A SCAMMER has had the last laugh after conning a young artist out of $3,500 using a fake check.
Chicago-based artist Madie Meyers received a message on Instagram from someone who praised her photos.
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The messenger called Meyers “a muse” and asked to use one of her Instagram photos for a mural they planned to paint.
The courier offered Meyers $500 for his photo.
The $500 was an offer Meyers couldn’t refuse.
“I’m like, ‘I can buy Christmas presents for the first time!’” Meyers told the local CBS affiliate WBBM-TV. “I’m going to spend that $500.”
The scammers told Meyers to deposit a $3,500 check they mailed to his PNC Bank account.
After depositing the check, the scammers instructed Meyers to return the remaining $3,000 so they could use it to purchase art materials for the mural, leaving Meyers with the $500 owed for the image.
Meyers followed the instructions using Apple Pay to return the remaining money.
“They made it seem like they really wanted me to get paid,” Meyers told WBBM-TV.
Unfortunately for Meyers, the scammers didn’t keep their promises.
The $3,500 check bounced, leaving Meyers’ father to pay the balance since the family’s accounts were all linked.
What frustrated Meyers’ father, Marc, most was the speed with which the fraudulent check cleared.
“It doesn’t make sense that a routine check would take much longer to clear than these fraudulent checks,” Meyers’ father told the news outlet.
“That’s really why I’m angrier.”
After Meyers discovered she had been scammed, she messaged the scammers.
“Hey, I know you’re a scammer,” she told them. “I’m kind of mad at you.”
In response to the message, the scammers sent a photo of themselves at a party.
“Your money,” the scammers wrote in a message after the photo.
Top tips to avoid bank scams
As scams become more sophisticated with the use of artificial intelligence, it is important that you know how to identify them:
- Be skeptical of online businesses that seem too good to be true, especially on social media.
- Scammers often use tactics to make you panic so that you make quick decisions – be cautious if you are asked to take immediate action and check who has contacted you.
- Chase Bank warns customers to “never return any unexpected funds without calling Chase first.”
- Never send money to someone you’ve only spoken to online or on the phone, as this is likely a romantic scam.
- Unless you know 100% who you are talking to, never give someone remote access to your device.
- Never accept help from strangers at ATMs and always be careful when making withdrawals.
- Do not send money or click on links that indicate you have won a prize.
Source: Chase.com
FTC NOTICES
Check scams are becoming an increasingly popular form of fraud compared to other types of scams.
Check fraud accounted for more than a third of all bank fraud in 2023, according to S&P Global.
They made it seem like they really wanted me to get paid.
Madie Meyers
O Federal Trade Commission (FTC) warns against using check money to send gift cards, money orders, cryptocurrencies, or to transfer money to anyone who requests it.
The FTC also advises people never to accept a check for more than the sales price.
If you think you may have been the victim of a fake check scam, the FTC recommends that you report it to the FTC, US Postal Inspection Serviceor your state attorney general.
This story originally appeared on The-sun.com read the full story
