You've got Checks! $3995.25 Check from Modern USA Insurance Co

You got Checks! $3995.25 Check from Modern USA Insurance Co

A week ago, I was surprised to opened a mail with an enclosed check amounting to $3995.25. The check is from Modern USA Insurance Co, with address 7785 66th Street North Pinellas Park, FL 33781 and issued from Sun Trust Bank with the address 300 1st Ave South St., Petersburg , FL 33701. No clue.

With the check is another sheet with all the information regarding the check. The front page include section A - Customer Service Evaluation Tool, and section B - Transfer the sum of $3,200.00 to only one of the mystery shoppers below: Clarnita Leonard. The back page is a breakdown of how the enclosed check is to be disbursed.

Looking at the check, the amount shows $3,995.25 and wonder why they send me extra and have to send a check to someone else. Why not just send two separate checks to both of us? So, I googled Modern USA and wants to know if a company exists and found none. Hmmm...something fishy here.

Out of curiosity, I called a friend and told her about it. She has a different version. She advertised in craiglists offering piano lessons for $25.00 a month , one hour per session. That sounds good. Two days later, she got an email of someone interested to sign up his little boy for piano lessons. She emailed back and they exchange phone number and talk to each other. My friend however suggested that she wanted to meet the boy before starting the piano lessons so she can prepare better. No answer. The next day, she received a parcel from UPS from a certain "Greg" with an out of state address mailed to her. Out of curiosity, she opened it and found a check of $900.00 with instruction that she deduct the amount of 3 months piano lessons and the remaining balance to send to someone else. Boy, she was confused! Why would anyone send a check worth more than the piano lesson fees. She went to the bank and inquire about it. They can't help her because the bank can't really tell if the check has money until it's cleared. She end up reporting it to the Internet Crime Complaint Center.

Another friend has another story to tell. She received an email offering a part time job with an easy work and good pay. All she needs to do is receive the checks coming and deposit them on her account. She gets 10% of the amount. According to the "company", they need a liaison here in the U.S. to receive their foreign checks because the "company" is based in China. OK. That sounds an easy part time job. 2 days later, she received a mail with $97,000.00 check in it pay to the order of her name of course. Along with it is to call a person to inform the checks arrived and a phone number to call. It happens that she is a chinese, so she thought it will be easy to talk to a chinese person like her. Well, the person who answered the phone has a chinese name but can't even speak a chinese word. Ha! That sounds funny...The "person" on the other line instructed her to deposit the money in her account and to wait for instructions. Few days later, she received an email instructing her to send a check to a certain company in Canada for some freight charges the "company" needs to pay. Now my friend is getting suspicious. She emailed back and ask for receipts, just for security measures. It took a long time for them to email back with a receipt with a U.S. address with the items bamboo living room set for $97,000.00. You think a bamboo dining sent would cost that much?

Well, I have come back to my senses and realized this check is not worth anything but a piece of paper from some people who want to make money the easy way. Actually, there is a name who to call and a phone number. Julie Philips or David Anderson at 1-514-638-8128 and you can also fax to 1-404-745-0740.

I am sure there are a lot of stories like this especially with the economy's turndown. Your gut will tell you the truth and always ask when it involves money in your account.

Difference between a Passport and a Visa

A passport is required for everybody who plan to travel from one country / nation to another country / nation. Everybody means everybody, no exceptions, young and old, professional, military personnel, athletes, business people, students, workers, entertainers, children, parents and anybody who has a plan to travel.

A passport is an identification of your nationality and states what country you are from.

A Passport bears your picture, your name, date of birth, sex, place of birth, where the passport was issued, issue date and expiration date of the passport. Different countries / nations have different rules on passport.

The holder of a passport will be allowed to travel internationally with or without a visa depending on the country of entry or port of entry. It is best to apply a new passport if your passport is expiring within 6 months before you travel as some countries / nations might deny you entry.

Passports can be confusing to new applicants as there are different kinds of passport issued by each country. Some of the types are - Non-citizen, Citizen of the said nation / country, diplomatic, travel document and other passport type. Passports are issued by the government of the country that you are a citizen of or if you are given a special privilege in that country to hold a passport through marriage, employment or residency reasons to name a few. The holder of a passport will be allowed to travel internationally with or without a visa depending on the country of entry or port of entry. Always keep your passport safe as it can be a hassle to apply a passport while away from your country of origin.

A visa is a documentation for you to be able to enter a certain country in a specific time. Visas are issued by the country you are planning to visit. Before planning a travel, it is best to inquire from the country of entry whether a visa is needed or unnecessary for your type of passport. Visas are sometimes attached to your passport, stamped, glued or a separate piece of documentation with the same information as your passport. Most important is to take note of the given dates on the visa document - time to travel, expiration and length of time allowed to stay. Doing so will save you trouble, you don't pay any penalty if you stayed too long and keep your visa safe. Visas varies and will be good for a number of days, months and years that allows a traveler to travel within the given date.

Some countries do not require visa for some passport holder depending on what type of passport you are holding. However, a few countries still requires a visa for any traveler to enter their country.

Few travel examples:

a.) U.S. passport holder can travel to mostly anywhere in the world but requires a visa to enter China.

b.) Philippine Passport holder do not need a visa to enter Hong Kong

c.) Taiwan passport holder need a visa to get in Hong Kong, Brazil, Autralia, U.S.

d.) Taiwan Passport holder do not need a visa to get in Singapore

e.)U.S. Passport holder do not need a visa to get in Philippines with allowed 21 days maximum stay.

f.) U.S. Passport holder do not need a visa to enter New Zealand and Australia.

Some countries do not require a visa if you are staying for a few days only - 14 days or less. This all depends on what country of entry, what passport you are holding and the relationship between the two countries - departing country / nation and arriving country / nation.

Visas also come in different forms from tourist visa, immigration visas, business visa, work visa, student visa and each type of visa has its own application process and different fees to pay.

It is also possible to apply for visas while in a foreign country. Let's say a Taiwan passport holder who travels to Australia and stayed for a few months to enjoy the beautiful Australia can apply a visa to be able to travel to Brazil. What is interesting in this situation is that you don't have to go back to your country of residence in order to travel to your next destination which is Brazil and it is a long way to go. It is like going around the globe in a matter of days. Lastly, remember to bring enough money to spend while visiting different places.