This "so called" Nigerian stuff

[ManyBeers]

Lets first talk about how a check actually clears. First you deposit it into your local banks ATM, Branch, Night Deposit, et al. That check then goes to your banks check processing center, where it is sorted by which region the checks issuing bank is located. lets say you bank at Bank of California which is in Region 12 (I'm not sure, but for arguments sake this will work), lets say you deposit a check from your friend who banks with Bank of New York which is Region 1. That check goes to your bank processing center and then is physically transported to the other bank in New York. Unless these two banks share a similar clearing house (non-local banks tend to not unless they are nationwide, for arguments sake we will assume they do not clearing house at the same place) they have to first go to the Federal Reserve, where each bank credits and debits eachother for the amount of each check. In this case the Bank of California would recieve a credit for your check from Bank of New York, BEFORE THE NEW YORK BANK HAS EVEN SEEN THE CHECK! After the fed, the check are then physically shipped to the issuing banks so that the bank may debit the correct account.

In other words both banks were simultaneously and electronically notified of the transaction , and my bank account was credited with 6,000.00 and the corresponding issuing bank account was debited 6.000.00, But since this account is empty the banks software would have sounded the alarm and a hold would have been put on the check Before the actual physical check had arrived. Amd they would immediately have notified my bank of the problem
and I would never have been told the check had cleared .