Legalities fer newbies

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: 03 Mar 2007 Posts: 1

I was just wondering about the legalities of "paying" scammers with bogus checks recieved from other scammers. That seems like kind of a fun option. If I play real stupid it should be worth a laugh.

Posted: Mon Mar 05, 2007 1:25 am

Welcome to Eater! Very Happy

Be sure and read the stickies about safe baiting. You never want to give a scammer your real information.

IMHO:

Passing fake checks even to scammers isn't legal, I think... They usually want WU or MG anyway.. I generally send them a bogus MTCN and make them go to pick up money that isn't there.

Posted: Mon Mar 05, 2007 1:26 am

Er, no. That would be breaking the law. Learn more about the basics of baiting in our Stickies where you will find plenty of useful and important information to absorb before letting yourself loose on the lads. Welcome!

Posted: Mon Mar 05, 2007 1:52 am

There is nothing in the stickies about sending your lads fake cheques that I could find. Besides it being illegal panchoak, you really don't want to be sending the lads anything they can re-use to convince real victims of to validate their scams. That's why we don't send fake ID and the like.

If you lad does however send you a check, either via dropbox (premium membership goody), or sends you a scan of the check. Just tell him you took the check and cashed it for the full amount. Thank them and then tell them how much your loving your new car.

If you read that PM that was sent to you when you registered with the forum, it will have a few handy tips and links to get you started. There is nothing wrong with jumping on in and getting into it. Just follow those tips on baiting safely and get cracking. You can find spare format letters and lads in the SURPLUS 419 SCAM LETTERS

If you get stuck and have trouble with your bait. Go and read a few baits by other members and see how they avoided the usual traps the lads try and setup. PUBLISH YOUR WORK HERE!

Very Happy

Posted: Mon Mar 05, 2007 3:06 am

The problem is that passing a bad check as legitimate is illegal. Once you do, you are as guilty as the scammer. They don't care because they are in a country where it is very difficult to prosecute them or they cannot be found easily. You probably are not. I guess it all comes down to how lucky you feel.

And weasel makes a good point in that no scammer will ask for payment by check anyway.

Posted: Mon Mar 05, 2007 3:15 am

If the lad asks where he can send you the check, and you provide the info for another lad, you haven't actually 'sent' the check, therefore, I don't think you have done anything wrong. Anything beyond that would be stepping into 'grey' territory.
Of course, this is assuming that you actually have the valid mailing information of another lad.

Posted: Mon Mar 05, 2007 3:18 am

I'm no expert, but I would think that if it were a stolen, forged, or altered check, and it gets cashed, you inconvenience an innocent third party.

Posted: Mon Mar 05, 2007 4:36 am

^^ Very good point, luckey.

Posted: Mon Mar 05, 2007 5:10 am

^^
^^

At least it's someone who's getting paid for it. How is it different from sending someone to WU?

Heck, I work retail, and if someone gives me too much crap, I toss them to someone who cares. If they give THEM crap, the cops get called. If they give the cops crap... well, then I get free entertainment.

Still, better to send to a drop box. Getting lads in a situation where they JUST might compare notes probably isn't a good idea.

Posted: Mon Mar 05, 2007 5:17 am

Before the 'third party' debate begins anew. Wink

Quote:

THIRD PARTY RULE

Baiting is a good fun and as long as you observe a few precautions pretty safe. However, in our baits, we should remember that these people are dangerous criminals and we should not expose innocent members of the public to the dangers we are so careful to avoid. For example, whilst it is acceptable to send a published photo of a celebrity and pretend that it is your character, it is better to use the photo of a known criminal who is safe in jail. Never use that of a neighbour since if the mugu or vlad tracks you down, they might get attacked. In the same way, even if you have been badly let down by someone, do not use their name and address in your baits as the consequences could be very serious.

With corporate entities, it is acceptable to send the mugu on a wild goose chase, but making law enforcement react to something we instigated is wrong. This includes sending scammers to the FBI or White House, or having them or 3rd parties call the EFCC. It would also be inadvisable to have your lad stand in an airport with the words 'IMA BOMB' on a sign. Such actions bring the entire baiting community into dis-repute.

Sending mugus to a hotel to look for you or to a WU office for a non-existant cash sum is perfectly acceptable as these institutions employ staff to deal with such queries and each bait will involve different sites so they will only happen occasionally at an individual hotel.

Whenever involving an innocent third party in your bait, please consider the effect that it will have. For example sending pizzas to his house will result in far more of a hassle for the the pizza company than for the mugu.

It is difficult to lay down strict lists of do's and dont's and members are expected to use their common sense. If you are uncertain whether a proposed course of action is acceptable, please pm a moderator for advice.

Posted: Mon Mar 05, 2007 2:41 pm

It goes a little beyond the ITP thing (not debating).

The main goal of baiting should be to disrupt scams. Passing on checks that can be reused or cashed would perpetuate other scams, at best.