conversation: User (panekroom): "I used to be a banker in a retail branch at a large American bank. Every once in a while we would get a customers that would find a job online (craigslist, ect) and get completely screwed over. I've made it easy by premising this as being a scam. Try to put yourself in the unknowing victims shoes. \n\n&amp;nbsp;\n\nExample job posting: \n\n*Need reliable, intelligent operations coordinator / event steward. Our venue is a small friendly environment looking for an organized, outgoing, motivated individual with a flexible schedule to work events &amp; some evenings and weekends will be required. You must have reliable transportation and a current driver's license, as some office errands will be required.* \n\n*Job responsibilities will include:* \n\n•	*Tear down &amp; set up event space (may include stripping the room of all furniture, vacuuming &amp; resetting the room).*\n\n•	*Maintain high standards of cleanliness &amp; sanitation throughout the event function space which includes carpets, walls, walkway, tables, chairs, Linen, etc.).*\n\n•	*During events, duties may include assisting with refreshing the coffee, tea, water &amp; attending to different needs.*\n\n•	*Packaging orders to ship &amp; logging in receivables, locating orders, putting up inventory, ordering shipping supplies.*\n\n•	*Staying on track with UPS orders for pickup &amp; receiving.*\n\n•	*Light office work.*\n\n&amp;nbsp;\n\nYou are running out of money and desperate for some work, so you apply because it seems legitimate enough. Plus, how can this be a scam? You send an email with your resume and lucky enough for you they respond. They say you sound like the perfect candidate and they have an upcoming event they need you to coordinate (they may even call you to make sure **you** are who you say you are). They mail you the event details and a $5,000 check. They say they need you to deposit this check and buy yourself a laptop or a desk or whatever you need to ensure you are prepared for the upcoming event and mail $3,000 of it to the event speaker. They say they need to make sure they can trust you and if you do this right, they'll continue to give you more work. You do this because after all they are giving you money, there is no risk to you.\n\nThis is where it all goes wrong.\n\nYou feel a bit uncertain but you deposit the check and wait about a week to make sure it clears. A few days after depositing it, you see the money is in your account. Ok, it may be legit. You send the money to the event speaker via Western Union or whatever instruction your new boss have given you. A few more days later you're account is (negative) -$3,000. The reason is because this check was drawn off of a tiny bank in a tiny town. The amount of time to verify this check was longer than the amount of time that the funds are made available in your account. The reason for this is  because checks need to be verified from both banks. This can be difficult to do because of many factors (in this case it's a tiny bank that is difficult to get in contact with their clearing department) and large banks have their own fund availability policies. Banks may choose to make funds available earlier to reduce the negative impact to customers. They are also restricted to how long they can hold funds due to the Expedited Funds Availability Act: Regulation CC. \n\nTL;DR: You can deposit a check in your account and have it clear then have the money pulled out of your account days later because of how check clearing works. "
  Self: "Anything that requires you to forward money from a check is automatically a scam in my book. "
  plexxonic (plexxonic): "A lot of people lack common fucking sense."
  grizzlyboxers (grizzlyboxers): "A lot of people are desperate for income and will take chances even when it's obviously too good to be true."
  chris1neji (chris1neji): "Its easy to think clear and leveled when you're not in the red. Let alone being in the red for a long period of time. I can see how people who are struggling to survive may run into this. It's not just educated folks being targeted, it's any age group. Older lady who at best has an elementary level education? All fair game to these scammers, they know these facts. They know humans behave very differently when homeless, when pressured, when whatever. "
  u38cg2 (u38cg2): "So much this.  I went through a brief period where I went through financial hell; I was horribly overdrawn, I had no income, and my bank was charging me £30-40 every time something hit my account, which was once or twice daily.  \n\nIf I met myself going through that I would slap myself silly and ask why I did all the stupid things I did because none of them made any sense.  "
  