“I’m a capital ‘D’ Dumbass,” Houston lawyer Richard T. Howell Jr. said about the incident. His law firm is however suing on the grounds that the bank should have better explained the check-clearing process. The scam artist posed as a businessman in Japan who wanted to become a client of Howell’s firm. [Texas Lawyer, TechDirt]
Update March 2010: lawsuit still pending [KHOU h/t reader VMS]
One Comment
I don’t know about the merits of the law suit but advance check scams rely on the banks vague system of “clearing” checks, where account holders are never given an actual positive indication of if or when a check actually clears. In this day and age where the bank debits your account instantly it is reasonable for customers to believe that a check that has been deposited several days ago and has not been rejected has been cleared. This is is a **systematic** issue and one the banks can fix.