Community Chat

[Tinkrbl44]

@shoekitty 

Want to hear the dumbest crime?

I grew up in WNY, right on the edge of Lake Erie, known for plenty of snow in the wintertime.

A man was stupid enough to break into a bank at night and actually managed to rob it of a fair amount of money and went home.  (This was many decades ago.)

The next morning, the bank called the police about the robbery.  

The police went out the door to investigate the immediate area and saw footprints.  They followed the footprints right to the man's house!  He was arrested.

Footprints in the snow led right to the criminal and the money he stole.

How dumb is THAT?  

[JeanLouiseFinch]

---

@shoekitty wrote:

---

@Tinkrbl44 wrote:

---

@shoekitty wrote:

@Kachina624   do you know what kind of checks were stolen ?  I know my SS, and such are directly deposited. I thought perhaps it was going to be mandated this year ,or next all SS checks be direct deposit?   You wonder how crooks cash them.   or the person who cashes them can't eventually be caught. But, no worries, I m sure crooks hbe it all figured out...til they get caught in the one loop hole they thought they covered.  

---

@shoekitty 

I generally believe that many crooks just aren't smart enough to get away with the crimes they commit.   

I'm no expert, but I don't see how you can cash a stolen check and it NOT be traceable to where it was deposited.  

---

@Tinkrbl44   that's true!!  That's why I was wondering. My granddaughter got conned out of a Zelle scam for a lot of money. He acted as a rep from Zelle, she was 24.  They cleaned her acct out in seconds!  The bank actually traced it after fraud case was opened up. It took a few months, but bank actually had the acct #, and record of the amount that he took out of her acct thru zelle.  The bank  turned him into fraud with law enforcement. ..luckily, bank reembursed her for lost money.  It was 3 grand!!! They don't do this as protocol.   In the process, her bank blocked her zelle acct for life. She was so traumatized, she would never  use those money transfer apps again. She learned a hard lesson about fraudsters, scammers and learned how to protect herself better

---

Something similar happened to me several years ago.  My "cousin" listed a couple of cars for sale on Facebook.  I knew her husband had passed away so it seemed legit.  I FB messaged her about one of the cars that she was selling.  She replied with a price that seemed reasonable.  She asked for half down, thru a Zelle payment, and if we decided not to buy it after seeing it, she'd refund the original amount in full.  She doesn't do a lot online so she said she had a friend helping her with the bank.  She gave me the info of where to send the deposit and she would hold the car until we came ti see it in person.  Mrs. Gullible went along with it, but the payment wouldn't go through.  When I told her, she gave me a different name. That one didn't work either.   After the second attempt, I figured something was amiss because the name of where to send the money was totally suspicious.  I reached out to her sister and told her what was going on.  She informed me that the Facebook account was hacked/cloned/whatever.  I mean, these people were pros. There was no way anyone would know.  Thank the Good Lord above that the Zelle transfer didn't work!!

[shoekitty]

@JeanLouiseFinch   isn't it amazing the plots these crooks can scheme up?  They sure put a lot of time and energy into these ideas to get someone else's money!  I guess it's their full time job! That Facebook scam sure seems like a doosey,   Back in the late 70's , early 80's ( before internet, cell phones etc) there were a group of credit card hackers who would rent a hotel room under false names. Then use stolen card to pay for it.  They used  the hotel room phone to transfer cash out of stolen  cards.  How it went from there I can remember. I know because my credit card compny called me to verify the transfer!!!  In those days it was hard to trace calls from a hotel room. I was trying to figure how they would collect money, I think it was western union office. Using disquise, false ID, and stolen card ...it worked for them a couple years. They were eventually caught. 

[Tinkrbl44]

@shoekitty  @JeanLouiseFinch 

 Remember when a credit card transaction was on paper ... in triplicate! 

I recall the carbon paper backs; then the actual card went into a device, and the paper slip was on top, and the imprint portion was run over the card numbers.  

The restaurant/ hotel / whatever had no idea if the cards were any good.  

Boy, things have changed. 

[Desertdi]

@Tinkrbl44 

One of my first jobs was with Allstate, Division of Sears Roebuck & Co.

I had to BEG THEM for a Sears credit card because I wasn't 21.    I told them they could take the money out of my paycheck if I defaulted.    They finally "gave in" and I got a card, which was CARDBOARD and filled in by hand by the company cashier.       

After I had the Sears card....EVERY store in Chicago was handing me a credit card with no problem.     

In addition, the card was marked "employee discount" ...and they even gave me an extra card for my mother to use(!!)       di

[Cats3000]

@catter70 For me it's easy.  I trust no one because it's difficult, if not impossible, to verify.

[Puzzle Piece]

It's real good that those criminals were caught and exposed.  While living in the Los Angeles area, several rings and indivisuals were caught.  Low life's through and through.