[lazyasciiart]

From the screenshots in the article, it looks like people are then transferring the money using online services. There are no limits I know of to how much you can spend on Venmo etc per day, so it could be life changing amounts.

[toast0]

Fair enough. But if you're going to send money you don't have through Venmo, do you need to deposit a fake check first?

I've not used Venmo, but Paypal doesn't know how much I have in my checking account, so why should Venmo?

[lazyasciiart]

Because it connects to your checking account to send the money.