Eileen, we need electronic funds transfer!

Until that happens, I guess the only solution is to go DHL.

Ugh That is awful. Banks also require a photograph too aside from ID’s. I hope your friend can file a case of forgery at the bank. I am sure she can verify her identity with the bank.

I’ve known her for years and she couldnt harm an ant. yeaaah. :p

O oh. I’m expecting my first Google paycheck this month. Hope this will not happen to me. Nag-isip tuloy ako kung ipapaDHL ko na yung next paycheck ko sa December. Eh kung ireport nya kaya sa XXX or kay Tulfo? Alam mo na, kapag may media, bumibilis ang proseso ng kaso.

Scary. I have an affiliate check which has not reached me. I was told that it was sent two months ago.

And this mail pilferage in the Philippines has been there since nineteen tagal-tagal na. Old school technology pa gamit nila. But thieves rely on their deep network inside every arm of the financial system, I guess.

Noemi, she decided to not pursue it anymore. Citibank said she had to deal with RCBC directly.

Marhgil, my suggestion would be to go DHL or UPS :)

Perhaps it’s harder to steal if it’s a dollar check?

Grabe naman kasi adsense worth of P20,481.45 via mail pa waaa

You’d be surprised Adsense checks are the least prone to cheque fraud in the Philippines.

Better ask RCBC who the owner of the account is. Mahabang proseso kasi kelangan mo ng legal document to bypass the bank confidentiality clause, pero I think it’s worth it. Para masolb din natin kung bakit maraming nawawalang tseke at bakit nagagawa nilang mag-open ng bank account gamit ang ibang pangalan.

Migs, I’m tempted to think the same. When I opened a USD account with BDO, sobrang hirap.

Boy PH, that’s what I told her too :)

Abe, mukhang EFT talaga best option.

Pinoymoneytalk, yeah, if it were up to me, I’d hammer RCBC (or at least shake them a little).

yeah, she told me all about this and it was very much surprising as i’d thought t would be close to impossible that the check be encashed by anyone else since it’d been signed under her name. graveh!

Mahirap? Exactly.

It should be hard for the fraudsters to open that dollar account, and harder to deposit the stolen cheque.

Happened to me recently, happened to rebelpixel.com last year. Both our checks were cashed in Dagupan. Check my post about it.

Read other stories of people who have experienced this. Apparently the story above is not the first and the only one. These fraudsters deserve to go to jail, no, they deserve to die! Tsk tsk.. this has to be stopped. If only we know how to…

So far, others whose checks got waylaid used the following post offices: Pasig and Alabang.

Marc, which post office does your friend use?

Manuel, Caloocan PO.

Let’s come up with a list of post offices that have had stolen/missing AdSense check-related incidents before and post it to the discussion group :) I don’t mean to create panic, but having that information available to the group would be great.

So it’s Pasig, Alabang and Caloocan POs. Any other POs worth mentioning here?

Kung gusto nyo nang madaling pag-open ng USD savings account, try Asiatrust bank, meron sila sa Ortigas sa may Garnet Road. I opened mine around a year ago, nakiusap lang ako, all I had was a few IDs, thirty dollars in cash and a hundred dollar google adsense check. Mabait yung manager, I think her last name was Zabala. She’s quite tech-savvy I think. So after that, all my dollar checks are with them, no problems ever since day one.

Now I sound like an advertisement, but I suggest try nyo kung nahihirapan kayo mag-open ng dollar savings. =)

Hope Aileen Apolo’s reading this. EFT would make her job of establishing a Google monopoly here a Hell of a lot easier.

I never trusted our postal system, that’s why I choose to pay the $24 courier fee for a more secured delivery of checks. I think it’s worth the charge for a peace of mind. :)

Google should sent all Adsense PIN and checks via DHL or Western Union

Man this is terrible. Good thing I decided to go for DHL secure delivery. Sheesh, what people would do for 20thousand pesos.

Markku, patay baka jan tumakbo mga AdSense check thieves hehe :)

Mike, is EFT already available for US publishers?

Leo, couldn’t agree with you more.

BP, it’ still a business, and the ‘path of cheapest resistance’ is through ordinary mail hehe

Jozzua, whitecollar crimes suck hehe I want gore!

Marc, actually no. Hehe. Yung check ko sa Dagupan na-cash, just like Mark’s, magkaibang bank lang. I think may organized operation na dun dinadala eh. :(

I looked at the endorsement at the back of your friend’s check and it was deposited in the same bank in the same general area as the most recent check that my company was almost defrauded with.

I suppose the PO thieves know exactly what kind of envelope they are looking for, even if the AdSense checks are contained in envelopes that don’t call attention to themselves. They actually look like envelopes that contain high-end junk mail.

Im sure those thieves will not get away with this one if the victim will chase them. Anyway, the bank records can reveal their identity particularly the ID photos. ID’s can be manufactured in Recto for a cents. But bank will require photograph to open an account, right?

Better go for DHL, what is $24 compare to $400?

Yeah, but most of us only get $100 per check!

Miguel, most of my friends also. But I advised them to hold it until such time that they can afford to send it via DHL that to lose it…

That really is a shocking story. Did your friend ever get her money back? I don’t know how the law is in the Philippines but over here (the UK) the bank would be responsible and have to bear the loss. Nice of Google to be so helpful and send your friend evidence that the cheque had been cashed - they aren’t always.

Add me to the list of stolen adsense check for $208. Q.C Post office just cleared last dec. 29 Iam requesting a copy of the check so I can sue the bank that allowed the deposit for 2nd endorsement if the account deposited to is not the same as my name

Happened to me also. I’m going to ask Google the scanned copy and will definitely pursue this. It may be just a small amount in my part but its still fraud. Paranaque post office. Tsk tsk.

welcome me to the club :P

my jan2007 check has been stolen and deposited somewhere. Google has yet to send me a scanned copy of the check. Damn post office bastards.

naku wagnaman sana mangyari sakin yan.. may inaantay din akong check ngayon from google.

wow thanks for this post! this will save my first google cheque… Now i have really decided to go for DHL rather than the standard cheque delivery that I’m not sure if it will really arrive or not.. hehehe.. thanks for this post Marc, and thanks to Marghil for the link to this post ^__^

hi… i got some question from you guys… i had received my 1st check and submit it to my bank(malaysia)… i want to know what is it mean check cleared in my statement adsense account… the date show checked cleared was 26 june ago.. but i still havent’s see yet the money in my account bank… i went to bank on 19 june for check bank in… thnks for your helping!!!

Same thing has happened to me. Deposited to LANDBANK ACCOUNT like so many other people. The TRUE CULPRIT HERE IS **THE BANK** which allows “to payee only” check to be deposited in someone else’s account.

IT IS EASY TO TRACK DOWN WHO THE PERPERTRATORS ARE, THAT WOULD BE THE OWNER OF THE LANDBANK ACCOUNT OR WHATEVER BANK THE CHECK IS DEPOSITED IN.

Note that there will be a paper trail because the Google Check can never be exchanged for cash directly (at least at a bank) and has to be deposited into an account.

Caloocan PO too, btw… i moved my PO to Greenhills now, will see if the same thing happens.

Anyone using greenhills PO have their Adsense check stolen?

Oh, this is such a serious matter! I’ve heard that some big packages from abroad are stolen by the workers of the Philippine Post Office. It’s so disappointing that this is happening to our country. ;(

You are not alone guys. This had happened to us once (2 years back) when we used to receive Adsense checks via ordinary mail. Somebody (most likely from the post office) took the check and deposit it in his bank while the check was on my name.

The scanned copy received from Google showed a forged copy of my signature at the back of check.

Since then I am receiving checks through express delivery. Though it takes $25 per check but its secure and worth the money.

As a recent victim of check signiture forgery i sympothies. 90 percent of these fruad cases could be easily prevented with a simple redesign of how checks work. Firstly the check should be broken into to parts. The second part would be a sticker with the account number and a hard to duplicate symbol that is the same as the one on the check. The symbols would be unquie per check book and would be use to verify by the cashier that it is a valid check ie a key. The place where the accunt number is would have “place official sticker here”. Checks books and stickers would be sent separatly. futhermore the requester could opt to call for the second piece once the first had arrived. The same could happen when google posts there checks. They send the key separately. The second thing that could be done is a encripted unquie bar code on the check. The bar code would be used to quickly validate the check online. If its not more identifycation would be required or the police would be notified. This part would be something that would have to happen before technolgy was created to take advantage of it.

I doubt it will happen though. Its obvous, but its so hard to talk to the people that matter with ideas like this.