8 grand out of nowhere?
 

so, if you magically got 8 g's out of nowhere, would you do anything bike-related with it, or would you just be tortured trying to figure out where the hell it came from?

anyone ever heard of a scam involving 8 grand being anonymously transferred to a virtualmoney account via one of yr email addresses?

a little voice in my head keeps telling me that i don't need it and shouldn't accept the transfer. i contacted the site to find out if the money actually exists and exists for me. it does, but it was sent to the default email address for my website. something about that strikes me as incredibly suspect...

anyone know anything about a scam like that?

i cant think of how it would be a scam. an accident maybe, but not a scam. i'd transfer the money out of the account into a real bank account and sit on it for a bit. if nothing happens, spend it! you could also contact the address from which the money came to check it out.

After more thought, deny it.

Fortuitous or bizarre?

I'd try to clear that money first -- stuff like that, you dont mess with until you know what the deal is. Find the truth!

transfer, and try and withdrawl the money. If it is real you'll be able to walk outta the bank with it.

Also, where did it originate from. Lots of scams with money coming from outta the US, you get the money, sorta, not real, and then someone tries to claim it, but it takes weeks for international transfers to go through.

i would:

transfer it to a real bank ASAP.... wait at least a month.

try to save at least half??? probably whatevers left after i buy a nice new bike...

buy the girlfriend something nice.

i guess i just feel like it could be a laundering scam. the money's there. it's real. i'm just more inclined to refuse it than accept it since it was transferred anonymously...

Beware. If a bad check is passed, or otherwise ill-gotten gains are deposited into an account, the person who deposits the check and withdraws the money can be held responsible. I just read an article in the New Yorker about a guy who got bad checks sent to him by one of these Nigerian scammers, and even though the check cleared, he was held responsible for withdrawing it.

that's kind of exactly what i was thinking--particularly because of the amount of hate-mail i get at that address.

My friend was selling his bike on craigslist and got the most obvious scam response ever, that he unfortunately bit on.

Some dude sent him a check for him to deposit and then withdraw the shipping cost. He was very careful and double and triple checked with the bank that the check was legit and the bank teller assured him it was fine. So, he withdrew the money only to have the bank tell him it was a fake check and that he owed the bank like $3000, EVEN THOUGH he was extra careful to get the bank's assurance. Lame. He was stupid to fall for it but the bank should also have taken some responsibility for insisting that it was all legit.

Oh, and another friend in college one day went to the ATM to find over $40,000 in his account mysteriously.A couple days later it was gone. Mistakes happen.

Yet another reason why briefcases full of non-sequential small denomination bills are the only way to do business. Cash: good for more than just drug deals.

don't do it ... a lot of times this can bite you in the ass as they will actually charge you interest on the money, as well as expect it back in time. Or your approval could be used against you and they'll do what don says.

decline, and remember ... if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

yeah. my inclination was to not accept it and i'm gonna go with that. thanks everyone.

Yeah that is sketchy, I'd sit on it for awhile and see what happens. Either you got incredibly lucky from someone else's mistake or you are about to be screwed. 8 grand don't come easy.

edited. You made the right decision:)

You could also be in trouble with the law if you accept anything over $250 that isn't yours. Felony fraud. I would refuse it, bounce it back or whatever. If the money is legit the person who sent it to you will contact you to see how the funds can be transfered with your knowledge.

I was JUST about to post that...

Good decision. Money -- the root of all evil!

http://www.airbrushconcepts.com/imag...ner_stone2.jpg

That reeks of scam to me. I can see how enticing it would be, but the best scams are. I'm certain you made the right decision.

If I had to guess, I'd say there is no money, but the process of trying to transfer the funds would give the scammer the info needed to transfer funds out of your bank account.

****, I could use 8 grand right now...

Sounds suspicious. May be some kind of loan and by accepting you're obligated to pay back with interest. Just sit tight for a while. If it's real it won't go anywhere.

It's a scam. Delete the email and move on.

I've been hit up for this about 5 times over the last 8 years.

http://www.secretservice.gov/alert419.shtml

The scams that work best are the ones that feed off of the targets' greed.

here's the article I mentioned, all about how this Mass psychotherapist got taken by a scam like this:

http://www.newyorker.com/fact/conten.../060515fa_fact

It's long, but interesting.