Bob McGraw - K4TAX wrote:
That is absolutely correct. Even with Cashier Checks, if deposited
into your account and then found to be a forged check or stolen check
the bank will debit your account for the amount of the check. This
is one of the popular foreign internet scams.
It goes like this. A person offers to pay you say 4 times your
asking price for a radio with the understanding you will be advised
to transfer the overage to another account or send the balance by
Western Union to their "agent" for payment on their account. You
agree,...
Bob, you gave a great description of that particular scam. Maybe I'm too
much of a cynic to fall for this; it would seem that people who do fall
for it are gullible or -desperate- for the sale. Sorry, but I'm not a
bank nor am I in the business of 'making change'. If they can't send the
*exact* amount, well, too bad.
Again, probably my cynicism coming out, but I check -every- money order
or bank check I get before sending the item. Too many scam artists out
there. And yes, I even have the Post Office check U.S. Postal Money
Orders before I ship. At first, I thought I was being too picky because
I didn't think anyone would chance messing with Uncle Sam by forging a
Postal M.O. Bzzzt! Wrong! My local Postmaster says it's done all the
time and that they are glad to run it thru their computer to verify that
it is good. For foreign payments, I ask my buyers for a check or M.O.
drawn on a bank that has at least one branch in the U.S. When their
payment is received, I place a phone call to that branch (usually in
NYC) and have them verify it. I've done this for Korea, Taiwan, Japan,
Hong Kong and several European countries. It's too bad we have to be so
paranoid, but web scamming is a major, growth industry.
Carter K8VT
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