[FONT=Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif]
The Overpayment Scam [/FONT]
[FONT=Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif]A very popular scam is people responding to your "for sale" ad with a cashiers check for more than the asking price. [/FONT]
[FONT=Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif]They always claim to be working for a client in a foreign country who offers almost your full asking price after a cursory look at some photos. They offer you a cashier's check for more than the actual amount and ask you to refund the difference. Of course they have this over-value cashiers check because the last deal fell through and it's all legitimate per their "company policy," so you're OK, right?[/FONT]
[FONT=Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif]Wrong![/FONT]
[FONT=Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif]These checks are always forged, but you're excited to get it and your bank accepts it.[/FONT]
[FONT=Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif]You give them your camera, car or boat and the overpayment in cash. [/FONT]
[FONT=Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif]All is great, except that three weeks later your bank lets you know that the cashier's check was phony and that you are personally responsible to make good on the full amount of the check! [/FONT]
[FONT=Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif]These scammers have telephone numbers and real (fake) street addresses, just that the phone numbers are mobile phones and the addresses aren't used for anything. These people are all over. I got a lot of these offers (and checks!) while selling my
dad's car.[/FONT]
[FONT=Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif]I've had people send me these phony cashiers checks. I knew they were phony, but had them send them anyway just to see what they look like. These people actually thought I was going give to them the keys to my car and wire them a legitimate refund for overpayment! Mine came in an envelope postmarked Minnesota. As Romanian scammers all know, all you have to do to get a real US postmark is put all your phony cashiers' checks for the day in one envelope, address it to the postmaster in the homey small American town of your choice, and include a note asking that he "place these items in the mail" for you with the local postmark. Even for a criminal operation? Sure; it's illegal for the postmaster to look in those letters, so of course he has no way of knowing it's all a crime. [/FONT]
[FONT=Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif]When reporting these things to the authorities I also learned that it's not a crime until someone actually loses money; thus it's still legal at this point! Another tip-off is that these bone-heads can't speak English.[/FONT]