If you receive a check for a small amount in the mail from a random source, do not deposit it.
This is a classic trick by investigators and debt collectors. They send you a small check. When it is deposited, the transaction gives them your bank account information. Don't make things easy for them. Require a court order for them to get such valuable information.
Most people are not aware of the trick, and they are greedy.
You might think you would never be in a situation where this would happen to you. You pay your bills and you have no legal trouble, right? I thought the same thing. A crooked landlord, who sued every tenant I later found out, took me to court in the past however.
I fought the case as much as I could and delayed paying him the unfair settlement for years. My goal was to make him break even for stealing from me. It worked in the end, and he didn't make a penny after his expenses. Still, I spent $10,000 defending myself from a thief.
Everyone should have a rainy day fund in case they need a lawyer.
When this happened to me, I had to take out a loan from a credit union. It was very painful. May that landlord's karma punish him since I could not! Now I do better research on landlords. You should do the same. Are you renting? You had better do your due diligence on your landlord.
Most states in the USA are on the side of the landlord.
Everyone involved knew the landlord's case was absurd. It didn't matter. Look into your landlord and check for civil court cases they have recently been involved in, and run their credit too. My landlord was broke. That was probably his motivation for suing every tenant.
The above story is part of the reason I became a Private Investigator.
I hope the tips I shared will protect you in the future. Definitely remember the check trick. Don't fall for it, and throw that check in the trash!
If you found this information valuable, please resteem it. My primary goal as a Private Investigator is to help people. If you have any questions or comments about the post, please let me know below. Thank you!
P.S. For those who are wondering, that is me in the image. I was getting ready to swing my gada (mace).