Does this sound fishy to you?

Question

(i know i already asked this question but what should i do after the check arrives)

so was selling something on craigslist.com and this guy emails me and says he will send me a check with the price i asked for then he sends me another email saying his bank made a mistake and sent me an check of 2500 and he wants me to cash that check and give it to his mover which will come pick up the item

Answer 1

SCAM!!!!!! If the bank made a mistake why did he not have them correct it. Would you send someone you dont know a check for $2500 and trust them to send back the difference?????? The check is bad. Keep it and frame it and put it on the wall.

Answer 2

Fishy.

Answer 3

I would send it back, NEVER take a personal check always cash or a cashiers check.. Dogzilla is right that is a huge scam that has been used on craigslist alot..

Answer 4

Hi..

I have the same problem. Do not cash it, do not send it, and do not give this person any more of your personal information.

I have been dealing with this for 3 weeks and the guy keeps harrasing me. Have you seen the check yet? I think that we can put a stop to this BS. I am going to contact the federal agency (suggest you do the same) and ask them if they are interested in looking at a counterfeit check.

I have been researching on this matter. For what I have learned the checks are NOT real, but they are good counterfeits. So when you deposit it,  since the teller does not realize it is not real at the beginning, your bank actually creadits your account, then you take  the money out of your account and send cash to someone else. When the bank realizes that the the check is fake, the bank wants its money back and now you are 2500 (or however much you send in a money order) in the hole!!!

They guy gave me the same mover story too.

Answer 5

This is a takeoff of the ol Nigerian email scam, don't even reply to the email. Do NOT give the sender ANY information regarding who, what, or where you are. Report this to your local FBI office.

Answer 6

Yes, it is a scam, don't do anything with it.  Send it back to the person unopened.  It is either a bogus check or stolen, this has been going on for some time now.  The other option is to take it directly to the police upon receipt and have them investigate it.  They have been trying to break this fraud ring for a while, a friend of mine had the same thing happen to her about two months ago and when she received the check, she contacted the bank that it was drawn off of and found that it was a fraud.  Good luck, when selling on craigslist, try to get people that will just pay you cash, that will limit the amount of scams you get.

Answer 7

Sounds like he's trying to launder money with you.  Don't cash it!  My girlfriend had that happen to her and she was jailed for laundering!  I had someone want to send me a very large amount for a puppy (I'm a breeder) and they would reimburse me.  

Just dont do it!  It's a scam and report him!

Answer 8

Yes, it's a very standard scam.  Just say no.

Answer 9

Please do not cash that check. It's a scam. Return the uncashed check. A lot of that has been going around lately. Mostly over the internet.

"How could he be scamming me, when he gave me his check?" You ask. People are very tricky. Here's what he could be doing;

Since the check has to clear first, they will basically be giving it to you out of your own money. When (and if) this check clears, the money will go into your account. In the meantime, the money you'll be giving the mover will be your own.  When  the check does not clear, and the guy disappears- you'll be out of luck and out of money.

Answer 10

Yes it sounds fishy to me. How could his bank make a mistake like that? Can you say money laundering?

Answer 11

LIKE THE OTHERS SAID, DON'T DO IT... even if it's a cashier's check... don't do you--- pay pal is your best bet.  In the end you'll be the one having to pay for it.

Answer 12

DO NOT CASH CHECK!  This is an increasingly common scam these days:  read this article for a basic overview of how it works, but there are many similar variations....

http://www.snopes.com/crime/fraud/cashie...

If anyone ever offers you a cashiers check for more than the amount of your sale it should be an automatic red flag and is probably a scam....

Answer 13

It's a widely used scam. The check is no good, and it will come back to you in about a week.

Answer 14

I had this happen to me!  It is a bad check.  I called Bank of America and they confirmed it.  Had I cashed it I would of been out a lot of money.  Call the bank if you want to do it to confirm.

Answer 15

Sounds a little weird.. But if you CASH it you will get the money upfront from the bank and it will be his fault and will show on his bank account, not yours. Its not like they are going to come looking for you asking for 2500 in cash back, they will ask him for it since he is the one who wrote the bad check (if it is bad). If that doesn't work, tell him you will not send out the item or give anyone money until the check clears.

Answer 16

I wouldn't trust personal cheques from someone you don't know. The bank won't cash it for at lesat 5 days so if it bounces, you are out of money and out of the item - bet the buyer disappears... Tell him the cheque is not acceptable - you want a certified cheque or cash.

Answer 17

idk...it does sound a little fishy but its hard to tell.....

Answer 18

is it more or less than the amount promised?

but kinda fishy

Answer 19

No dont do it.  The check will bounce and your bank account will have to cover it

Answer 20

You have every right to be suspicious. I smell a scam.

Since when does the bank write cheques for people?? That should be your first clue.

Answer 21

keep the money!

Answer 22

Dont ******* do it. It's obviously a stolen check book and he's trying to get cash. You'll be charges as an accessory to the crime if he gets caught.

Tell him you are canceling the purchase and you have ripped up his cheque.

Answer 23

don't do it. I've heard of this scam before. You bank the cheque, you give him the cash, then the cheque bounces. It can take weeks for the bank to return the cheque, so don't assume the money will clear in a few days, because it doesn't always work that way.

Send him back his cheque and tell him you want cash from the mover.

Answer 24

return the check to him uncashed.  let him deal with his own matters.  find another buyer and beware.

Answer 25

...another small point to consider...

there'll always be the record of checks you've cashed, in the end you may be responsible for taxes on those amounts.

Answer 26

ABSOLUTELY NOT.

Take the check to your local police and report it as fraud.  Because that's exactly what this is.  

Let's say you cash that check at your bank.  They give you $2,500 in cash.  You give the cash to the mover (who is an accomplice in the fraud).  

Your bank submits the cashier's check through the system for it to clear at the bank that wrote the check, and so the bank that wrote the check will send $2,500 to your bank.

Two or 3 days later, or even as much as a few weeks later, your bank gets a notice that the check was a fake.  Guess who has to come up with the $2,500?  YOU DO.  The original bank hasn't lost any money, because they don't have to make good on a fake check.  Your bank has already lost $2,500, which they gave to you.  So now you have $2,500 and your bank wants it back.  They can put a freeze on all your accounts with them until you pay them.

If someone makes an honest mistake and writes a check for the wrong amount, it is always best to meet with them and let them give you a check for the correct amount at the same time you hand back the incorrect check.  But you aren't dealing with an honest person.  So protect yourself - give the cashier's check to the police and let them investigate with the bank that supposedly issued the check.