How do scammers / money launderers profit from loans to victims?

Question

Recently, I had an investor [scammer] offer to loan my company money. It was to be posted directly into my accounts — equal amounts in my checking and savings accounts.

There were no conditions that I was to send any money back to them but they wanted to have the debit cards for the accounts for 24 hours to do all this.

What was the true reason they wanted to use my accounts for? I was told we could meet to do all of this, so I have the person's personal telephone number, e-mail and physical home address. I checked the address out with Google Maps and it was in Brooklyn, NY.

I am very eager to know what a person was up to who would give to me so much information about themselves. I know some of you will jump on the chance to yell "it was not their true address", but it is where they wanted me to send the cards to. And I was to give proof of my identification, i.e., a copy of my driver's license, my articles of incorporation and the real estate development project prospectus.

Also, they were only willing to work with certain banks, e.g., Citibank, Bank of America, etc. I can not understand what they were doing wanting such access to accounts that had no money in them save the amount I used to open them with. If they were going to just run up the credit or debit cards why not ask for my established bank accounts that have money in them? I did not bank with the ones they preferred so would have had to open up new accounts.

If they did actually loan us the money in order to launder it through my actual business venture, then I can understand what they were doing. But otherwise I have not the imagination or criminal mind to understand why anyone would bother to do all this, because all of my life I have had to rely on simple BST [blood, sweat and tears] to achieve my goals.

I would truly appreciate all comments. Thank you!

Answer 1

What was the true reason they wanted to use my accounts for?

We wouldn't know the true reason. The scammer can do multiple things. What exactly he would do in your case ...

I am very eager to know what a person was up to who would give to me so much information about themselves. I know some of you will jump on the chance to yell "it was not their true address", but.... it is where they wanted me to send the cards to. And I was to give proof of my identification ie; a copy of my drivers license, my articles of incorporation and the real estate development project prospectus.

Also they were only willing to work with certain banks ie; Citibank, Bank of America etc. I can not understand what they were doing wanting such access to accounts that had no money in them save the amount I used to open them with.

It looks more like they would open accounts under your name, but they would be controlling the accounts. i.e. what goes in and out. i.e. they would be able to deposit and withdraw from a new account they set-up. They would want to use this account for illegal activities, so that if caught, the account opening paper trail leads to you.

Even if they gave you an address, it could be rental. Like they have copies of your Company registration and ID proofs, they can use these to get another rental property ... and then send letters to some and ask them to met there.

Answer 2

If they have your account numbers (which are necessary for direct deposits) they could possibly initiate ACH withdrawals from your accounts too (requires some setup but they may have accomplices). Note that even if you didn't have money there, depending on the local bank rules you may be still on the hook for overdrafts they create, at least by default. You may be able to prove later that this was fraud but the burden of proof will be on you, and in the meantime they might be gone with the money.

They could use your documents to either establish other accounts in your name (identity theft) or take over your accounts (e.g. by contacting customer service of the bank and claiming to be you, and presenting the documents you sent as a proof), request credits under your identity (possibly using the money on the account as a collateral since the bank may not know where the money is from), etc. This is even easier given you will give them all the documents and information needed for a loan, your signature, etc.

And the fact that they ask you to send documents to a specific address doesn't mean they could be found at that address when the problems start - it may be rented short-term, belong to either knowing or unknowing accomplice, be a forwarding service, etc.

Could be money laundering of course too.

That's just what comes to mind after a short while thinking about it.