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This is what happens when you deposit a fake cheque from a spam email - YouTube
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Whatâs that?
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My check finally came!
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This Nigerian prince said if I sent him my social
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security number heâd write me a check equal to my number!
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But I ainât stupid!
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No!
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See little does he know that my social
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security number isnât 50 billion hehehehe.
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From now on, coffee's on me buddy!
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Iâm in the big money now!
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No.
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What?
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Itâs fake.
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AwwâŠ
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AlthoughâŠ
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If youâve ever actually skimmed through your
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piles of junk mail, you may have seen fake checks
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promising huge returns on investments once or twice.
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Often, theyâre marked with a ânon negotiableâ or
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âvoidâ to indicate that you canât really cash them.
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But there was often a nagging little question that worked
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its way into the heads of those who saw these things.
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Namely,
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âWhat would happen if I actually deposited this?â
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But firstâŠ
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Todayâs topic involves financial decisions and legal matters.
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Weâre not financial experts, nor are we lawyers.
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Weâre just taking a look at a
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topic from an unbiased perspective.
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Itâs best to look into any checks you receive by
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mail and ensure theyâre from a trusted source.
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And with that out of the wayâŠ
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Letâs get into it!
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1995, a man by the name of Patrick Combs
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received the usual junk mail just like many of
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us, including one of the prevalent fake checks.
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It was like any other, listing an insane amount
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of money, in this case just over $95,000.
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But unlike many of us, Combs actually deposited it.
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Youâre saying I could cash my check?
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You can certainly try, but donât expect to get anything.
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Aww...
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In fact, Combs himself didnât
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expect anything when he deposited.
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Or in his words,
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âWhat I expected to happen next was
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a short phone call from my bank.
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Or a letter informing me of what I already
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knew, that the check I deposited was not real.â
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Did that⊠Not happen?
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No, not exactly.
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Not intentionally, at least.
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The bank at first put the deposited money in his account
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under holdâwhich is standard operating procedure.
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Only so much of it is accessible
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until the bank can verify the deposit.
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Combs expected it to vanish any day, but the
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money was released, so Combs put it on a bankerâs
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check and placed it in a safety deposit box.
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Well either they have quite the sense of
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humour, or they were about to get real mad.
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Very mad.
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A month after depositing the check
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the bank demanded the money back.
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But others - including financial and legal
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experts - told him that he was in the clear.
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Wait, but how could he be in the clear?
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Isnât that like fraud or something?
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Eh come on.
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The bank waited too long to realize their mistake.
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Potentially, letâs look a little closer at that.
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Take us away magic coffee man!
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Come on gang letâs go.
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Poâ
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Itâs Howard.
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Howard, query.
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How long does a bank have to catch an error?
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Banks have a period of years to spot errors in payments,
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and they can correct them without notifying the customer.
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Taking the money can be considered a serious crime.
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A good example here is the case of Hui âLeoâ Gao, a New
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Zealand man whose bank accidentally gave his business
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account an overdraft of 10 million New Zealand dollars,
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instead of 100 thousand New Zealand dollars in 2009.
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Once he realized what had happened, Gao fled New
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Zealand and transferred 6.78 million dollars from
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his account, which in turn clued the bank in to the
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error and allowed them to recover 3 million dollars.
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Gao and his then-partner Kara Hurring fled to Hong Kong,
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with the local press dubbing the two ârunaway millionairesâ.
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Gao himself spent two years on the run, but Hurring
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returned to New Zealand voluntarily in February 2011
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after having a son and then breaking up with Gao.
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She was sentenced to nine monthsâ home detention and
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ordered to pay 11,800 New Zealand dollars in reparations
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on charges of money laundering, attempted fraud, and theft
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despite claims that Gao had told her heâd won the lottery.
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And as for Gao, he was arrested by Interpol in
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Hong Kong in September 2012, and was sentenced
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to four years and seven months in jail for
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money laundering, attempted fraud, and theft.
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That said, if an error is made in the bankâs favor,
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you generally only have 30 days to notify the bank.
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Well That seems⊠unfair.
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So does that mean Mr.
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Combs really was in danger of being arrested?
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Well, no, actually.
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In this case, Combs kind of lucked out.
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Despite the ânon-negotiableâ written in small print in the
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corner of the check, the fake check issued by Association of
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Certified Liquidators had been made to look so realistic that
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it met nine of the ten criteria used to verify a real check.
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Apparently, the fake check looked so
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real, that it had legally become so.
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And not only that, but it took the bank over a month
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to realize what had happened, which,unlike a banking
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error, is past the legal deadline to inform Combs
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that the check he deposited was a ânon cash itemâ.
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Even so, they asked him to give them permission to
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drill open the safety deposit box and reclaim the check.
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Combs did not give permission.
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And, um, how did the bank take that?
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Well, through a long process of patience
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and reflection⊠Sued him, they sued him.
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But letâs back up a bit.
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Whoa, too far.
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The threat of legal action started early on,
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when the bank called in a furor, but it was
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one particularly aggressive phone call from a
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security officer that pushed things over the edge.
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Amusingly, at the time Combs had been willing to just
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give the cash back but following the attitude of the
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officer and legal threats, Combs asked for a letter
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from the bank exonerating him before he did anything.
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The bank refused, so Combs didnât give them the money.
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According to Combs, he had been told by no less than
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six lawyers that he had a legal right to the money.
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In the meantime, Combs took his story to the media.
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First he approached the Wall Street Journal, and then
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when the story got out he soon found himself invited on
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Good Morning America, and a slew of other talk shows.
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And in the end, it seems like he won.
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In his own way.
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Combs and the bank came to an agreement after entering
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into a legal battle with Combs returning the moneyâŠ
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and the bank handing him the letter that he wanted.
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Aw, what?
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He just gave it back?
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Well Grill, you canât⊠You canât just
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take money that isnât yours like that.
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It might have been legal because it kind
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of was his, I guess, but⊠But morally-
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Morality?
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Malarkey!
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Banks can shove it, He shoulda kept the cash!
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Well, that is what a number of people suggested
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he do, and Combs himself commented that he
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did struggle with the ethics of it to a point.
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Though he doesnât seem too broken up about it.
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Or in his words,
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"It's hard to give back $95,000 when six
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lawyers have told you it's legally yours.
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Now, I'm giving it back, and it's a wonderful feeling."
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Besides, Combs may have made the
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more profitable decision in the end.
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Combs took his experiences and turned them into a
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number of ways to earn himself a comfortable living.
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He started off by putting the story on
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his website with a link for donations.
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And that worked?
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Not until he posted a piece of
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hate mail heâd received next to it.
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Then the tips started pouring in.
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Since then heâs written a book called âMan 1, Bank 0â and
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hosted a pair of one man theater shows recounting the tale.
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One named âMan 1, Bank 0â as well,
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the other titled âCash me if you canâ.
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And did he get to keep his bank account?
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Well, after getting the letter from his bank, he was told
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âFirst Interstate isn't asking you to close your account,
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but it would please First Interstate if you did.â Oh snap.
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Since then, Combs has changed banks, but even with the
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irritation of opening an account with a new institution,
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I think itâs safe to say that he really cashed in.
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Brew, you donât have to end every single
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one of your videos with a stupid pun.
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You know that, right?
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Like, theyâre not funny, itâs not even cute anymore.
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To be honest, itâs just sad.
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Like, do you think youâre funny?
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Cause if you do, you should really get your head âcheckedâ.
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Ha hoo!
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You shouldâve seen your face haha.
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Oh God.
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