When scam victims are arrested

Finding out that you have become a victim of a scam is scary enough, but if you are also arrested and being charged with defrauding the bank it becomes a living nightmare.  One of the things that can help is understanding the definition of some of the words being throw around by lawyers and other officers of the courts.

Arraignment: An arraignment is not a trial, it is where you are read the charges and asked to enter a plea (guilty, not guilty).  It is at arraignment that the first court date is usually scheduled.  Make sure that you have an attorney present at your arraignment.

Burden of Proof:  The party that files the complaint carries the burden of proof, which is proving that there is enough evidence for a case.  In many cases where a scam victim is being charged with trying to defraud the bank and being a willing participate in the scam, the only "proof" that the prosecution has is that the defendant presented a counterfeit document.  

Discovery: The discovery is the pre-trial exchange of information between attorneys.  

Indictment: This is a document that basically sums up the case . . . the charges, the people involved, the court in which the case will be heard.

Scam Victims arrested - adding insult to injury

Being arrested can be one of the most frightening experiences for a person, but when you add that to being the victim of a scam, you can defiantly feel like you are on an emotional roller-coaster.


Most people know the saying "Innocent until proven guilty" but the scam victims that I have spoken with that have been arrested would say that they were seen as guilty until they could prove they were innocent. Why is this? Over the years some businesses and banking institutions have gotten better at detecting a counterfeit cashier's check or money order, but instead of warning the customer that the item is a counterfeit and that they are involved in a scam, they instead call the police into the matter and press criminal charges against the customer. These businesses and financial institutions will charge that the customer was aware that the document was counterfeit and that they were trying to defraud them . . . basically, that they were in on the scam. Most times the customer is truly an innocent person who really believed that the cashier's check sent to them was good, or was only going to the bank to ask them to verify it and then before they know it then end up in handcuffs in a police department.


If you find yourself in this situation you need to read the document "The At Risk of Arrest and Arrested Fraud Victim Manual" This document will cover you and your relationship with law enforcement, your attorney, how to write a narrative of what happened to you, as well as defining some of the legal terms that you will hear so that you know better what to expect.


One of the really important things that this document says is that if you are a fraud/scam victim and you feel you are at risk of being arrested, keep a copy of this manual with you at all times. If something happens, you can refer to this document so that you don't panic and say or do something that will make your situation worse. NEVER wave you Miranda Rights.


While we were never arrested in our case, I do understand the feeling of panic of becoming a scam victim. My first thoughts were "Who do I call? Where do I report this?" That is exactly why we have the Resources page on our site. When you feel like your world has been turned upside-down and you don't know what to do, write up one letter that includes all of the information on what happened . . . names, dates, who said what and when . . . and then send that one letter to all of the agencies listed at our Resource Page.  We also have information on banking terms on this page along with other helpful tips like

• Close any other accounts that you have at that bank so they cannot freeze those accounts
• Turn off any direct deposits you have going into that account
• Turn off any automatic payments or withdrawals you have coming out of that account
• Open an account at another bank

Also, for support from others who have been in your shoes, you can talk to other scam victims at our message board.  Many people find this to be like an online therapy session.

Verify a check, and aviod being arrested

In the past, many places have advised that the best way to verify if a cashier's check is legitimate is to bring it into a branch of the bank it was issued by. The problem with this is that we are seeing an increase in the number of people being arrested for trying to defraud a bank when they do bring these checks into the branch locations.

So what is a safer option? Verify the check by phone, not by going into the actual bank. This way you can get the information that you need without the chance of looking like you are trying to cash the check and defraud the bank. Make sure that you do NOT call any phone numbers listed on the check itself, because these too could be fraudulent. Look up the phone number online or in the phone book and the call the bank and let them know that you have a cashier's check and would like to verify if the check is legitimate or that you are worried that it could be a counterfeit.

If you are sent a cashier' check for any reason, and are asked to wire any portion of it back to the sender or on to a third person, there is a 99.9% chance that the check is counterfeit.

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