Am I falling for a scam?

Motodrew

Motodrew

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So a few days after advertising my motorcycle on the internet I get this email from the UK. Guy says he's moving to the states and wants to purchase my bike. He's currently sending me a cashier's check and i'm supposed to contact his shipper once it arrives. The check is for the bike payment and for the shipper payment. Once I researched more and more I realized I'm pretty sure I'm falling for a scam. Unfortunately there are people who quickly cash the check w/o verifying it and pay the shipper who takes the item and the shipping money. Once the check is found fraudulant, the money is then taken back from your account and you lose everything, while "Mr.Shipper" walks away with the shipping money and your item. Clever... wish I would of thought of it.. WATCH OUT & BE CAREFULL!!!
 
Motodrew said:
Clever... wish I would of thought of it..
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Nice....remind me to never do business with you, since you are admiring a con-game and wish you had thought of it first. Quite an interesting slip of the tongue, so to speak.
 
I'm not planning on giving it up, but I guess some checks have been clearing and later been considered fraudulant. Crazyness... OH and NOBODYSPECIAL, no worries I got proud ebay reputation....
 
01lssport said:
Why would you ever give up your property without waiting for the check to clear?
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Well, that's why they use a fake cashier's check for this scam. It may very well take up to 30 days for the bank to notice its a fake (or so i've read). A cashier's check works very differently from a regular check linked to an account. With a cashier's check, they will give you the money right away or post it to your account right away ... then come back later and say 'this is a fake, give us our money back.' So you THINK it cleared, and pass along your merchandise.
 
nobodyspecial said:
Nice....remind me to never do business with you, since you are admiring a con-game and wish you had thought of it first. Quite an interesting slip of the tongue, so to speak.
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are you acting like that to make yourself feel smart or for people to think your cool?
 
Qbrozen said:
Well, that's why they use a fake cashier's check for this scam. It may very well take up to 30 days for the bank to notice its a fake (or so i've read). A cashier's check works very differently from a regular check linked to an account. With a cashier's check, they will give you the money right away or post it to your account right away ... then come back later and say 'this is a fake, give us our money back.' So you THINK it cleared, and pass along your merchandise.
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I am a senior officer for a very large bank....and we never honor a cashier's check immediately without checking it's validity. We have seen MANY fraudulent cashiers checks from eBay transactions. What this guy is doing to you is definitely a scam...but just in case, you can get around it. The first thing you do is insist on the check being drawn on a U.S. bank...and you choose the bank. It will need to be a large one that his bank in the UK can deal with easily. Or even better, go to your bank and open another account with a minimum deposit and have the funds wired to that account. Once you have the funds, immediately transfer them to your other account. Have your bank ensure you that the funds cannot be recalled. You should be good to go.
 
2001LS8Sport said:
I am a senior officer for a very large bank....and we never honor a cashier's check immediately without checking it's validity.
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Its great you do that. Unfortunately, it seems like not all banks work that way. According to this article,
http://www.bankrate.com/brm/news/emoney/technoguide2004/new-nigerian1.asp
The seller deposits the check in his own account. Thinking that the check is good because it's been accepted for deposit by his bank, and the funds have been released, the unsuspecting seller wires the difference to the con man in Africa. But in a week or two the seller learns he's been scammed when his bank informs him that the check was phony and wants him to pay back all the money it paid out on the bogus check.

so that's why these things happen. Personally, I think a bank that releases the money should be held at least partly responsible.

In any case, I also posted this because I wanted to point out how they specify the buyer might start off saying they will pay with a cashier's check from a US bank ... so, even if the buyer claims that, its not necessarily true.

Also, I wanted to comment about this particular buyer the original poster is talking about. He says he's coming back to the states, right? So where the heck is this bike shipping to? I'd tell him to buy it and "I'll hold it for ya till you get here."
 
It's a scam I had a similiar thing happen to me. I posted one of my R/C cars for sale this guy offers to buy it plus send me some extra cash that he owed his friend here in the states, well long stoy short I recieved a check (without me telling him I would do it) it was for 2k...I was like whoa!!!! I called the bank the check was drawn on and it was a fraud... the check was three years old and had already been deposited for a way smaller amount. I forwarded the check to their fraud dept. with copies of all the emails I had recived and with the contact info I had.
 
Qbrozen said:
Its great you do that. Unfortunately, it seems like not all banks work that way. According to this article,
http://www.bankrate.com/brm/news/emoney/technoguide2004/new-nigerian1.asp
The seller deposits the check in his own account. Thinking that the check is good because it's been accepted for deposit by his bank, and the funds have been released, the unsuspecting seller wires the difference to the con man in Africa. But in a week or two the seller learns he's been scammed when his bank informs him that the check was phony and wants him to pay back all the money it paid out on the bogus check.

so that's why these things happen. Personally, I think a bank that releases the money should be held at least partly responsible.

In any case, I also posted this because I wanted to point out how they specify the buyer might start off saying they will pay with a cashier's check from a US bank ... so, even if the buyer claims that, its not necessarily true.

Also, I wanted to comment about this particular buyer the original poster is talking about. He says he's coming back to the states, right? So where the heck is this bike shipping to? I'd tell him to buy it and "I'll hold it for ya till you get here."
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Please note I said honor IMMEDIATELY If you just go ahead and deposit it in your account, you're screwed...and I have no idea how you could possibly blame that on us. If you cash it, that's different. That's when we check it out thoroughly...because we ARE liable for the cash!!
 
It seems there should be a way to have the bike held in trust kind of like a Title Company for homes. Once its verified the check is cleared and ok then the bike is released. I read the story wrong. No way in hell would I ship anything without verifying funds good. Maybe the guy is young and stated the wrong way on accident.
 
BTW I bought a 74 Bronco for $5k a few years ago. Had a check drawn from my credit union with both our names on it. Endorsed it in front of him. He was satisfied. I drove the car home before he even cashed it. NOW FOR THE UNDISCLOSED CAR TROUBLE! LOL!! Its all good. I love that bronco.
 
You hear alot about people scamming from other countries all over the mustang sites so id say dont do it.




01 LS8 Sport
95 Mustang 232CI soon to become 331CI stroker on juice
 
This happened to me...

About three years ago I had two Contour SVTs. And had one sold for about $10000. Which was way more than the car was worth. And of course, the cashiers check arrived and I went to my credit union. Deposited and waited. Two weeks later, the funds were taken out and I received a letter that the check was fake. I was always suspicious about this "buyer" but I just wanted to see if it was a real deal.

Like everyone else said, "SCAM"!!!
 
This is the part I don't get ... and, to answer your question, 2001LS8Sport, about why i say the banks are at least partially responsible ... why did they put the money into your account at all??

When i deposit a private check in my account, the money does not show up in my account until AFTER the check clears. So when the money shows up in the account, I know it has cleared. Why is this any different for a cashier's check??
 
uhhhh.... exactly what I'm saying

question is why does it take the bank so long to confirm its a fraud? meanwhile, giving you the money. Its a f#ked up system and an obvious loophole that scammers can take advantage of.
 
probaly a scam -tell him you want a certified bank check or credit card(paypal) or you could take the cashiers check and tell him you will not ship the bike untill it clears,if he is legit he will work with you if not he will come up with xcuses for only wanting the cashiers check and stories about he needs the bike asap-call the police and give them his name and shipping info
 
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