All In All, a Crappy Day
Mar. 23rd, 2007 10:13 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
peristaltorA few days ago, I was drawn outside by a sound from my childhood -- chainsaws. My neighbor next door was having some trees trimmed. Since some of them hung over my yard, I was all for it. . . especially once he offered to let me have all the wood I could burn.
Since the cutters were there, I and another neighboor both broached them about having a tree or two cut back from the power lines. He was amenable, and cheap.
When we finally struck a deal and one of the "arborists" started cutting, the boss threw in a wrench: cash only. I explained that I didn't have enough. A check for the balance would be acceptable. As I went in for the checkbook, he stipulated, "Just leave it blank."
"Yeah, right," I said.
"No," he insisted, "I'm serious."
I was taken aback, until I realized he probably meant leave the recipient section blank. Contractors who work for really cheap often like to fill recipient lines with fiction, using a spouse's name or, when they can get away with it, some guy named Cash. They reap the benefit come tax time.
The next day, three neighbors surveyed the damage. As we were shaking our heads and cleaning up, we laughed about the tree gypsies and realized that, after all, no permenant damage or harm was done.
That changed.
I came home to a message on my machine from a branch of my bank. Someone suspicious had tried to cash (from the sound of things) several of my checks. The person matched the description of Mrs. Gypsy.
Sure enough, a rush-hour race to Renton (not close by) confirmed that my $15 check was now a $115 forgery. Happily, the addition of the "One hundrd" was so ham-fisted that the teller copied ID and held the check, placing a hold on my account just for good measure. Li'l Mrs. Gypsy fled without my doctored check. It's mine again.
Tomorrow I get to see if the Seattle Police take complaints on the weekend. Note to scammers everywhere: when perpetrating a con, be sure to use someone else's ID.
I'll keep ya posted.
Since the cutters were there, I and another neighboor both broached them about having a tree or two cut back from the power lines. He was amenable, and cheap.
When we finally struck a deal and one of the "arborists" started cutting, the boss threw in a wrench: cash only. I explained that I didn't have enough. A check for the balance would be acceptable. As I went in for the checkbook, he stipulated, "Just leave it blank."
"Yeah, right," I said.
"No," he insisted, "I'm serious."
I was taken aback, until I realized he probably meant leave the recipient section blank. Contractors who work for really cheap often like to fill recipient lines with fiction, using a spouse's name or, when they can get away with it, some guy named Cash. They reap the benefit come tax time.
The next day, three neighbors surveyed the damage. As we were shaking our heads and cleaning up, we laughed about the tree gypsies and realized that, after all, no permenant damage or harm was done.
That changed.
I came home to a message on my machine from a branch of my bank. Someone suspicious had tried to cash (from the sound of things) several of my checks. The person matched the description of Mrs. Gypsy.
Sure enough, a rush-hour race to Renton (not close by) confirmed that my $15 check was now a $115 forgery. Happily, the addition of the "One hundrd" was so ham-fisted that the teller copied ID and held the check, placing a hold on my account just for good measure. Li'l Mrs. Gypsy fled without my doctored check. It's mine again.
Tomorrow I get to see if the Seattle Police take complaints on the weekend. Note to scammers everywhere: when perpetrating a con, be sure to use someone else's ID.
I'll keep ya posted.