claim: scammers pay with cashier's checks larger than the purchase price and ask the balances be sent to third parties.
question: cashier’s check overpayment scam
origin: an interesting and highly lucrative con targeting those attempting to sell vehicles (and other high-ticket items) online works like the highly successful nigerian scam, but while his bit of larceny also typically features businessmen from africa intent upon closing odd-sounding deals, it plays on the victims’ honesty rather than their greed:
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  [collected via facebook, may 2015]there is a scam going around and i was almost a victim of it today. i recently posted an ad on craig’slist i was contacted by a person that sent me a check for 1500.00 for the item i was selling. when i received the check today it was for the amount of 4000.00. when i asked why the check was for so much they informed me that the extra money was to be shipped via western union to the shipper so the item could be picked up and delivered. i got suspicious and took the check to my bank to make sure this check was ligit. i was informed that it was in fact a fake. the bank told me that if i had cashed this check that it would have come back to me and i would be responsible for the 4000.00 and they would have access to all my banking information. i am asking everyone to please like and share this post to make it go viral so this does not happen to you or anyone you know or any hard working americans. here is a picture of the check below. please take the time to like and share. lets get this thing viral.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  [collected via e-mail, 2003]
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  my husband is currently selling his motorcycle online. last week when he posted his bike he recieved an email from a hotmail account stating he was interested in buying his bike and he is located in west africa. he mentioned that he knows someone in the us that owes him money and would like to get our address to meet and make the exchange and that he would pay for all shipping charges. well, a friend of ours, his cousin is also selling his bike. and he got the same email, but from a different email and name. that sounds funny to me. well, my husband re-posted his bike yesterday online and he received from another person just about the same email about him residing in west africa.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  the scam works like this:
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  example 1: dr. dipo morgans of nigeria wants to buy your used car for $5,000. his friend, mr. okuta, will be sending you a cashier’s check for $8,000. you are to keep $5,000 for the car and send the remaining $3,000 to dr. morgans.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  example 2: dr. dipo morgans of nigeria wants to buy your used car for $5,000. he will be sending you a cashier’s check for $8,000 on the understanding that you will forward $3,000 of it to the shipping company that will be transporting your car to africa.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  in some versions of the scam, the buyer is not an individual but rather an agent for a firm that purchases cars on behalf of others, often diplomats stationed in foreign lands. this car broker is usually located in africa.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  the “reason” for the inflated-value check will vary from one attempt to defraud to another. currency exchange problems will be cited. or a horrified buyer will realize he’s had the check prepared for far too large an amount. or the check is being sent by a third party for the full amount this other person supposedly owes the buyer. or it’s a refund check for a failed sale for something that would have cost more. or it would take 30 days to clear a check from africa, hence the need to have an american third party send the payment. the reasons are many. and varied. and false.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  cars or motorcycles aren’t the only items to attract this form of scam: those attempting to sell horses have experienced it too. it’s not unreasonable to extrapolate those attempting to sell boats will be similarly targeted. what matters is not the nature of the item being offered for sale but its price — it has to be high enough to justify the seller’s feeling comfortable in sending thousands of his own dollars to a stranger under the mistaken belief he’s already holding an even greater sum in his hand.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  in another form of the scam, those advertising online for roommates are contacted by prospective apartment-sharers who want to send cashier checks to cover the first few months rent plus a few thousand extra and who require the extra be mailed back to them. though nothing is being offered for sale, it’s the same scheme — the check will turn out to be worthless, but usually only long after the roommate-hunter has mailed his own very good check to the con artist.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  the scam works because the federal deposit insurance corp. (fdic) requires banks to make money from cashier’s, certified, or teller’s checks available in one to five days. consequently, funds from checks that might not be good are often released into payees’ accounts long before the checks have been honored by their issuing banks. high quality forgeries can be bounced back and forth between banks for weeks before anyone catches on to their being worthless, by which time victims have long since wired the “overpayments” to the con artists who have just taken them for a ride.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  although this scam is in its infancy, real people have already been bilked out of thousands of dollars by it — in some cases tens of thousands. the con has claimed victims in communities across the usa, so don’t let your not having heard about it before lull you into a false sense of security. that the game is new doesn’t mean it’s not dangerous.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  how to avoid falling victim to cashier’s check scams:
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  additional information:
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
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comment: sellers advertising online are defrauded by "buyers" who pay with cashier's checks made out for amounts in excess of the agreed-upon purchase price and ask the balances be sent to third parties.
summary: an interesting and highly lucrative con targeting those attempting to sell vehicles (and other high-ticket items) online works like the highly successful nigerian scam. while his bit of larceny also typically features businessmen from africa intent upon closing odd-sounding deals, it plays on the victims’ honesty rather than their greed. in some versions of the scam, the buyer is not an individual but rather an agent for a firm that purchases cars on behalf of others.