Virtually all escorts do not accept cheques from clients.
Here's why…
Stop in the name of… ?
Cheques are a promise to pay. Unfortunately, not everyone wants to keep their promises.
One man, Michael Goldsmith, made a habit of it. His basic pattern was to offer a significant sum for an 'overnight', often involving travel to North Wales although he also did this in Manchester and London; to ask about bringing 'chems'; and to end up with offering a "guaranteed" cheque, typically after the escort was on the train. When they later paid the cheque into their account, it was returned by their bank as 'stopped' – he had told his bank not to pay the money.
This wasn't just morally wrong of him, it was legally wrong too. By giving someone a cheque you are acknowledging that you owe them money and there are very very few grounds for stopping the payment. It doesn't matter what the debt was for, the courts will say 'pay up'.
Escorts talk to each other, and news about bad clients spreads. When it was realised that he'd done this more than once, several escorts went to the police to report him for the criminal offence of 'obtaining services by deception'. As a result, Goldsmith was arrested, tried, and imprisoned. (Of course, when he was released from jail about two and a half years later, he started trying it again. Some people clearly like jail food.)
He's not the only one to do this
Although it's risky, some escorts have sex with clients before being paid in the hope of being given a large tip at the end. If you're going to do this, our advice is to at least sort out how you will be paid before going to someone. If you do decide to accept a cheque – and remember that very few escorts do – remember that as part of the banks' attempts to stop people using cheques, they have ended the cheque guarantee system, and there is now no way to to be sure it will be honoured.
They also provide a means of being traced by clients – it's possible to discover which account a cheque was paid into – even when you ask the client to leave the name blank, so you can fill in your name later.
Bad company?
It gets even worse with company cheques:
- You can't be sure if they have enough signatures (many need two)
- If the person giving you the cheque is being naughty with the company's money, you're much more at risk of being treated as receiving stolen property. One male escort had a year of absolute hell because of this.
But that's not all
Most experienced escorts have been emailed at some point by someone outside the UK who asks for a booking for while he's next over here. A good price is agreed and the client offers to pay in advance by cheque…
… then he asks the escort to accept a larger cheque than the agreed amount, with the escort paying the balance into another account (said to be a charity in one case). Some excuse about this being easier for him is offered.
It's a con – don't fall for it!
What will happen is that you will receive a large cheque, and pay it into your bank account. After a day or so, your bank will credit your account. But after you pay the balance into another account as requested, your bank will be told that the cheque was stolen or forged and they will withdraw all of the money from your account.
This will leave you having lost all the money you have paid into someone else's account – which will have been emptied by the conman! Of course, he won't turn up for his booking either…
Be very very cautious about accepting cheques from abroad. Within the UK, banks agree to notify each other if there is a problem with a cheque within a week. But with a cheque from abroad, it takes longer. Your bank may credit your account sooner than that… but they reserve the right to take the money back again, no matter what you've done with it in the meantime.
In another case, the client was based in the UK, and sent the escort a UK cheque (from Halifax bank, this time). Of course, the cheque bounced and, although he hadn't paid out any money to the conman, he was still charged by his bank for the costs of the bounced cheque.
Had some of those spam emails offering jobs processing payments?
Same thing. You'll receive some cheques, pay them into your bank and send off money – minus their generous 'commission' – to the conmen via a payment service like Western Union. Shortly afterwards, your bank will find out the cheques are no good and take the money back.
But by then, the conmen will have disappeared with the money you sent them.
Oh while we're talking about spam, sorry, but penis enlargement pills and patches don't work either. And widows and orphans of dead African dictators and corrupt bankers do not have millions of dollars to share with you. Neither do lotteries make a habit of awarding large prizes to people who haven't bought a ticket (and real lotteries don't ask for 'expenses' before handing over those prizes). And do you really want to buy your medicines from an illegal website?