I was selling at item on Craig's List. I don't know if you've ever sold anything but it's pretty straight forward. You negotiate with a buyer by email and usually meet face to face to exchange the item for cash.
In this case, the buyers were from overseas... so they sent a check by federal express. By email they told me that their employer would be purchasing the item for them, but the check was going to be for more than the cost of the item. This was supposedly a mistake and the difference should be refunded to them by me immediately upon receipt of the money. This is the first time I thought something is suspicious.
When the check arrived it wasn't certified as was stated in their email. It was written on a normal business check in the name of an LLC. The fedex package came from yet another company (LLC) from a different address. Now I'm really starting to get suspicious. The following day I received instructions to wire the money to yet a different person in another state, because they said the money shouldn't take more than 24 hours to clear. This is no longer suspicious- this is downright sounding like fraud.
They continued to pressure me into wiring funds, but I continued to state clearly that I have to wait for the check to clear since it is from out of state. I brought the check to the same bank in which the check was written. This way the bank can see if the funds are available and if the check is legitimate at all. After going into the system, the bank manager felt that the account appears to be legitimate, but she scanned the check I had deposited. Upon further review, the manager found the account to be closed. Now imagine if I had wired money to a stranger and didn't realize my mistake until after it was too late. Please be careful anytime you come across a scenario similar to this. Watch Out for FRAUD!
Andy Williams
President
Abacus Regional Mortgage
484 695 5972
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