Online scam...I screwed up, what can I do?

I recently fell for an online scam. this guy sent me traveler's checks and I sent him cash for them . except they were counterfeit. so now my bank account got closed and I owe about $2500 now. the thing is....i don't know what i can do to make this right. i don't have money to sue him and the only proof of the scam is the emails he sent to me. do i have any chance of getting this straightened out? HELP!!!!!!!!

First off, i appreciate you posting this here... you are saving alot of people from this same type of mess.....

I just wanted to ask if this person ever called you and do you know where you sent the money?

Both of those are long shots but if you sent the money via the us postal service (most scammers avoid the usmail like the plague)
anywhoo if you used the post office it becomes a federal offense since this is mail fraud so you might get the ear of a postal inspector if this happened.

Again, thanks for posting

your chances of getting your money back are slim to none. chances are he's somewhere over seas.......so chalk that up for learning a lesson. In the meantime......you'll have to pay the $2,500. Karma is bad......so don't worry, he'll get his one day.

Apart from taking everything to the police, there is nothing you can do, except learn from a bad mistake.

Nasty for sure. The challenge of these types of things is that it would likely cost you more than was lost to pursue it with legal processes.

I am truly sorry for your loss and wish you the best for the future.

from what i've seen, people get screwed like this all the time with little or no recourse. it's very hard to think what a scammer could promise that would actually make someone think that sending money to a stranger online is going to get them any gain.

Hiring a lawyer for minor legal problems can be expensive, but there are websites like LawGuru, FindLaw and other places where you can get free legal advice. I found this website useful - http://www.uelp.org/freelegal.html

Unfortunately...I fell for a similar scam. The cheque was for $47,000.00. The bank told me that it would take about a week (7 business days) to clear. They could advance me $2000.00. So I took it, bought a new laptop, paid my security deposit and hired a moving truck. Then I got an E mail from the sender of the cheque that it had cleared on his end. He wanted me to send him some money, so I went to my bank and it hadn't cleared yet. I had to stall him until I heard from my bank. The bank called and told me it was a fraud cheque. Then the bank asked for the $2000.00 back. I didn't have it. They closed my account and called the police. The police said there was nothing they could do as I did not commit the fraud. Anyway, my moving day came up, I moved, kept in contact with the bank and then they started sending me threatening letters...they were going to take me to court, which they did and the judge threw it out of court and gave the bank supreme poop for wasting the courts time. So then they sent it to a collection agency and when I told the collection agency the details they said they weren't going to handle it anymore. That was eight months ago and I haven't heard anything since. The police did come over and get all the information I had about the sender of the cheque...and I haven't heard from them since either.
So now when I get ANY of those types of letters I send this back to them. It must be doing some good because I'm not getting many of them anymore.

Thank you for contacting us. We at the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission appreciate your assistance in locating you. With your cooperation we are now monitoring Internet cafes in your area. Of courseas you knowwe are monitoring all Internet traffic from other sources of high Internet activity as well. We request that you go to our site and register. Http://www.efccnigeria.org/operators/

We would like to add you to our page here: http://www.efccnigeria.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=blogcategory&id=25&Itemid=59

Please send us a picture and any other documentation you can provide us with. We promise you a swift and complete conviction which will earn you a once in a lifetimeall expense paid trip to jailwhere you can learn basket weavingditch diggingas well as many other useful lifelong studies. We hope your stay with us will be a long one.

Please send your information to: info@efccnigeria.org

This unit is saddled with the responsibility to checkprobe and investigate cases that centre on abuse of officediversion of public funds and propertymismanagement and stealing of public funds at the FederalStates and Local Government levels. It also checks the commission of economic and financial crimes involving officers in MinistriesParastatals and designated Government agencies.

We thank you for your cooperation. We are very close to catching youbut would like your help in us all becoming successful. Please govern yourself accordingly.

Should we find enough proof of your corruptionwithout your assistanceit may entitle you to an immediate death sentencethus providing an escape for you from our "Prisons of Hell" and a life of miserable suffering.

Sodo the right thingcontact us now to absolve yourself of your sins. We offer a substantial reward for those who turn their comrades in and we guarantee freedom and safety under the "Witness Protection Act" in the country of your choice. You will receive enough money to start your life overpurchase a new home new car and have money in the bank. These funds are provided under the "Proceeds of Crime Act" to help those who help us.

Thank you.

Copy and Paste it onto a word document if you wish. You have my authorization to use it. I just copy and paste it onto the reply that I send to them. I don't include anything else. They seem to take me off their list and quit passing my name around to other scammers. Works on the lottery ones too.

To make this right with your bank you can work out a payment plan. Your next move is to the authorities, this is a hard criminal to catch, but at least you have the peace of mind of trying.

Get the facts out to authorities and get it on record. File a police report. Contact the company whose travelers checks have been counterfeited. Notify the email provider that their service was used to fraudulently obtain funds funds from you - and be prepared to back it up. Also file a fraud report with your bank (maybe Reg J) in that most all banks of any size maintain a fraud prevention department. The bank's fraud prevention may not directly benefit you but if they processed or found the travelers checks to be counterfeit, they are already involved. If the scam took place across State lines make authorities aware of that. If the travelers checks arrived by U.S. Mail (or any other service provider) make them aware of what happened.

I don't know the details (as you describe) but it would seem a crime has been committed. The authorities, if warranted, will go after the source. Document what happened, and unfortunately, you may be in for a long ride to get it cleared up.

What about the Police? File charges for fraud, more than likely there are already investigations going on, and most lawyers consult for free so you can at least find out what your recourse is and lastly don't discount your local voted officials...call or write your Legislators or attorney general....good luck

Call the police. Counterfeiting is illegal.

you can charge him with fraud but it is unlikely that you will get the money back.

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