So I sold my laptop on Craigslist, and the buyer wants to pay via Money Order. I suspect its a scam, but he is fine with me depositing the money order first and waiting for it to clear, then ship off the laptop.

If your bank verifies it, and clears the money order.......is that pretty much it? Is there any way that the money could be revoked after my bank clears it?

I sent the guy another email back asking for his contact number, but he seems to be ignoring that. I told him that if I don't get the contact number, I am going to refuse delivery on the money order. Supposedly the money order is coming next day air from WI.

2/17/2007 12:11:05 PM

money orders are pretty secure

[Edited on February 17, 2007 at 12:14 PM. Reason : unless it's fake]

2/17/2007 12:13:25 PM

it will post to your account before its actually there, tell him to send a certified check so that you can ensure that the funds are there before depositing

2/17/2007 12:13:54 PM

once it clears it's good. But there I'm pretty sure there is a difference between clearing and the funds being available in your account. You'll probably want to ask your bank about the clearing process.

^certified checks can be faked just as easily as money orders. You'll need to wait for all of the above to clear.

[Edited on February 17, 2007 at 12:19 PM. Reason : .]

2/17/2007 12:17:03 PM

Just read online, that sometimes money orders are stolen funds, and they are used to launder money.

BUT the catch is that you are ultimately responsible for whatever you deposit into to your bank account, i.e., even though it clears your bank may come back to you and revoke that.

What do you guys think?

I think I am going to just refuse delivery since it is very fishy, and he hasn't provided a contact number.



By the way here is the email he sent:
David,
I learnt the payment has been mailed out.It was sent to you by my client. I don't want to delay things,deduct the cost of the IBM Thinkpad X41 Tablet Laptop ($1300) with shipping when its cashed and send the remainder of the funds on the Money Order to my Godson in preparation for his project plans as soon as its cashed . Please reply as receipt of this email.Track this at http://www.ups.com J1972519595 .My payment sent is $2500.
Thanks for your patience and understanding.
Stephen.

2/17/2007 12:21:02 PM

SCAM

[Edited on February 17, 2007 at 12:23 PM. Reason : honestly, I thought everyone knew about this.]

2/17/2007 12:22:07 PM

Quote :

"^certified checks can be faked just as easily as money orders. You'll need to wait for all of the above to clear."

they can be faked, thats why you call and verify funds
waiting for it to clear wont work because checks can post to your account and then come back sometime later as NSF

ahaha holy shit yes that is definitely a scam

[Edited on February 17, 2007 at 12:23 PM. Reason : .]

2/17/2007 12:23:10 PM

cleared != posted

2/17/2007 12:23:40 PM

what do you mean by cleared

ive had a check clear and come back 3 weeks later as NSF

[Edited on February 17, 2007 at 12:24 PM. Reason : .]

2/17/2007 12:24:02 PM

def scam then. if he is sending you more money than the selling price of the laptop with you to send the remainder back, that's a very good indicator it's a scam

2/17/2007 12:28:17 PM

Yeah I guessed that it was a scam.

But was kind of thrown off by him agreeing to let me wait for it to clear. However didn't think clear != posted.

Just out of curiosity, what happens if a bank clears and posts a fake money order? I suspect that the money will be just taken out of your account?

So since I am refusing delivery, I guess he is going to just have to just eat the cost of Next Day Air

[Edited on February 17, 2007 at 12:30 PM. Reason : .]

2/17/2007 12:28:22 PM

Pretty much. You may also be fined by the bank and/or charged with passing a bad check.

2/17/2007 12:32:19 PM

I was under the impression that a check is "cleared" after the check has been entirely processed. I.e. the check was sent from one bank to the other bank and the funds deducted and received by the bank.
Is that wrong?

2/17/2007 12:32:37 PM

Quote :

"If you suspect that an item posted for sale on craigslist may be part of a scam, please email the details to "abuse@craigslist.org". Be sure to include the URL (or eight-digit post ID number) in your message."

2/17/2007 12:32:47 PM

^Cool I will do that and email craigslist.

2/17/2007 12:33:57 PM

Quote :

"I was under the impression that a check is "cleared" after the check has been entirely processed. I.e. the check was sent from one bank to the other bank and the funds deducted and received by the bank. Is that wrong?"

it will show up in your account before any of that actually happens

2/17/2007 12:39:58 PM

It is a scam, anytime they want to send you ~2x the amount and have you send them the extra back it is a scam.

A good way to check is to ask yourself, "Would I send 2x the amount of the item and hope the seller would send the extra back." If the answer is no then why is the buyer doing this?

2/17/2007 12:43:47 PM

^^yeah, I'm aware of that. I thought what you are describing is "posted" and what I'm talking about is "cleared". oh well, let's see if google can help....

2/17/2007 1:32:17 PM

i dont understand how anyone would think theres even a chance this is legit.


rule #1: if i list something on CL and someone wants to pay me via mail i get very suspicious. esp if i can't confirm their identity via phone/address etc.

rule #2: if anyone wants you to send them money, when youre the one actually selling stuff, it scam.

rule #3: if anyone offers to pay more than what you're asking, its a scam.


Basically, if youre selling on CL, deal locally only...with cash in hand at time of purchase.

2/17/2007 4:00:25 PM

didnt read the whole thread. question is why you'd be dumb enough to beleive someone would send you 2500 for a 1300 item.

2/17/2007 4:03:44 PM

someone did this to my dad once. they actually sent money orders, and they were very obviously fake. this is a very well known scam, dont fall for it! if you do receive the money orders, just turn them into the bank and they'll deal with it.

2/17/2007 4:22:40 PM

Why in the hell would you think its a scam just because he is paying with a money order???

2/17/2007 4:47:36 PM

Quote :

"David, I learnt the payment has been mailed out.It was sent to you by my client. I don't want to delay things,deduct the cost of the IBM Thinkpad X41 Tablet Laptop ($1300) with shipping when its cashed and send the remainder of the funds on the Money Order to my Godson in preparation for his project plans as soon as its cashed . Please reply as receipt of this email.Track this at http://www.ups.com J1972519595 .My payment sent is $2500. Thanks for your patience and understanding. Stephen."

That's a pretty well known scam at this point. Call the motherfucker out on it and tell him to at least be original next time.

2/17/2007 4:52:31 PM

they want you to cash the fake money order and send the remainder in real money of yours. Then they get all that cash and you're out money when the money order is deemed to be fake.

There's some website out there that turns the game against them and makes the guys running it jump through all these hoops thinking they're getting money, and in the end they get nothing and are just pissed off. Quite funny, I wish I could find it again...

2/17/2007 5:01:04 PM

there are plenty of these threads already - find one and use it - anytime they want you to send them money back it's a scam

2/17/2007 6:08:25 PM