suspected money laundering

[mickeygee666]

A friend has received a letter in the post (no name on envelope) when she opened it there was a cheque inside for 5000 euros made out to another acquaintence. When questioned they stated they had found someplace on internet offering 500 euros for cashing the cheque and returning the 4,500. Has anyone else heard of this (obviously I haven't but if this is the case then I can only assume it is a money laundering scam) and as the cheque appears to have originated from the UK which authorities should be contacted

[bednobs]

what reason did they give for not using their own address?

[mickeygee666]

my guess would be that should they fail to return the 4,500 then the starting point would not be the acquaintances address hence my feeling that something is very wrong with this scheme. I guess if it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck..... I just wondered if this was a commonly known thing and I need to read the papers more!!

[bednobs]

flipping hell, what rubbish acquaintances your friend has!
"i used your adress because if it goes tits up i want you to get in trouble and have the heavies break your leg, not me!!!" I blooming hope your friend has cut ties with this person

[mickeygee666]

that would be yes but do you have an answer to the question is it a commonly known of scheme?

[daffy654]

Does your friend's acquaintance have to pay the cheque into a bank account? If the answer to that is yes then it is a very common scam.The cheque will bounce but by then the person will have sent 4,500 euros to the recipient and will be minus that amount in the bank.

[redcrx]

ive heard of similar scams when selling cars etc. the buyer will pay by cheque a much larger sum and then ask for the change.

of course, once the difference has been paid back to them they cancel the cheque.

what a choice, tell your friend or see what price they pay for being greedy

[daffy654]

http://www.corbypolice.co.uk/default.asp?actio n=article&id=5514

This is a Police website example of the scam.

[birdie1971]

It's a scam. It works like this. Your friend presents the cheque to the bank and a few days later they'll find the money in their account. Your friend then transfers 4,500 euros back to the other person, and keeps 500 euros. Great! She's 500 euros up. But she isn't because the original cheque is a fake. It can sometimes take banks several weeks to spot a fake cheque. The bank then takes back 5000 euros from your friend's account leaving her 4,500 euros down on the deal.

[mickeygee666]

Daffy you're a star so if anyone has fallen foul to the scheme it is the acquaintance and not my friend. The worry there was obviously someone in a big black coat calling at friends address but hopefully not likely.
Thanks again (and to all that replied even the not so helpful, stating the obvious reply lol)

[mickeygee666]

Birdie that certainly takes a weight of my friends mind as they were not asked to help the acquaintance by putting the cheque in bank. Thanks

[randyraven]

If anyone could cash a cheque for �1,000,000 I have.
Just pay the cheque into your account ...send me everything you own ...and you can keep the �1,000,000.
Hows that for a bargain.

And I always wonder what ***** fall for these scams.
Now I know !