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Comment by 1024core | Hacker News Reader

> The company declined to say how many unsolicited checks it mails out

So they send out a check randomly: who is to verify that the recipient is the one who encashed it?

I think there's a law in the US that any item sent unsolicited can be considered a "gift" and you don't have to pay for it. Why doesn't that apply here?

In general, stories like this make me very sad. Motherfuckers like Geithner and Schwarzmann, etc. have all the money in the world they could ask for. Then why prey on poor people? Just enjoy your fucking dollars and leave these people alone!

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I agree with you in spirit, but it looks like the unsolicited gifts law is explicitly for "merchandise". Giving someone a deposit check is a common way of making a serious offer for eg real estate, and is likely to happen through the mail.

It would be an interesting argument if said check were cashed without knowledge of any implicit contract (say another person opening+discarding the rest of the correspondence, or just simply someone who can't read well).

I'd imagine if you complained and really pushed after getting the first bill, they'd just void the arrangement upon your returning the money. If you couldn't pay it back immediately, there's a good argument to be made that you're entitled to a payment plan that is not their terms, but it's not like these scams are targeting people who have access to equal protection!

(I also have to wonder about a limited power of attorney with the ability to endorse checks, but not to form contracts)

> have all the money in the world they could ask for. Then why prey on poor people?

How do you think they got that money in the first place?

I don't think they got rich stealing from poor people (at least, I don't think Geithner did; he was the chair of the NY Fed). They have plenty of money to start with, before they jumped on this "opportunity". Shame on them.

> A company sends you a gift in the mail...Whatever you do, don’t pay for it — and don’t get conned if the sender follows up with a phone call or visit. By law, unsolicited merchandise is yours to keep.

https://about.usps.com/publications/pub300a/pub300a_tech_021...

EDIT: IANAL

There are contracts attached to the check, written on the check, and documentation sent in addition to it.

Yeah, but literally anyone can sign the contract. If I move out tomorrow and one of these checks lands in the new tenant's mailbox with my name on it there's nothing stopping that tenant from cashing the check by attempting to forge my signature. It's fraud, but now it's my problem because the idiots at the company put my name on the check.

This kind of despicable practice should be illegal.

The entire notion of identity theft should be inverted. It wasn't your identity that was stolen, it was the money of which ever place didn't verify the person taking the money. So it should be their problem, not your problem.

A comedic explanation is given by Mitchell & Webb: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CS9ptA3Ya9E

"Some logged in on the bank website and committed identity theft electronically." "I see, did they take anything else?" "Uh, no." "Oh, good, so all the money's still there?" "What?" It's just my identity that's gone. None of your money?"

It is (or was) for credit cards.

The banks, of course, figured out loopholes and with the CFPB out of commission, welcome to finance in America

Once I got a Discover Card offer in the mail. I had become tired of these "offers", so I wrote in large black marker "TAKE ME OFF YOUR LIST" on this 'offer' and sent it back.

Lo and behold, I get a Discover card in the mail a few weeks later.

So I called them up: I did not sign up, why did you send me the card? They insisted I had signed up. So I asked them to send me a copy of the application, with my signature on it (which they agreed to do).

And a few days later, I get a printed copy of, basically, a database record listing the automatically filled-in information. Nothing else.

And then what? Did you file a complaint with anyone?

Who does one complain to? I just dropped it. Called them to cancel the card, and cut it up.

State Attorney General's office?

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