GREENSBORO, N.C. — James Simmons now knows he got scammed but he says his bank shouldn’t have to hold him responsible for the money lost because it only became available to him when the bank cleared the fake check.

“I got scammed and they took out every penny we had,” Simmons said.

It started when Simmons put his Scooter on Craigslist for sale and soon enough he got a buyer.

“And about two or three days later, UPS brought me a check,” he said about how the check was delivered.

Simmons was selling the scooter for $675 but the check he received was for $2,200.
The buyer, Simmons says, told him to deposit the entire amount into his bank account, keep the money for the scooter and send the rest to a moving company which would take the scooter to the buyer.

“I went and I did that,” Simmons said. “The check looked official. On the back of it. It had signatures and everything.”

According to updates posted by Wells Fargo to Simmons’ bank account, the check was deposited October 6th, 2016.

By the next day, it had cleared and the money was available in Simmons’ account.

Simmons took out the $1,475, as instructed by the buyer, and sent it to a moving company he now knows doesn’t exist.

Read on.