By Diane Lee (WSPA)
(ANDERSON, SC)
Amanda Clubb, of Anderson, was shocked after she found out that, not only was she a victim of a mystery shopper scam, but she was also facing charges.
Clubb took an offer of what she believed to be a real job, only to find out that she had been tricked.
As a mom of four kids, she says she couldn’t pass up the flexible hours and good pay.
However, when she went to the bank to cash her first paycheck, she found out the hard way that it wasn’t real.
Police arrived and were ready to arrest Clubb, believing she may have made the check herself.
Clubb thought this was ridiculous, saying “why would I turn around and make a false check, and run it out to my own bank?”
Clubb says she showed the officer the Mystery Shopper letter to prove she wasn’t the one behind the bogus check.
The letter and check are now locked in the evidence room at the Anderson Police Department.
We asked Captain Kevin Warren how someone could be arrested for cashing a check they didn’t know was fake.
“When the bank calls us in a situation like that, they call it in as a counterfeit or forged check,” Warren said, “When the officer’s on scene, he only has that brief time to make a decision to arrest or not arrest.”
“It is common that we make arrests, and once it gets further down the road, they realize that this is a scam and you are actually a victim of a scam,” Warren said.
As much as Clubb pleads her case, though, her charges won’t be dropped until the hearing.
She may not have lost money in the scam, but now she will have to pay for a public defender.
If you were wondering what happens when a bank realizes a cashed check is bogus, they say the funds disappear from the account, and the owner is on the hook for the money sent.
