Alert-scam

[dakota1]

Just wanted to let all you good people know of a scam that is going on.  For sellers trying to sell your campers.  Please do not accept any cashiers checks or money orders for more than you are selling your item for.  I am sorry to say that I was fooled by this scam.  Thankful I did not send these people any money back.  But I am out money because the check was bad and it is a big mess.  So please everyone be very careful I dont want to see anyone else get scamed.  I only hope this low live person gets caught and gets what they deserve.

[RVMOMNDAD]

So sorry to hear you got shafted.  Several years ago when we sold a mobile home for 30,000, I told the buyer that I would only accept cash. No cashier checks, personal checks, or money orders.  Both my DH and the buyer thought I was nuts!!!   But I insisted and went to the bank with the buyer and it took the teller 45 minutes to count out the money 3 times.  The buyer said "good luck....I still think you are foolish" but I replied that I would rather be a "fool " hit over the head and robbed during the 5 minutes it would take me to travel to my bank than to be a "fool " screwed!!  I have only paid cash since then.  When we came to Oregon and bought our camper, I pulled 4500.00 out of my pocket to give to the seller.  She said she wished it was a check or m.o.  I told her to go buy a money order herself, or if she rather I could look elsewhere for a camper.  Needless to say, she took the cash.  Now if I had a nickel for every scam out there, I'd be rich.  Again, I am so sorry you were taken advantage of!!

[tlhdoc]

I would only accept cash.

There is a lot of funny money going around too.  Cash isn't always a safe bet either.

[Zagami]

That's a new one for me.  Sorry to hear of your situation.  Did they ask you to cash it and send them the extra money or did they offer you more money than you were asking if you took the money order or check?
 
Did you ask to see their driver's license or get some type of identification from the buyer?
 
Thanks for the heads-up on this one.

[jakelaw]

Dakota, Sorry to hear you got taken.  At least it was only for the trailer's worth, and not the extra they wanted you to send back to them.  If you contact your state's Attorney General office, they may be able to help you.  Most states A.G. office's have a unit that deals with this type of thing.
Bob, the unfortunate thing with this type of scam, is that they probably had fake ID that looks very good and checking it wouldn't have helped.  One of my current assignments is on a task force that investigates this exact type, and other types of scams, mostly on-line.  Our public information office spends 70% of it's time giving out info about all of the permutations of this scam.  Quite often they come out of Nigeria, or Canada, but can almost allways be traced back to Nigeria.  Unfortunately, our home grown crooks have picked up on the idea as well, and it is being used more and more locally (stateside).  The big warning, is never, never, NEVER!, accept a check, money order, or anything like it for over the amount of purchase, and agree to send te buyer the excess.  I have never heard of any occasion where this has been a legit thing.  They will tell you all kinds of stuff about needing the money and taxes, banking fees, and all kinds of reasons why they need you to send the extra money.  It is allways a scam.  You deposit the check, send the extra, and by the time the bank figures out the check is bogus, you are stuck with the whole amount.  Sorry this is so long, but it is a very prevelant scam, this being the fourth time this year, on four different RV sites, that I have seen someone sell their unit and fall for this scam.  Please be carefull folks, and if it seems wrong, it probably is! :banghead:  :mad:

[SkipP]

As Jakelaw said...sorry you got taken. I'd love to see the people who do this type of crap dealt with but, most likely, they aren't even in the USA. It's probably a variation of the Nigerian 419 scam (419 is the Nigerian law thats being broken). These crooks are pretty smart and constantly revising their act so it's hard to keep track.
 
Here's a link that might provide some help: http://www.chooseyouritem.com/rvs/internetfraud.html

[dakota1]

Skip thanks for the info I will be looking into that

[NCSunshine]

Someone tried this on me a month or so ago.  They were going to send me a MO for 9450 instead of my selling amount.  But because of reading about these scams I called the FBI and sent them all the emails I had received.  

They supposedly sent the cashiers check but I never received it and never heard from them again.  If it wasn't from reading about it on the forums I would not have known.

[SpeakEasy]

About a month ago I was the high bidder on a car at an auction. This was on a Saturday. The auction company told me that if I paid for the car with a check, they would hold the title for two weeks until the check cleared the bank. Or, I could pay cash and get the title right away. I thought the two-week thing was excessive, but it got me thinking.

Last week I sold a car through a classified ad, and I was prepared to tell the buyer the same thing: if they pay with a check, I hold the title until the check clears. The buyer ended up having cash for the car, so I didn't have to employ my new-found method. From now on though that will be my policy.

Sorry to hear you got taken. I hope your Attorney General's office can help you recover what you lost.

[zamboni]

When I sold my Niagara a couple of months ago, I was already concerned about cashier's checks.

The fellow who was coming to look at it was from Carmel (about 4 hours away).  He said he was bringing a cashier's check, and would be there Sunday.  He told me it was from Wells Fargo, and gave me the check number and a name.  I called the local branch there (looked up the number myself), and it turns out the person I was talking to was the VP -- and his personal banker.  I guess he was pretty important.

She even gave me her home number if I had any issues with the check!

So, a safe bet is to independantly contact the place where the cashier's check or MO was purchased and verify it's authenticity.  At the least, it will help eliminate some risk.

[AustinBoston]

So, a safe bet is to independantly contact the place where the cashier's check or MO was purchased and verify it's authenticity.  At the least, it will help eliminate some risk.

But - make sure you look up the number, not take the phone number from the seller.  He can give you his brother's number, and have his brother answer all calls from the 987 area code with "Big Megga-Bank, Mike speaking..."

Even so, it only takes a few minutes to put your scam-business into 411.com and a few others.

Austin