Just received a check....

It was for 2950.50, and read an article on ars technica about this type of thing. I deposited it in my bank, and the guy overnighted it to me. the check was only supposed to be for 1200. I am wondering what liability I have in all this, if I was to send my pc. thanks

[AlanJones]

The scammer will no doubt ask you to send the balance of 1750.50 to some other person by Western Union. The cheque that you've received is a fake and eventually, the bank will realise that (it can take them some time for the cheque to work its way through the banking system). When they do, they will remove the amount of the cheque from your account. Your liability, well you will lose your PC and any money that you send by Western Union (so in total you will be down the full 2950.50)

If I was you I would ring your bank and tell them that you now suspect that the cheque if a fake. Do not reply to the scammer if they try and contact you - ignore any further emails from them and also phone calls if they have your phone number.

If you do let the cheque go through the system then you might find yourself with a lot of explaining to do to your local Law Enforcement as it is you that they will come to.

Jadawg,

More than likely the check is fake and will eventually bounce in your bank account. Whatever you do please dont send any money via Western Union or Money Gram back to this person. If they have already asked you to do this then I would say with 99.99% certainty that this is a scam. One of the admins from this site should be along shortly to address your concern but I just wanted to catch ya before you send any cash back to this person. Hope this helps.

I will add that .01%. This is a classic overpayment scam. They usually aren't all that interested in the goods, but it's not unheard of for them to try for both.

The excess will probably "need" to be wired to the shipping company (the scammer). The receiver's name will probably be fake, but please post it and any other details you have on this transaction.

Do not send the PC, do not withdraw the money. You can notify the bank, but they will probably not do anything about it until the cheque has been rejected. Make sure you get a written statement (with the bank's stamp) from a named contact at the bank. You can also report it to the police. They won't do anything, but it's nice to cover your rear from repecussions.

Did you send any info that isn't in public record? If you did, then you should be aware of the possibility (the very small possibility) of ID theft. Keep an eye of your statements and credit report.

awesome, thanks for all the input guys. I will be sure to call tdbank tomorrow and let em know. I appreciate what you guys do and, well, just thanks a lot for being good hearted citizens. surprisingly enough they never asked for the money back. the signature on the cashiers check was pixelated, like a facsimile, and I also can't believe that the guy paid to send me this thing overnight. amazing no? oh well, I'll talk to you guys later. In addition, the check was paid by a Semper Marine and Boat, in Florida, the Bank was Citibank in San Diego, and I was to ship it to Las Vegas. Any chance these guys have people in NJ waiting to bang my nuts with a spiked bat or something? (From a method man song, I'm not that deranged.) K, Later

Hi Jadawigs

As indicated above, no doubt it is a scam.

I doubt the scammers actually had any interest in your PC in this case, only the over payment, surprising they havn't asked you for the money yet, I have little doubt that they will.

There is a slim chance they have somebody in the US but not likely, the header from the email may prove that theory if you can get an IP but knowing where they are doesn't stop it from being a scam.

Nobody will be in physical danger, scammers are only interested in the money and there is no money to be made by harming you.

As to the over night delivery, scammers are always in a hurry, the longer it takes the more chance there is of you finding out they are scammers so it is worth putting the extra few dollars onto ever who's credit card they are using. Yes, the credit card will be compromised, as you are the end delivery of the check they may we ask you about this at a later date but dont be too concerned, just keep all of the emails just in case

Also be aware of more emails in relation to this, it will be the same scammer pretending to be anybody from the pope to the FBI and anybody in between.

You can suggest the bank advised that the cheque was fake and they will leave you alone but dont communicate any further than that

Also, your bank may charge a NSF fee for the returned check. It is worth trying to see if it will be reversed, by asking the staff there for a fee waiver.

Jadawigs,

I'm sorry you got caught up in this, but you were correct to be suspicious.

The scammer likely paid nothing to send you the check overnight.

Someone's identity was stolen and used to open a shipping account. I know because this happened to me. The check was likely sent inside the US via a proxy working under the auspices of an overseas company. The return address on the package is almost definitely NOT from that of the scammer nor from that of the check mule.

scammers like to remain anonymous and untraceable.

although he gave maybe gave you an address, it will be fake.
he asked you to pay by western union, and he can pick up a w.u. payment from anywhere in the world.
the fake address is added to the scam to make it seem genuine.

most scammers are probably not interested in the goods that they 'buy'
but it's possible he could have an accomplice (or a dupe) to receive goods on his behalf,
so you might have lost your pc if you had sent it.

but mainly they are only interested in the money.
you would have lost 1,750.50 (not 2950.50) if you had fallen for this.

hopefully by now you have sorted this out with your bank, and hopefully they didn't charge you.

souliman

@Souliman, that's great advice but one point just because I can be like that at times you are right that scammers are not normally interested in your goods, only the money for over payment and courier fees, but that isnt always the case as you will see in this thread viewtopic.php?f=6&t=1937 You are correct however in about 99% of the cases I have seen