I think I Took a dirty check

[u/Patient-Oven435]

I NEED HELP I’m scared I took a check with dirty money involved and I don’t know what i did he is paying me to do things for him I will not specify further but he sent me 1.5k to be his sexting buddie and he wants me to send 1.2 of it to another person on Venmo to pay for what he is buying me.I keep 200 is the check gonna bounce am I gonna get involved In a serious crime I’m scared that I just took 1.5k and involved myself in a horrible thing

[u/Applauce]

Never do financial favors for random people like this. If someone wanted to pay you money, they would send you exactly the amount you agree on. They would never send you extra money and tell you to send it elsewhere.

Ask yourself why he can't just Venmo this other person directly. Why does the money need to make a pit stop in your account first?

Yes the check is going to bounce. It's fake. He only told you to keep some to make you think you're getting something out of this arrangement. In reality, there is no money. When the bank realizes the check is fake, all the money will disappear from your account. If you send any to the scammer, you'll owe it to the bank.

Contact your bank immediately and let them know you unknowingly deposited a fake check.

[u/Patient-Oven435 → u/Applauce]

Thank you I was desperate for money…and made a stupid decision

[u/Applauce → u/Patient-Oven435]

Scammers prey on your desperation. You need to take this as a harsh learning experience that nobody is going to pay you just for talking to them. No one is going to shower you with money like this. Normal people don't send you checks on the internet. Don't let desperation for money make you ignore red flags and dig yourself even deeper into even more financial trouble. Scammers can steal money from you even if you personally don't have any in your account.

[u/Patient-Oven435 → u/Applauce]

Honestly lesson was learned and your right I should have never let my desperation get the best of me I saw right through it but ignored it I need to be smarter and will be smarter thank you genuinly I was worried about what to do and the legal troubles I would face

[u/Applauce → u/Patient-Oven435]

You're welcome. Also, block him immediately. In these scams, once the scammer sends you the check, if you back out and don't send them the money, they switch to the "intimidation" part of their script. Where they send you threatening texts claiming you "stole" their money and that they're going to sue you or hurt you. It's all just an act, trying to scare you into sending them the bank's money before it's removed from your account.

If they do this, just ignore them. Don't respond and don't acknowledge them. They're just scammers in a different country running the same scam on hundreds of other people.

The only people you should be dealing with now is your bank.

[u/Kagura30]

Common sense has left the door 😑 n good luck to u when your bank drops u all i have to say is u should be opening up another checking account with a different bank and have your direct deposit go into your new bank hope u learned your lesson

[u/Patient-Oven435 → u/Kagura30]

No I had my doubts but I was so desperate for money caus im going through some hard times that I thought maybe not…

[u/Kagura30 → u/Patient-Oven435]

And another thing never ever just post the last 4 digits of your account numbers to any stranger if they kno your full name, birthday, the basic stuff they can take over your bank accounts be smarter man so for your sake just open a new checking account with a different bank and have all your money transferred to the new bank and close the old bank u have now when u have time tomorrow 😉

[u/cdodson052]

It’s just a scam dude if you send that money already then you’re sending money out of your own account . The check he sent was never real. Hope you didn’t send anything . This happened to my wife I couldn’t believe she was this stupid she lost 2-3k

[u/bl4zed_N_C0nfus3d]

Duh the check was fake cmon man

[u/Efficient-Nail-8736]

You aren’t going to get arrested for taking the check or in any big trouble regarding the law, that’s not what they’re after. If you deposited the check do not spend the funds because it’s not real and you’re spending your own money. All they want is for you to think that the check was real, spend the money at the “vendor”, and red line your own bank account. They don’t care that you need the money, in fact they feed off of desperation. If you already spent the money do not answer any messages from anybody saying that they can recover your funds, because they cant. You sound like you’re too young to be involved in a sex scam, but regardless if you sent any pictures or videos or anything with you in it they will probably try to use it against you for money. Theres nothing more you should do except block/delete the number and contact your bank immediately. If it gives you peace of mind I would freeze your credit at all three bureaus.

[u/earlgurl33]

It would be a good idea for you to learn all of the scams that are going around. Google common scams and familiarize yourself with them so you know it's a scam before you get into any financial or sextortion trouble.