If I found a check, that is signed. Can I deposit it in my bank? Only for $150?

If you don't mind going to jail.

Enjoy the bank fraud charges.

Oh yeah, lets not forget that this could also be used to scam you...

So you are asking if it is Ok to commit fraud and theft???? Do I have that right????

Not unless it is payable to you & not stale dated. It's illegal to deposit a check that is not yours.

You are a damn little fool! Dumb assss if the person it belongs to did NOT cancel it and you deposit it the cashed/deposited check goes back to him or her and your dumb asss is fried. As in fraud, theft and on and on and on! Good lord idiot your account info is all over the check where it was stamped and deposited.

The fact that you qualified it's "only $150" indicates that you already know this is morally repugnant and likely to be illegal.

A check has to be signed by both the payer and payee in order to be valid.

If the person to whom the check was written has already endorsed it (signed the back), but the bank has not already already processed it, then technically it might be legal to deposit it yourself. Certainly the bank ought to accept it and assume you obtained it legally.

If you just mean that the payer signed the check, then you cannot endorse it without committing fraud.

Not made out to you, so no. Return it to the writer.

Do no deposit it into your bank. Who ever lost the check will have it traced and it will lead to you. You don't want to ever answer the question, "Why did you deposit this check?" And, you don't want you or your account to be associated with stolen checks or fraud. So, do not deposit it into your bank account.

Go right ahead if you would like to go to prison! I am serving on a Grand Jury and we just did a secret indictment against a guy who did this very thing. He doesn't even know that there is now a warrant out for his arrest and he will be going to jail. When you have a criminal record, you can kiss goodbye any chance of getting a decent job and your criminal record will follow you everywhere. Is that worth stealing $150 to you?

1. The person that wrote it likely voided it and wrote a new one.
2. You would have to endorse it to cash it, which will get you a nice fraud charge and ruin your freedom. One of my friends decided to try this trick and got a fine, restitution, and 30 days in the clink.

return it to the bank, you know it is not yours

You might not get prison time, only probation & thousands in legal fees.

You will be foolish to try this. Unless your name is identical to that of the person whose name is written on the cheque then 'no' you will not be able to pay it in. If it is identical you will still be committing fraud because you know that it is not your property. Like all items 'found' you should hand it in and allow the true owner to be found.

There is a good chance that the person who lost the cheque will have reported it missing to the sender and then the sender will have stopped the cheque. If you try cashing it or paying it into your account after it has been stopped you will immediately be suspect.

The problem isn't the signer, it is the payee. If it is a check for CASH then it can be cashed but you will still need to present an ID and endorse the check. So there WILL be a record of what you did. This might not technically be illegal - but you can still get caught for it.

If it was NOT made out to CASH but rather to a specific person, if you endorse it using a fake ID you crossed the line into intentional fraud, which even for a small check will violate federal bank fraud laws. Making it a federal case and putting your mug shot into a lot of police documents.

Short answer: Don't deposit it. Turn it in to the bank on which it was drawn and explain that you found it but didn't want to cash it. You wanted the signer to know that the lost check was found uncashed. Which gets you off the hook for any criminal or unethical actions. And lets you sleep better knowing that you aren't expecting that late-night knock at the door with lots of flashing lights and sirens.

putting it into your account (even trying to put it into your account) is bank fraud, and thats a federal offence

you can try, but very likely the person who lost it will have it voided so it will not clear.

Well, what you're talking about is theft. How hard a crime do you think that is going to be to solve, seeing as how your victim is going to get a copy of the check that you signed your name to and put your bank account number on?

The check is not yours. That would be stealing.

Hmm

Bank fraud
Theft
ID theft
All possible charges

You 'found' a check eh? Is that a check that YOU lost at some point? Signed? That's what we do when we write checks. 'Only for $150'? Look, you're clearly too dumb to pull this off, so I suggest you put it back where you 'found' it and get a job to EARN money like the rest of us.

Hey

I don't think the risk of going to jail is worth it. Please don't do it.

NO , hand it in to the cops , asp, be honest

No, but do it anyway.

checks are signed by the one issuing the check, that does not allow just anyone to cash it or deposit in the bank
the payee is the one who needs to endorse the check for deposit(or cashing), if you are not the payee you won't be able to do so