PennyPincher - want ads - goods for sale Scam

I was scammed for $2000.00. I put an ad in Pennypincher in the Pembroke area to sell an item which was expensive. I received an inquiry within a few days; sold the goods and buyer was sending me a bank draft.

When I received the bank draft it was larger than the asking price. Attached was a letter Telling me to keep an extra $50 for my inconvenience and asked that I wire the balance via Western Union. I am thinking that it was money laundrying; they had my home address and I was SCARRED.

The bank draft was from the Bank of Montreal. I took the bank draft to the BOM and asked if I could cash it there. They LOOKED at it and said, no, just bring it to your bank and cash. I brought it to Royal Bank and they cashed it and sent the wire transfer.

NOTE: I later found out that both banks were aware that phoney bank drafts were flotting around and neither one of them took the time to authenticate the bank draft. Shame on them. I was scammed for $2,000. The police were notified and I am still waiting for them to start the investigation.

Welcome justsmile. I'm sorry you were scammed. What you are describing is a classic overpayment scam. It depends on the fact that banks in most countries give you provisional access to funds on deposit within a few days. That does not mean they take any responsibility for the funds if the check is returned. Checks usually go to a clearing house and/or to the issuing bank where they are discovered to be fraudulent. That process can take weeks or even months in the case of international checks. When the check is returned, the depositor (you) are held responsible, regardless of the origin of the check. In short, it means nothing when a check "clears".

Unfortunately, there is very little chance that the criminals will be caught, and probably less chance that you will get your money back. Cooperating fully with the authorities and the bank is your best chance that they will be flexible, but you will probably have to pay the money back one way or another.