I haven't seen this reported before but other people must have been targeted - have you ?
It goes something like this :
You've got something you want to sell for maybe £200, let's say. You advertise and someone gets in touch with you, maybe asks questions, and says yes, it's what they want. Then there's a complication, or a delay, maybe the buyer's partner had to go into hospital but no matter, they still want to buy.
For some reason, they end up sending you a cheque from an overseas bank that you've never heard of and it's for more than you were asking, maybe ten times more. You might get told it's a mistake or some other story. The buyer says that's OK, just send them a cheque for the difference.
Do you think the buyer's cheque is going to clear ? No, nor do I.
The examples I've come across have involved some long-winded and very dubious-looking e-mails. The style suggests a Nigerian source (yet again).
Have you experienced anything similar ?
2007-09-02 11:01:47 · 11 answers · asked by Cassandra 3 in Computers & Internet ➔ Other - Computers
Thanks for all the answers. I guess I'm just lucky not to have run into this one before.
I'm going to let this run - the more people are warned about these scams the better.
2007-09-04 17:05:40 · update #1
its been around for a number of years now and is used either as a complete scam with fake cheques OR the cheques can be real, but they want you to cash it, take your money plus a little extra and pass back the rest. This way you have just laundered their dirty money (this was actually how the scam started - for money laundering).
Never get involved in anything like this, never send goods until you have received CLEARED funds and never accept a cheque for far more than you have asked and send back the difference. You can and will be caught and prosecuted for money laundering.
2007-09-02 11:19:29 · answer #1 · answered by Cynical Girl 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Yes I have heard of this type of scam but only a fool would believe it. Never post out any items you have for sale until the cheque as been cleared by your bank which usually takes about five days. And if you get a cheque for 10x more than you asked return it to the sender and request a new one never except it and return the difference
2007-09-02 11:32:53 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
That's an old scam. Been around for a while and only an idiot would send them a check for the difference. But then, according to the reports I've read, there are a lot of idiots around.
2007-09-02 11:11:52 · answer #3 · answered by mustanger 7 · 2⤊ 1⤋
This is not a new scam.
It's been around for ages, and uses the same method as one of the Nigerian scams.
2007-09-02 11:11:52 · answer #4 · answered by Swampy_Bogtrotter 4 · 0⤊ 1⤋
The cheque is fake. This does happen quite a lot actually. A further warning to anybody who is sent one of these cheques:
DO NOT PUT IT INTO YOUR BANK ACCOUNT! These cheques are forged, often very poor photocopies and if you try to pay it into your account your account will be tagged as handling fraudulent cheques and you will not be able to access your funds. You may also find yourself involved with the police as attempting to cash a fraudulent cheque can be considered a criminal offence in itself. Also, if your account is flagged as handling fraudulent cheques you will be black listed and this will affect your credit rating (reducing it to zero) so no chance for any mortgage, loan, hire purchase.
BE WARNED!
2007-09-07 03:03:17 · answer #5 · answered by Nigel B 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It's not new its been going in for years and like most cons works on people's greed my mate acepted one of these cheque's ended up with a frozen bank account and fraud squad on door step and yes cheque from nigeria
2007-09-02 11:16:23 · answer #6 · answered by golden 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
No but I try to steer clear of buying/selling on the internet if possible. The biggest way of being defrauded I've ever heard of. What is the world coming to.
2007-09-02 11:18:28 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
i had an e-mail yesterday from paypal saying that a third party had got hold of all my information. so i read on and it said that my account has been closed until i fill out another form to reactivate it so i clicked on the link and started to fill it out with all my detail and then when it came to my credit card detail they asked for my 4 digit pin code as well as the last three digits on the back of my card etc. but i did not carry on with it and took all my information off it and deleated the email.
2007-09-02 11:17:25 · answer #8 · answered by Joanne 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
yes, i've had this happen multiple times on ebay. they sent a payment for 10x what i was asking and also wanted me to send 10 of the item being sold.
the check is a fake. they get free merchandise since the check was fake and get 10 of the item and often if you send the balance of the check you sent them cash and then you find out later the check is bad. you're out $2000
10 point please :)
2007-09-02 11:09:24 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 1⤋
the cheque over-payment scam is not that new, and it's been well documented on the internet in recent years:
http://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&q=cheque+scam+difference+over-payment&btnG=Search&meta=
2007-09-02 11:09:48 · answer #10 · answered by piquet 7 · 2⤊ 1⤋