BST transaction gone very bad with "lost" check

[egbeachley]

Yes, written checks are never officially "stale". I have also found small paychecks over 5 years old and deposited them with no problem. If you write a check that goes missing, your only safe recourse is to close the account.

As for Stop Payments, as others have said they are only good for 6 months and then you have to pay another fee for another 6 months. And so on. For large checks people sometimes do a Stop Payment twice, but rarely more than that. That's why you often see them deposited 13-14 months after getting "lost". It's not forgetfulness, it's a scam.

https://watchdognation.com/stop-payment-check-scam/

https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20060601/031244.shtml

One thing you can do is write "Void in 180 days" on all checks. Then a stop payment only needs to be done once.

[vintagetoppsguy]

Originally Posted by egbeachley

One thing you can do is write "Void in 180 days" on all checks. Then a stop payment only needs to be done once.

Thanks for the tip. I never thought of that. Instead of writing it though, I may have a stamp printed and just stamp all my checks in the future.

I wonder if you could get the check company to print that on there?

[Theo_450]

Those who are complaining that Ian won't out the suspect need to take a step back. He is handling this how he deems the best, and that is his perogative.

Given that the matter is unresolved and has the potential for legal action, I fully agree with Ian's discretion.

Obvious things to do:
Print and scan all sent and recieved emails from seller, banks, authorities.
Start a journal documenting with as much detail as you can remember about every aspect of the transaction and interactions with all involved parties. Details will get fuzzy over time, documentation is critical.

I hope that it works out in your favor Ian.

[freakhappy]

Ian...sorry you have to go through all of this. It sounds like you are doing everything in your power to try to get things to sway the way they should have all along. It's unfortunate that a longstanding board member would do something like this...just sad.

I'm happy to see board members helping you out and giving you some good info. This board is full of great people and most of us help out when we see a member in need.

Good luck, friend!

[chris6net]

Originally Posted by Theo_450

Those who are complaining that Ian won't out the suspect need to take a step back. He is handling this how he deems the best, and that is his perogative.

Given that the matter is unresolved and has the potential for legal action, I fully agree with Ian's discretion.

Obvious things to do:
Print and scan all sent and recieved emails from seller, banks, authorities.
Start a journal documenting with as much detail as you can remember about every aspect of the transaction and interactions with all involved parties. Details will get fuzzy over time, documentation is critical.

I hope that it works out in your favor Ian.

I was one of the complainers yesterday and have softened my stance a little today. What I was mainly upset about was that this person was already outed to a select few and there is a good chance he is still selling cards somewhere just not on this board.
I wish Ian luck and am totally on his side but I don't like when someone is outed to a few and others are kept in the dark as this is a great Hobby and unscrupulous people should be outed to all. I only buy and not as often as I like but I am taking some time off from buying until I hear good news from Ian.
CN

[jcmtiger]

I'm done, let me know via pm when the person is identified or resolution is complete.

Joe

[brob28]

Originally Posted by vintagetoppsguy

Thanks for the tip. I never thought of that. Instead of writing it though, I may have a stamp printed and just stamp all my checks in the future.

I wonder if you could get the check company to print that on there?

David, I know this can be done, I have seen it before on checks cut for business purposes, although, I've not seen it on personal checks before so not certain on that part.

[the 'stache]

Originally Posted by egbeachley

Yes, written checks are never officially "stale". I have also found small paychecks over 5 years old and deposited them with no problem. If you write a check that goes missing, your only safe recourse is to close the account.

As for Stop Payments, as others have said they are only good for 6 months and then you have to pay another fee for another 6 months. And so on. For large checks people sometimes do a Stop Payment twice, but rarely more than that. That's why you often see them deposited 13-14 months after getting "lost". It's not forgetfulness, it's a scam.

https://watchdognation.com/stop-payment-check-scam/

https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20060601/031244.shtml

One thing you can do is write "Void in 180 days" on all checks. Then a stop payment only needs to be done once.

Eric, this is a wonderful post. I didn't know that a stop payment was only good for six months. Nor did I know you could write "void after 180 days" on a personal check. I've never really thought about that, but it makes good sense, as I've seen so many businesses do this.

Thank you!

Originally Posted by Theo_450

Those who are complaining that Ian won't out the suspect need to take a step back. He is handling this how he deems the best, and that is his perogative.

Given that the matter is unresolved and has the potential for legal action, I fully agree with Ian's discretion.

Obvious things to do:
Print and scan all sent and recieved emails from seller, banks, authorities.
Start a journal documenting with as much detail as you can remember about every aspect of the transaction and interactions with all involved parties. Details will get fuzzy over time, documentation is critical.

I hope that it works out in your favor Ian.

Ted, this is an excellent suggestion. I'm sure Ian has been taking detailed notes, and keeping a running paper trail of all pertinent communications.

By the way, guys, put me in the camp with those who think Ian is handling this the right way. I'm sure all of us would like to know who the board member is that's causng this issue. In time, if it's not resolved, we will know. I think that exercising discretion here is the way to go. In detailing what has happened, Ian has raised everybody's awareness when dealing on the BST. Without knowing who this person is, and how it was ultimately resolved, I will think twice about sending a personal check for anything (unless it is somebody I know well). Otherwise, I'll choose Paypal. He's also made it quite clear the steps he is taking to resolve this, so hopefully seeing this on the board will motivate the other member to resolve this amicably.

Ian is one of the most trustworthy members of the forum, and he's taking every step possible to move this to a resolution while still giving the other member the opportunity to right the ship, so to speak. With Leon involved, too, I'm sure things are going on behind the scenes that we are not privy to.

I understand the concern that this person might be trying to trade on other sports card forums, possibly with a different name. I would ask Leon if he has any contacts at the CU board, Sportscardforum, Blowout, etc that he might give a heads up to, without outing the person directly to the public?

Good luck, brother! I hope this ends soon, and the resolution is to your satisfaction. You need to be made whole. I know, too, this has to have put a damper on your enjoyment of the hobby, and I hate seeing that. I know how much you love collecting.

[1952boyntoncollector]

(Ted, this is an excellent suggestion. I'm sure Ian has been taking detailed notes, and keeping a running paper trail of all pertinent communications.

By the way, guys, put me in the camp with those who think Ian is handling this the right way. I'm sure all of us would like to know who the board member is that's causng this issue.---- In time, if it's not resolved, we will know. ---)

That's my point, what if nothing happens, nothing is resolved...you say 'we will know' in time......if he never discloses the name 'in time'..lets say 6 months..and another victim occurs...its really not fair to that victim....the seller could be doing other types of scams on other boards...that's why the identity is important.....it appears on your message..even though you agree the seller is not disclosed...that 'in time' you agree the name should be disclosed if the issue is not resolved.......it doesn't appear the name will ever be disclosed no matter how much time passes....and new victims potentially occur...that's my point..

It seems everyone agrees with me now that it doesn't matter if he doesn't post B/S/T here anymore because he can get other victims on other boards...so I don't see that argument anymore ..in addition, to think that a scammer only uses one method, ie. check to scam is not logical.....to just not send checks in the future as one member recommends could now open you up to other scams from the same unidentified person.....I don't think scammers have a professional conduct code that they will limit their scams in one specific way and will never use any other method...thus to say just not to buy through a check to me doesn't seem a like a solution to avoid this potential scammer...

plus I have paid by check before to get better deals, now if no checks are ever accepted, prices will be higher...

[bnorth]

Chances are the OP will never know what happened. The OP will either get their money back or they won't.
I had something very similar happen to me about 4 yrs ago. I was lucky and got my $4000 back but neither the bank or police would tell me what actually happened.

[Runscott]

Originally Posted by 1952boyntoncollector

.....to just not send checks in the future as one member recommends could now open you up to other scams from the same unidentified person.....I don't think scammers have a professional conduct code that they will limit their scams in one specific way and will never use any other method...thus to say just not to buy through a check to me doesn't seem a like a solution to avoid this potential scammer...

plus I have paid by check before to get better deals, now if no checks are ever accepted, prices will be higher...

I was being a smart-ass. Get some sleep and quit worrying about this.

[obcmac]

I am in the group that is annoyed that Ian isn't naming names. While drawing on the resources of the board to help himself, he is offering nothing to the board members to help them protect themselves. If you want everyone's ideas and help, I think you owe us some helpful information back. If anyone can name one example where a phrase like "the person I've had a difficult time dealing with is x." has somehow impeded the progress of any case, I will withdraw my complaint.

Mac

[Leon]

Originally Posted by obcmac

I am in the group that is annoyed that Ian isn't naming names. While drawing on the resources of the board to help himself, he is offering nothing to the board members to help them protect themselves. If you want everyone's ideas and help, I think you owe us some helpful information back. If anyone can name one example where a phrase like "the person I've had a difficult time dealing with is x." has somehow impeded the progress of any case, I will withdraw my complaint.

Mac

I think everyone will get more information in due time. This isn't a race. And also, the fact this is a potential 14 month old fraud, I am not convinced this person does lots of it. As said, he has been on the board a long time (6+ yrs if not more) and I don't remember any other issues with him. I am with Ian on this one....

[1952boyntoncollector]

[QUOTE=Leon;1380164]I think everyone will get more information in due time. This isn't a race. And also, the fact this is a potential 14 month old fraud, I am not convinced this person does lots of it. As said, he has been on the board a long time (6+ yrs if not more) and I don't remember any other issues with him. I am with Ian on this one....[/Q

I don't care if a guy doesn't do lots of fraud.... a little bit of fraud to the victim or next victim would be bad enough...again you do say 'in due time'...I agree can wait but if we never here a peep from the seller and months pass I think the net54 community will want to know who it is ...as it appears from even from the posts that state that the name wont be mentioned now still agree that the name should be stated eventually..if issue never resolved...to protect the interests of new buyers.

..so we will see

[itjclarke]

Originally Posted by obcmac

If anyone can name one example where a phrase like "the person I've had a difficult time dealing with is x." has somehow impeded the progress of any case, I will withdraw my complaint.

For this reason, I fully intend to name him if he doesn't come forward and cooperate with me, my bank, the investigation. You have to realize that I had hoped to accomplish something with this thread, other than creating a witch hunt. However unlikely it was, I wanted to ratchet things up a notch with him so that perhaps he'd contact me. I'd say I was 99% sure he wouldn't come forward when I originally posted, and am probably 99.9% sure now.

Even if he does reach out to me, the perfect chain of events would need to take place for me to not inform the board who he is. At this point, I think I've covered most of my bases, and don't think it will affect the investigation's progress to out him here. That said, I do think he may get a flurry of PMs once he's identified, and do worry about possible meddling there. Not saying I think this will happen, but this is my first go around with something like this, so I'm learning as I go. I am trying to be cautious and consider all possibilities.

I'm all for protecting/warning the board, however as Leon said, he (assuming he is indeed involved) has not been ripping people off left and right. He's been a member almost 6 years and has sold dozens and dozens of items. I also have doubts he (again assuming he did this) would do similar on another board... my gut tells me he's trying to live a very straight, clean, legal life right now, and staying under the radar. So to that point, I think and hope that my waiting a few days here for him to contact me isn't going to cost anyone else.

[itjclarke]

Well, I said to myself before starting this thread, I'd give this guy through the weekend to reach out to me before I'd name him here. It doesn't look like that's happening anytime soon, so here we are.

I should say, regardless of the circumstances and my own suspicions, I don't know for certain this guy stole my money, or helped to steal my money (I hope to know soon). What is indisputable though is that this guy has been totally non communicative for over 3 weeks now, leaving critical questions from me and my bank unanswered, and as of late last week had still not simply signed a one page bank form that's been sent to him twice. This is after his being minimally communicative and vague at the beginning of this process, and after he for some reason edited his original sale thread several months after our deal. It now reads that PayPal gift is an accepted form of payment. That thread is now locked.

Until December, I had no reason to think my transaction had been anything but a good one, and had since exchanged pleasant emails with this guy over a handful of other cards. I'm guessing several others here have probably done transactions with him, presumably all good ones since I'd never seen anything negative posted about him. I'd also guess several here may know him since he's been here since 2009 and since we've got a lot of Philly area and PA guys on this board. No matter what happens now though, or what he or his friends may eventually say in his defense, he's shown his true colors to me.

Going forward, I probably won't offer up any new details as this progresses, however I will post the outcome, and more importantly any further lessons learned that may help you guys down the road. Thank you to those who've chimed in with ideas, offers of advice and/or help, and general support. This board is the best... at least the vast majority of it.

BTW, to the point of lessons learned, I saw Ed's earlier comment about putting a void after 180 days. Thanks for the comment and it seems like a very good idea, however from all I've read, once again the bank is not responsible for honoring these types of notes on your checks. Not really sure what the banks are responsible for? That said, I probably will start putting that note on any checks, and will just hope there is a responsible teller and/or bank on the other end of it.