This person did the same to me. Kept hassling me about taking out the money. I was waiting for that check to clear. Now the bank put a hold on my account. I was mislead and ended up sending a small portion of the money that had cleared. I was gonna send western union but he insisted on money gram. Now I know why because it can't be traced. I guess now I owe it to the bank. Be careful!! This guy is scaming us all. He used to communicate with me via email then text then different email. It felt off like there were more people involved. He keeps hassling me daily asking if the check cleared yet and to send money asap. I'm waiting to talk to my bank tomorrow but right now all my money is frozen.
He mailed me the check without me even accepting the "job" and that's when I felt something was a little off. I researched everything before depositing it and I'm happy I didn't. I told him I couldn't help him anymore but he insisted that I go deposit the check and just do that 1 task. I again told him that I wouldn't and he never replied back. So be careful everyone, you never know who to really trust online.
Glad you listened to that gut feeling! This is a classic check over payment scam. You are sent a check, told to deposit it and send yay much money to the scammer or another person who is also in on the scam. If you wire/moneygram/Western Union the money, the check eventually is found to be stolen or fake and you are left holding the proverbial bag - being out the money you sent, and perhaps even facing possible prosecution for passing a fraudulent instrument!
http://www.consumer.ftc.gov/articles/0159-fake-checks and also:
Good for you. I have a friend who nearly fell for a job scam off Craigs List. I don't recall the exact job (possibly child care), but it did involve him going to the alleged employers house. She sent a check for advanced pay and keys to access this home. When told me about it, something did not feel right. I did a search and found out it was a scam. He returned the keys and check. Needless to say the woman was not happy that he backed out. But thankfully he did.
I was contacted by a guy who said his name was Paul Johnson for a personal assistant position on Craigslist. It's not the first time I've encountered similar scams so I was already pretty suspicious. $600 a week seemed a little too easy for what he described as simply answering emails, mailing packages, etc. But I continued fishing for info from the guy. Only personal information I gave him is stuff that's already readily available from my own website- last thing I need is to deal with identity theft. Supposedly, the guy is based in Canada but sent me the check from a New Hampshire address.
I got a check for $2,490.89 and was supposed to transfer funds. The check was from "Motor Technology Inc", a Pennsylvania company that "Paul Johnson" didn't seem to be associated with and M&T Bank. Definitely didn't deposit the check. I'm keeping it intact until I can report the case.
I've still got copies of all the emails he was sending me. I just want to know how you report this kind of thing.