For Those of You Who Are Wondering...

If you've read the "Transfer Gate" thread then you might want to know the outcome of my tale. Sorry I had to start a new thread, but I get confused and can’t tell when one thread starts and one ends. Anyway, I went to the bank on my lunch break today and explained my situation to them. I had all e-mails printed out and a printout of my checking account summary, so that all made it a little easier. Basically what the bank did was put a hold on my checking account so nothing could go in it and no one could take anything out.
They had me open a new checking account right away so I could get MY money put in there. The banker told me that all of this would have been easier to clear up if I had had a check card and would have given the company my check card number instead of my checking account number. I hate check cards because it’s too easy to spend money with it, but now I’m considering getting a check card with the new account.
The bank is currently working to put the $1,380 back into the account of the person who sent it to me (coincidentally it was a Wells Fargo customer, which is my bank too). At first the teller called some sort of help line and they suggested that I take the money out and just send it back to the person. I told (three different people) them that I didn't know their account number or address so there was no way I could give the money back to them. Even if I knew their address I wouldn't have wanted to take the money out and send it to them anyway!!
They had me fill out an affidavit of check fraud form. Thanks to The Roadie’s information I was able to fill out the form completely so maybe it will be easier for them to do an investigation on that “company”. I just got an e-mail from Europe Watches’ manager today asking me if I could just transfer the money out of my account to the other person’s account because “they are the reseller company and they need funds to ship out goods to the customers.” (BULLPLOP!) So now mostly everything is taken care of. I don’t know what is going to come out of this investigation, but if anything cool happens, I’ll let you know. I hope I aided in getting them busted.
What have I learned from all this? Not too much considering I had a gut feeling that something bad was going to happen the whole time. Why did I go along with it? Because $800-900 a week seemed so promising. I’m trying to make my way through college on an 8-5 job that doesn’t pay so hot. Next time I’ll really research a company before I make any rash decisions.
What did I lose from this experience? A box of cool Alice Cooper checks that I had just ordered a week ago. I have a new account so I can’t use them now. I also lost about two hours of my time. I told my friends about the company before I knew it was a scam. Now they’re going to want to know what happened. I really don’t want to tell them the whole story. I’m embarrassed that I fell for it.
What did I gain from this experience? I gained the knowledge that scams come in all shapes and sizes. Yes, I’ve read Scams 101 when I first discovered this website about a year ago. I’m probably going to sit down tonight and re-read it. This mishap didn’t sour my opinion of having a job or starting a business on the internet, but I’ll sure look closer next time!
One thing for sure: I am never looking on Careerbuilder for a job ever again. I’m going to take my resumes off there asap. Sorry for rambling.
What do you think could have happened if I was able to withdraw that money from my account?