It would be funny if people didn't actually fall for this kind of stuff. We took a large loss recently because of something like this. We have security training to watch for scams like this, but money handlers get into a routine, and that's how it slips through the cracks. Luckily for the mark, he was broke already. Otherwise he could have lost his life savings.

The mark is told explicitly to not discuss the nature of the transaction with the bank, which makes it extra hard. Most people don't know that even if a check clears, if it's a forgery, they can report it up to a year down the road and get their money back whatever way they can. That includes taking your life savings, or kids college money.