cheque

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Posted: Wed Jul 09, 2008 8:03 pm

i have recently sold my golfclubs on internet to a bloke (a) from the usa, he emailed me back saying his shipper (b) in england owed him qiet a bit of money. and his shipper wrote me out a cheque the exact amount of wot he owed the bloke from the usa, wanting me to put it in my bank let it clear and then send the remaining balance back trew WU this looks a bit dodgy to me wot do you lot all think?

Posted: Wed Jul 09, 2008 8:05 pm

Hi wilden8087, welcome here!

That sounds like a classic overpayment scam.

They succeed by taking advantage of most people's understanding of what it means when a check clears your bank. By law (in the US, at least) banks are required to give you access to money on deposit within a few days. That does not mean they assume any responsibility for the check when they clear it. Days, weeks, or even months later, the check will most likely be discovered to be fraudulent by a clearing house, or by the issuing bank. When the check is eventually returned, the depositor will be held responsible for the entire amount of the check. They won't care where it came from.

edited to elaborate.

Baiting Guru Joined: 08 Jul 2004 Posts: 11857 Location: UK

Hi Wilden, what you described is a typical fake cheque scammers format, they say the same things most of the time, well done spotting the scam Thumbs up

Posted: Wed Jul 09, 2008 8:06 pm

Deffo a scam. The cheque will be bogus, but you will only find out after you have sent off the WU payment.

Posted: Wed Jul 09, 2008 8:10 pm

Hello Wilden, and welcome to the Eater Smile

The scammer would have sent you a fake cheque, you would take it to the bank and cash it. The bank would give you usual reserve, meaning you would actually get money for this cheque.

The scammer will instruct you to keep the money he owes you and send the rest back over WU. WU is not traceable. The scammer will be able to pick up the money anywhere in the world with a fake passport, or by using the secret question / answer. There is no way you would ever regain the money once he has it.

Your scammer will buy a new car, or book his holiday while your bank sends your cheque to the clearing. Here the cheque will bounce eventually. Your bank will be notified and they will debit your account. If you do not have sufficient balance in your account you will go into overdraft. Sometimes you can get into legal trouble for cashing a fake cheque.

Well spotted Smile

Since the scammer will have access to your real life details (your name, telephone number or email address most likely since you posted an add) I would recommend you thank him for the offer. Unfortunately you just sold your golfclubs, so you need to decline.

Then read up on Eater and get yourself a fresh pet and join in on our fun Very Happy

EDIT: as Lucky said..... damnit, I need to type faster Sad

Posted: Wed Jul 09, 2008 8:13 pm

One more note, he couldn't care less about your clubs. That's another area where victims get into trouble. They assume that the scammer is after the item, and feel safe as long as they don't let it go. These scammers answer so many adds, half of the time, they have no idea what they are supposed to be buying.