I just found out the money order is counterfeit. What should I do next?

Question

A money order sent as payment for an item I sold on Craig list is counterfeit. After researching I discovered that it does not have the Benjamin Franklin and USPS watermarks. What should I do? Chances are they won't catch them because they are not using real names.

I have not sent the item.

Answer 1

Turn the bogus USPS money order over to the postal inspections service.

Answer 2

It is YOUR fault, not the banks. Basically, you spent money that is technically not yours seeing as the checks were fake. Why should the bank have to pay you $1,200 because you got scammed? I am not sure why you feel that you should be given this amount of money for a mistake YOU made. Bank tellers are not physically capable of catching every single fraudulent item out there. In fact, many fraudulent checks are real checks that have been stolen or altered in some way. Moral of the story, be more cautious when accepting any form of money from an unknown source, and take some responsibility for your own actions.

Answer 3

There is nothing you can do. Report it to local police, they will investigate it somewhat but if you already sent the item your out of luck. If it's a postal money order, turn it in to the post office.

Answer 4

if you already sent the item, then you are out of luck. craig's list doesnt have any protection against that.

Answer 5

plain and simple. go to the police department with all of the information you can obtain from the transaction - the more info you take, the better. advise the police you want to file a report and they will take it from there.

good luck.

Answer 6

If they sent you the MO through the US mail, this could be considered wire fraud, in which case tell the FBI.

then let them do their thing.

Answer 7

just turn them into the police station, they will give them to the F.B.I.. and if you can prove that you weren't making them you should be able to get your money back...