Tourist Loses Checkbook, Gets Ripped Off

[Zelda]

US NATIONAL CLAIMS TO HAVE BEEN ROBBED

March 02, 2010

Police in Dangriga are investigating a report made by U-S national Michael Stewart Scott of mile 25 Hummingbird Highway in the Stann Creek District. Scott told Police that between January 12 and 15 he went to Hopkins Village on vacation. He said he stayed at a resort and when he left he forgot a knapsack which contained his cheque book. Scott said when he checked his bank account he found that on January 19 a cheque for 400 US dollars was made out to Quality Poultry Products and another cheque for 850 US dollars was made to Farmers Trading Center

http://www.lovefm.com/ndisplay.php?nid=11611

hmmmm... 400 bucks worth of meat (or maybe live chickens?) and LOTS of stuff from FTC, that's what I call a shopping spree !!

$850 will buy a nice Queen-sized mattress, or even a stove (to cook alla that chicken, lol.)

I know, I shouldn't laugh about it, I'd be horribly pissed if it was MY checkbook that was stolen, but geez, don't the clerks in those places check IDs ??

[~~Anita~~]

I would have NEVER thought in a millions years, that I could write a check in Belize.

Maybe it's a good thing I don't bring them.

[catdance62]

I agree, what an idiot

[Zelda]

that's almost exactly what Woody said, Anita...

like WHY would anyone bring a checkbook to a foreign country?

on the way to market, we talked about perhapses.

perhaps... someone told him about the great "Outage" of 2005 ??

and he brought it as backup ??

in 2005, a major international cable was cut, AND there was a strike by BTL workers, which spread to all sectors, eventually including teachers and other unions, a few small civil disturbances, and whatnot.

many tourists (who hadn't brought cash) were forced to head over to Guatemala to access their ATMs, as everything went down in Belize, no internet, no phones, no credit card transactions, and no cash machines for almost a WEEK.

but hey, I'd rather bring American Express Travellers' Cheques or something for emergency back-up.

[Miss Kenni]

I would have NEVER thought in a millions years, that I could write a check in Belize. Maybe it's a good thing I don't bring them.

Anita, I write US checks in Belize. So far, I have only one place that will cash my US checks on the spot, am looking for more, preferably closer to home. But worst case, I can deposit one at Atlantic Bank. Not for immediate cash, they take I think 9 weeks to clear one, but it does avoid the outrageous wire fees.

I also write checks on my BZ checking account, and I have lots of places that will accept those. Any way, if the checks were really stolen and forged, the guy can dispute them with his US bank and get the $$ back in short order. I had a check forged on one of my US accounts once (and whoever did it didn't even have one of my paper checks, just the info he apparently hacked from the bank), I was credited within a few days.

The BZ banks are actually much better than most big US banks about checking signatures, in my experience. Kenni

[Zelda]

I just re-read the article, and noticed... it seems to say that the guy lives on the Hummingbird Hwy ??

I wonder if he's a permanent resident, temporary visitor, or what ?

[~~Anita~~]

Maybe, I'll bring 1 check........ just in case. You know, fold it up, and hide it. Otherwise, leave them at home. Oh, and look into a traveler's checks.

It seems that I go alot of places here in the US, and it says, "No traveler's checkques accepted."

[krc]

Our Belize Bank check story is that we had our checking account for several years and then when we started building our home we got a large batch of stuff from the local hardware store and right before we left we went down and wrote a check for several thousand dollars to cover the purchase. Imagine our surprise when our friend called about two months later to tell us that the check had not cleared the bank. We couldn't believe it, we had thousands of dollars in our account to cover the cost of building supplies.
Called the bank and found out that they believed the check to be forged because the signature did not match.
Not sure if you know but if you bank at the Bank of Belize they can call up your signature and check it via what is on the screen right then and there. It also turns out that if you get a bank account there your must be very careful how you establish the account. If you say you want your name to be Mary Alice Smith you must sign your name Mary Alice Smith,
if you sign Mary Smith or Mary A. Smith they will reject your signature. However you could sign your name Mary Alice
Renee Smith and that would be okay. Your name can be longer than signed but not shorter.
That was the last time that my husband wrote a check in Belize and the only check in our whole life that has bounced.
We were so embarassed by this and felt so sorry for the hardware owner.
I always carry one US Check with us, in our village we can write a check to anyone for US Funds and they are happy to receive it. Years ago we used to take our US and change it with a business man who did transactions with people in Guatemala. We would make 10 dollars on every 100 exchanged.
Now the opposite is true and we are always on the lookout for USD.

[Miss Kenni]

Atlantic Bank is also big on checking the sigantures, and can call up your original signature card on the screen to compare it to a check being presented. I always sign the same way, so I haven't run into the problem krc describes. I actually appreciate the attention, compared to US banks. Kenni

[collyk]

A friend dropped 2 grand in a cash clip in Municipal airport this week. The finder returned it in full. Just thought I'd add this happy tale.

[Zelda]

I'm still stuck on how PRACTICAL the check thief was.

seriously, if I had money, those are definitely two places I'd go shopping.

I just *love* Farmer's Trading Center...

there's hardly anything they don't have for sale, appliances, paint, hardware, tools, fencing, dishes, kitchen supplies, toys, sundries, towels, shoes, fabric, underwear, mattresses, a nice produce section, now fully air-conditioned and enclosed by sliding glass doors...

ay yi yi yi... I usually have a BLAST in there !!

and Quality Poultry, another excellent shopping choice, yay !!