help me understand this scam..

[crownjewelwl]

so i got an inquiry about something in the classifieds ON ANOTHER FORUM. the person expressed interest and offered a healthy premium to my $150 asking price so i would hold it for him. he didn't want to use paypal and instead wanted to send me a certified check. his grammar and diction in the email suggested english wasn't his first language. moreover he claimed to be a sailor and is only in the states a few times a year. very strange.

fast forward a week or two, and i get an email saying the original check was returned cuz it was sent to the wrong address. a couple of days later i get a certified check in the mail made out for $2000 from a company in georgia.

i email the dude to tell him he's off by an order of magnitude and he says to deposit the check and wire back the balance minus another $100 for my trouble. mind you, he can buy the shoes new for what he's offering.

what am i missing?

[illuminaught]

you cash check... It will not clear...
but you will get the money and either send him the goods or cash difference...
either way... don't do it.
contact autho-tay (FBI)

http://www.snopes.com/fraud/sales/cashier.asp

[AngryScientist]

check is bad. might be fraudulently linked to a real acct, and the bank is not sophisticated enough to put all this together quickly. scammer might have gotten a hold of a bank acct number that is not his and writing fake checks against it. check might clear. you send him cash that he is laundering through you.

dont do it.

[Joachim]

Old scam. The check is a fake and even if your bank accepts it they can take the money back from you later when they find out the check is fake or there are no funds in his account. In the mean time you wired him cash. No way for you getting that back.

[54ny77]

hopefully you're not missing common sense. ;)

run. don't walk.

as others have said, it's a scam.

s
what am i missing?

[crownjewelwl]

never happened to me before so i figured i would ask...

was just thinking through what would happen when/if the check cleared.

thx fellas

[54ny77]

it would clear at first....

...but then $ would get clawed back 3-4 days later once the banks sorted it out and saw that it was fraudulent.

never happened to me before so i figured i would ask...

was just thinking through what would happen when/if the check cleared.

thx fellas

[crownjewelwl]

hopefully you're not missing common sense. ;)

run. don't walk.

as others have said, it's a scam.


i'm long common sense...

there was no way i was depositing the check and/or wiring anything. just never experienced the scam first hand before.

should i call the company the check was issued from??

[Black Dog]

Too good to be true...... :no:

Old scam.

[phcollard]

so i got an inquiry about something in the classifieds.

Wait... you mean scammers are operating here as well? Oh My... I thought we were hidden enough to be imune but it looks like that's not the case :(

[crownjewelwl]

you cash check... It will not clear...
but you will get the money and either send him the goods or cash difference...
either way... don't do it.
contact autho-tay (FBI)

http://www.snopes.com/fraud/sales/cashier.asp

i don't know if it's good or bad that i look for an explanation on the paceline forum rather than using google...

[crownjewelwl]

Wait... you mean scammers are operating here as well? Oh My... I thought we were hidden enough to be imune but it looks like that's not the case :(

it wasn't on this forum! we're safe here!!

to clarify, i originally posted here but posted on another forum as well

the inquiry was from the other forum

[FlashUNC]

Its an old trick that sadly is becoming more common these days.
A banker friend of mine said some banks are dealing with these sorts of things all the time. Takes nothing more than a scanner to duplicate a legitimate check with legitimate routing numbers, account numbers, etc. And then the scammers just pump them all out there on the hope they'll get money/goods in return.

Local shop I go to was trying to sell a Paisley frame, and received said scam offer. He deposited the check just to see what would happen even knowing it was a scam, and the bank pulled it from his account within a week.

[54ny77]

it'll likely do no good since it's a fraud. the less your "buyer" knows about you the better.

if you've already given him your name and address (which it sounds like you've done), pay close attention to your credit card or debit charges for the next few months. look for little things like $0.99 charges to the apple i-tunes store...especially when you don't have an i-pod. :rolleyes:

and if you don't already have it, it might be worth getting one of those credit monitoring services subscriptions for a year.

i went thru a nightmare due to identity theft several years back. believe me, it's no fun.

those scammers who pull this stuff deserve swift justice. chopping off the hands is a good start.

i'm long common sense...

there was no way i was depositing the check and/or wiring anything. just never experienced the scam first hand before.

should i call the company the check was issued from??

[wooly]

Sucks that this occurred here in our classifieds. I always felt that this was a safe trading environment.

[crownjewelwl]

Sucks that this occurred here in our classifieds. I always felt that this was a safe trading environment.

sorry for confusion...it was a different forum

[Bruce K]

Let's be clear....

IT DIDN'T HAPPEN HERE !!!

At least not yet.

:banana: :banana: :banana:

BK

[oldpotatoe]

so i got an inquiry about something in the classifieds ON ANOTHER FORUM. the person expressed interest and offered a healthy premium to my $150 asking price so i would hold it for him. he didn't want to use paypal and instead wanted to send me a certified check. his grammar and diction in the email suggested english wasn't his first language. moreover he claimed to be a sailor and is only in the states a few times a year. very strange.

fast forward a week or two, and i get an email saying the original check was returned cuz it was sent to the wrong address. a couple of days later i get a certified check in the mail made out for $2000 from a company in georgia.

i email the dude to tell him he's off by an order of magnitude and he says to deposit the check and wire back the balance minus another $100 for my trouble. mind you, he can buy the shoes new for what he's offering.

what am i missing?


What you are missing is if you send the $, the check won't clear, it's bogus and you will be out that $ you sent.

Cash it, hold the $ and see what happens...

[rwsaunders]

Contact the post office and let the postal police deal with the mail fraud issue. Certainly, this isn't the first time that this individual has used this scam.

[oldpotatoe]

so i got an inquiry about something in the classifieds ON ANOTHER FORUM. the person expressed interest and offered a healthy premium to my $150 asking price so i would hold it for him. he didn't want to use paypal and instead wanted to send me a certified check. his grammar and diction in the email suggested english wasn't his first language. moreover he claimed to be a sailor and is only in the states a few times a year. very strange.

fast forward a week or two, and i get an email saying the original check was returned cuz it was sent to the wrong address. a couple of days later i get a certified check in the mail made out for $2000 from a company in georgia.

i email the dude to tell him he's off by an order of magnitude and he says to deposit the check and wire back the balance minus another $100 for my trouble. mind you, he can buy the shoes new for what he's offering.

what am i missing?


What you are missing is if you send the $, the check won't clear, it's bogus and you will be out that $ you sent.

Cash it, hold the $ and see what happens...

[pedlpwrd]

Wow! Cycling Nigerians! I wish we had an exterminator for these types of people. Their extortion tactics never cease to amaze me.
I would absolutely look up the company that the check was issued from, just for their own safety as well. And someone mentioned you watching your credit for a while. Once they think they've gotton their talons into you, they won't just walk away. Take heed and take care!
Nigerians! Wow! :bike:

[Louis]

Ask Dave Thompson, he's gotten rich on just this sort of scam. :p

[Fixed]

send some black water too him
cheers

[Ahneida Ride]

chopping off the hands is a good start.

A little extreme ..... Canning is preferable. 2-4 wackes ...

Hire Uncle William ....