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Stay Alert For Cashier's Check Scams On Web Purchases
Fake cashier's checks have been used for years by crooks posing as Internet buyers, and new variations of this scam are also stealing money from unsuspecting victims. If you sell items online or receive any online requests involving cashier's checks, pay close attention to this warning.
Here's how a typical cashier's check scam works: You are selling a valuable item over the Internet such as a car or computer. You receive an e-mail offer through a relay service with the buyer promising to pay by cashier's check. An authentic-looking check arrives, but it is made out for several thousand dollars more than the agreed upon price and the buyer asks you to wire the difference back. Your bank accepts the check and credits your account for the money so you wire the extra money back to the seller. But later, the cashier's check turns out to be counterfeit so you're out both the sold item and the extra money you sent to the buyer.
Another variation of this scam involves people who become friends through online chat rooms and e-mail. For example, a man may chat with a woman for a couple of months (to gain her trust) and then tell her he'd like to move to the country where she resides. He asks her to get him an apartment, sends a cashier's check for thousands of dollars, and tells her to wire him back the overpayment. The check, of course, is counterfeit and any money she wires to him is lost. People have also been scammed by fake cashier's checks sent to pay for work done at home, or as an "advance" on a sweepstakes they've supposedly won.
We remind you to be extremely skeptical of a cashier's check from an unfamiliar source. It may look so authentic that your bank cannot determine if it's fake until several days or even weeks later. Under federal law, banks have to make the funds you deposit available quickly — usually within one to five days, depending on the type of check. But just because you can withdraw the money doesn't mean the check is good — even if it's a cashier's check. It can take weeks for the forgery to be discovered and the check to bounce.
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