Hello! Stumbled upon this forum as I attempted some basic research. After reading through a few topics, I must say you guys are awesome! 
Keep up the great work!
So I work for a small family business and we received a Citibank "Personal Money Order" (as written at the top of this.. bank check type of thing) in a plain white envelope with no return address. Our company name and address is handwritten on the envelope (with no return address). While the amount and the date are typed on the "money order" itself, our company name is handwritten on it. There is absolutley no information about the sender on either the money order or the envelope. There is a line for "Purchaser's Signature" and "Address" but both were left blank. Even the postal marking on the envelope is illegible. Also, it's a 3-part form - 1)There is the actual money order which is white with green design and black type, 2)a "bank copy" which is pink with black type, and 3) a "purchaser copy" which is white with black type. All three copies are intact and were sent to us.
It's not the first time we've received a payment that doesn't contain any info regarding what account the payment should be applied to, but something just seemed all too shady about this. To add to the weirdness, I went through our outstanding invoices and not one of them matched the amount of the money order.
I called Citibank and explained that I received this "payment" but had no clue who it was from. I figured it was worth a shot to ask if they could help me out. He asked for the check/money order number, and then for the account number, which he stated would be the "middle number at the bottom". I heard the "middle number" part so without putting much thought into it, I read him the middle number. After a couple minutes of hanging on the line, I was told that they do not have records on the money order/check numbers and therefore, could not help me. I assumed it was proobably against policy or something for him to give me the account holder's name based on the account number. I wasn't expecting much to begin with, so no biggie. However, after hanging up I realized that the middle number is in fact the routing number and not the account number. It seems strange that the Citibank guy didnt mention that. He must have known, right?? I mean, there are even different amount of digits in each number.
So in my googling of the routing and account numbers, I found that they have indeed turned up on check fraud websites. Others who received checks with the numbers have said they turned out to be fake. If anyone is interested, the routing number is 031100209, which does appear to be a legit Citibank routing number, and the account number is 38762924 (Would not be posting the account number had I not found posts from other people who said the number is associated with other fake checks.)
I find it strange the Citibank was not too eager to help - They must be able to help me determine its authenticity if they wanted to. Maybe they'd rather we attempt to deposit it so they can charge us the fees later.
If this money order is indeed a fake (which I'm quite convinced of at this point), I just don't understand what anyone would have to gain from it. I see no way that anyone (other than the banks) would profit/benefit from this.
Anyone know what a scammer could possibly gain from this? Anyone else had a similar experience? Would love to hear your thoughts! Thanks to all who take the time to read/respond!
Keep up the great work!So I work for a small family business and we received a Citibank "Personal Money Order" (as written at the top of this.. bank check type of thing) in a plain white envelope with no return address. Our company name and address is handwritten on the envelope (with no return address). While the amount and the date are typed on the "money order" itself, our company name is handwritten on it. There is absolutley no information about the sender on either the money order or the envelope. There is a line for "Purchaser's Signature" and "Address" but both were left blank. Even the postal marking on the envelope is illegible. Also, it's a 3-part form - 1)There is the actual money order which is white with green design and black type, 2)a "bank copy" which is pink with black type, and 3) a "purchaser copy" which is white with black type. All three copies are intact and were sent to us.
It's not the first time we've received a payment that doesn't contain any info regarding what account the payment should be applied to, but something just seemed all too shady about this. To add to the weirdness, I went through our outstanding invoices and not one of them matched the amount of the money order.
I called Citibank and explained that I received this "payment" but had no clue who it was from. I figured it was worth a shot to ask if they could help me out. He asked for the check/money order number, and then for the account number, which he stated would be the "middle number at the bottom". I heard the "middle number" part so without putting much thought into it, I read him the middle number. After a couple minutes of hanging on the line, I was told that they do not have records on the money order/check numbers and therefore, could not help me. I assumed it was proobably against policy or something for him to give me the account holder's name based on the account number. I wasn't expecting much to begin with, so no biggie. However, after hanging up I realized that the middle number is in fact the routing number and not the account number. It seems strange that the Citibank guy didnt mention that. He must have known, right?? I mean, there are even different amount of digits in each number.
So in my googling of the routing and account numbers, I found that they have indeed turned up on check fraud websites. Others who received checks with the numbers have said they turned out to be fake. If anyone is interested, the routing number is 031100209, which does appear to be a legit Citibank routing number, and the account number is 38762924 (Would not be posting the account number had I not found posts from other people who said the number is associated with other fake checks.)
I find it strange the Citibank was not too eager to help - They must be able to help me determine its authenticity if they wanted to. Maybe they'd rather we attempt to deposit it so they can charge us the fees later.
If this money order is indeed a fake (which I'm quite convinced of at this point), I just don't understand what anyone would have to gain from it. I see no way that anyone (other than the banks) would profit/benefit from this.
Anyone know what a scammer could possibly gain from this? Anyone else had a similar experience? Would love to hear your thoughts! Thanks to all who take the time to read/respond!
