Pam Schmidt's son had an apartment listed on Roommates.com to find someone to help with the mortgage payments while he was working out of town. A man claiming to be Russian called with quite a story

"It was the uncle who called and said it was his niece whose parents are dead and she has to get away from her mother in law to get away from Russia and she is coming to SFU," Schmidt said.

A cheque for three months rent and some extra totaling $4,498 soon arrived. The cheque was deposited at his local HSBC. And it looked like the money was in his account. Then he got a call from the man asking for money back to help his niece.

"She's stuck at Heathrow Airport and she's got to have the money and can you send it via Western Union," the caller told Schmidt's son.

The money was wired. A few days later the cheque came back -- counterfeit. Pam's son was on the hook. She believes the bank didn't do enough to protect him.

"They should have not released the money they should have put it on hold," she said.

When CTV News contacted the bank, it referred us to the Canadian Bankers Association. It says all banks face this issue.

So CTV asked who loses if the cheque turns out to be fraudulent.

"You lose because that is an agreement that you have made with that person who owes you money," the CBA's Maura Drew-Lytle said.

"So if there is something fraudulent about that cheque it's up to you to go to that person if there is a problem with that cheque."

Even if the money appears to be in your account it can take 90 days for that cheque to fully clear. That means you need to be cautious. Before you cash a cheque ask yourself these questions:

  • Is the name on the cheque different from the person you are dealing with?
  • Is the amount of the cheque more than the amount you asked for?
  • Are you being asked to send a portion of the money back or to a third party by western union or other wire transfer?

If you answer yes to any of them --you may be a victim of cheque or money order fraud.

"It is the individual's responsibility to decide if they want to deposit the cheque or not," Drew-Lytle said.

When you advertise anything for sale or rent assume at least one crook will contact you. To avoid being a victim look for the warning signs and don't cash the cheque.

With a report from CTV British Columbia's Chris Olsen