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|| SportsShooter.com: Member Message Board
Here's How The Scam Works...
Eric Lian, Photographer
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Sebastopol | CA | USA | Posted: 10:07 AM on 01.11.05 |
->> This is a version of how the cashier's check/money order scam works. Your version may vary...
You get an email from a buyer outside the U.S. Their English is questionable and they use words like “asap” and “immediately” to create a sense of urgency. They usually have a friend/relative/contact in the U.S. who has their money or will act as their shipper for your item. After several emails back and forth you agree to sell the your camera equipment for $5000.
*You get a great price for your equipment, almost what you paid, and you want to unload it fast because you want to get that new 400 2.8 asap.*
When you receive the cashier's check/money order it will be from their contact in the U.S., but instead of $5000 it's $10,000. You write the buyer telling them they made a mistake and sent too much. The buyer comes up with a story for the mistake, blames it on an associate who mixed up the orders and asks you to wire the money back the extra $5000 asap - OR they tell you that the extra $5000 was suppose to go to their contact in the U.S. to cover their shipping services and they sent you the whole amount by mistake - please wire back the extra $5000 asap. If they're really slick, they'll tell you to keep an additional $500 for your trouble and wire the extra $4500.
Most banks will make funds available from cashier's checks and money orders available on the first business day after a deposit. So you're looking at your statement and, sure enough, there's the extra $10,000. A bank would "NEVER" post money to my account if that cashier’s check/money order was fake! It must have been legit.
*Now you're really sitting pretty. You get an extra $500 on top of the $5000 you already received for your equipment and all you have to do is wire $4500 straight from your account (where the real money is) to the buyer. Western Union is a kind of a hassle and I've never done it before, but what the hell, the buyer is such a great guy, I'll go the extra mile...*
On the way to the nearest Western Union/"Other Institution", you drop off your equipment at FedEx/UPS/USPS. The camera equipment is on its way. You get to Western Union/"Other Institution" and wire $4500 back to the buyer or the buyer's associate in the U.S. Transaction completed.
The only problem is, 7 days later (let's say you were pretty on-the-ball and completed your end of the deal in three days) you get a letter/phone call from the bank telling you the cashier's check/money order went through the system and it turned out to be fraudulent. They take the $10,000 out of your account.
You are now out your camera equipment and $4500 of your real money and there is nothing you can do or anything anyone can do for you. You are hosed...
It's hard to believe that this actually happens, but it happens every day. Most people don't even report it because they are too embarrassed to come forward. |
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