. Then use your email's blocker to reject any further emails from him. He will shrug his shoulders and go and look for a new victim.

I hope this episode and the fact that you found our site will lead to you wanting to know more about what we try to do - baiting and that you will want to join in. It war, but this time its fun.

I’ve just found out I’m a mole - what I do?	View next topic View previous topic