Q about premium accounts and drop boxes.

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419Eater is my life Joined: 30 May 2009 Posts: 298

I'm thinking of getting into check baiting. I have twice been targeted for mystery shopper scams, sent to my real name and address. They sent me a nice looking fake check. I held on to the check without contacting the scammer again. Then I got a little bummed out thinking of a less informed person receiving a similar check and being scammed.

I think it would be a fun hobby to collect these. Obviously I won't use my real name or address. I was thinking of signing up for premium membership to get one of the drop boxes. But I'm not clear on what these are.

Do I get a legit looking address in the form of "1234 Baiter Lane, Mount Mugu, CO 67890"?

How do shipments to the drop box get to my real home address?

I'm weighing the advantages of a drop box versus just renting a P.O. Box at the local post office. Your input is most appreciated.

Posted: Sun Sep 20, 2009 9:10 pm

When renting a P.O. Box at your local post office find out first if your personal info can be requested. Depending on your country/'provider', when renting a drop box anybody sending something to it can request your personal information. That's not a good thing.

As for the Premium Boxes, as far as I remember you get a 'normal' address. Only possible restriction might be the names used to send stuff to the box.

As for stuff finding it's way to your home, that's something you'd have to discuss with the drop box owner. Fake cheques are usually defaced before sending if you really want them sent on, but mostly the drop box owner simply e-mails you a scan of the received cheque. With stuff like art you can have it forwarded, but you'd probably have to pay the shipping costs to the drop box owner

419Eater is my life Joined: 30 May 2009 Posts: 298

Master of Puppets wrote:

Fake cheques are usually defaced before sending if you really want them sent on, but mostly the drop box owner simply e-mails you a scan of the received cheque.

That kinda bugs me, because I want to have the checks. If I wanted a picture, I'd look at the pictures the other baiters are collecting.

I don't like getting stuff defaced either; it's part of the reason autographs piss me off so much. I can see how it might be legally dodgy if a drop box owner is knowingly taking fraudulent checks and sending them to a third party. Doesn't mean I like it though.

I guess if the drop box operator only defaced the back of the check, that wouldn't be bad. I kind of have this vision of collecting fake checks in a photo album.

Hellish Taskmaster Joined: 31 Dec 2008 Posts: 537

^ They just write the word "fake" on them and if you want, they will ship them off to you.

Posted: Mon Sep 21, 2009 12:05 am

Hi Ray.
See http://forum.419eater.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=100200
I had a friend with a factory who took mine for me, he just told the postman he knew the recipient, primed with the false name.
Other than that, go for gold, give it a whirl, you won't be disappointed Cool

It would be a foolish person indeed who tried to pass off what is received, the penalties are severe, none of us are that silly.

Posted: Mon Sep 21, 2009 12:52 am

Be careful. In the USA it's illegal just to possess a fraudulent item if you have intent to defraud. Defacing the check makes it plain you do not have criminal intentions. If the FBI somehow caught you with a load of non-defaced checks, somebody just might get the wrong idea about you, and then you'll have a very bad day or week or month or year. If I ran a drop box, I'd write "FAKE" on top of every account number on a fake check as soon as I could. If I collected checks on my own, I'd do the same.

BTW, I've gotten letters from US Customs via a dropbox that are pretty threatening, announcing that they have seized a check that a lad sent to me. There was never any follow-up to the letters (I didn't contest the seizures, and that was that), but we never should think that nobody is watching.

Posted: Mon Sep 21, 2009 1:13 am

I checkbait and I have a dropbox. I did my research to see how safe it would be to operate one and the rules of the local company were good enough to calm my paranoia. They do have my real name and information and the only way it can be found out is through a subpoena, something a lad would have no way of getting even if he did get angry enough to come after my very common mailbox name.

Yes, I have also had checks intercepted and have never contested those. It just goes to show that law enforcement does pay attention sometimes so make sure you are willing to accept that.

Posted: Mon Sep 21, 2009 2:32 am

With regard to Post Office Box's, Most countries require your personal details, and your own personal address before they will issue you with a
key to a box. However if you tell them your "Bill Smith" of so and so address, I doubt they do checks. That's a chance you take. But it might help, IF you where known to them.

In my own case, I have a PO Box, as we don't get a mail [delivered] service, which is subsidised, Normal Box's can be expensive, and a lot more expensive then the cost of a Premium membership here, And there's no reason you can't work out something with the drop box owner about delivery to yourself.. That's providing your living in a country, where a drop box service is available.

But on the subject of a private PO [postal service] Box, in a lot of cases they will only place mail in the box, IF it's addressed to the named box holder. So if you call yourself "Fred" to the scammer, then it's not going to be delivered to your PO Box , if that's consigned to "Bill"

In my case , I have a box in a small village postal agency, where I'm known, and as long as the letter or package has my PO Box number, on
it I will get it, regardless of the name. But I've also held the same box for something like 20 years, And the people in the agency know what I'm into. If the mail is from overseas, they get the stamps.

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