Greg's Corner

Check cashing scam targets the homeless

By Greg Collier

We often don’t think about the homless as being scam victims, but they often are. What money they manage to save can often end up in the hands of scammers. We’ve seen multiple instances where rental scammers have taken the last penny from homeless victims who have done what they can to afford a place to stay. Only for the victims to start all over again. That’s only one of the scams that are frequently being perpetrated on the homeless. There are also scams that could land homeless victims in jail while the scammers get away.

In Michigan, it’s being reported that scammers are using the homeless to try to cash fraudulent checks. The scammers are allegedly approaching homeless people, asking them if they’re looking for work. If they say yes, the scammers will promise them partial payment from a check the scammers have. The catch is, the homeless person needs to cash it for them.

So, there are two likely outcomes with this scam. The first is, the check gets cashed. Whether the homeless victim gets paid is mostly unknown because the second scenario is more likely. In the more likely scenario, the check is discovered as being fraudulent and the homeless victim trying to cash it gets arrested.

This happened to a homeless Michigan man who is currently in jail for allegedly trying to cash a fraudulent check. He was promised $900 out of a $6000 check for some construction work but was arrested at a national bank branch.

This is far from an isolated case as this scam has been reported in the South, New England, parts of the Midwest and Southern California.

If you’re homeless, anyone who asks you to cash a check for them is essentially using you as a shield from the police. Nothing good can ever come from it. If you know someone who is homeless, please consider asking them if they’re aware of this scam.

Most homeless people are not homeless by choice and are still human beings. We should be taking more steps to protect them rather than allowing them to be taken advantage of.