Recently I became the victim of a work from home scam. I was…

Good evening,

It's unlikely that you would have recourse against your bank.

Under federal law, banks are required to make funds available to you within 1-5 days. The problem is, while the funds are available, the funds are not really yours until the check “clears”.

Processing a payment actually takes longer than 1-5 days. Your bank accepts the deposit based on your identification – they have no information about the source of the check. Your bank then sends the check to the source. In the meantime, you’re responsible because it is assumed that you are in the best position to determine the risk of accepting the check – you dealt with the person who gave it to you. Until the bank confirms that the funds were actually deposited into your account, you are responsible for any funds drawn against that check.

In addition to collecting funds from you, the bank may also charge a fee, particularly if the reversal results in NSF checks, etc. Banks may also freeze or close your account or take money from other accounts you have at that bank, or even bring suit against you to recover the funds. While the bank may have seen other similar checks, that doesn't mean they can possibly know whether every check presented to them is valid. As the payee, that falls on you. Unless you can show the bank didn't exercise ordinary care or act according to industry standards, there's likely no claim here.

I'm very sorry. I wish I could have told you otherwise.