I was just contacted by a buyer for my 86 GT. It has all the earmarks of a scam. He hasn't seen the car in person but he will pay full price. He can't come to see the car as he is moving to Chicago. He will send a cashiers check for the full amount plus the shipping cost. I don't have to ship the car until I have cashed the check and have the cash in hand. Sounds too good to be true.
In the past a cashiers check has always been a safe bet. Is it possible to scam a cashiers check after it has been cashed?
Cashiers checks are no safer today than a personal check. Even weeks after you cash it if the check winds up being forged or bad you will be responsible for it. That's the scam part. You have the cash in hand and release the car only to lose the money (and the car) when the check winds up being bad, stolen or forged, etc.
You could have him send the check, but don't cash it. You can call the bank it's drawn on to see if it is valid. If it all checks out (no pun intended) then cash it, but hold the car for at least a month.....maybe up to 6 weeks. Don't spend any of the money either....just in case you have to give it back.
If it were me I would pass.....it's not worth the hassle.
It's a total scam. Best not to get involved with any part of it. Nobody pays full price plus shipping for a car sight-unseen.....ever....never.....ever. You have better odds winning millions in the Nigerian lottery.
You would probably need to put the check into your account, and when the fake check bounces, you're out the money. I'm not sure how they profit from that unless they send you too much money and you have to give them a refund. Say, the sale and shipping is $5000, they send you a check that's mistakenly made out for $7000. You cash the check, send them the overpayment of $2000. Then by the time the bad check clears and bounces back at you, they've got your money and gone and the bank wants their $7000 back from you.
Today's copy machines are so good they can counterfeit almost anything. Cash in hand only, and I'd do it at a bank if you don't have a marker pen to check for counterfeit bills. If you do, make the transaction at a police station.
Well thankfully it's a moot point. I posted the ad on Craigslist at about 4pm yesterday. Washed it all up this morning and just accepted a $200 cash deposit from a local buyer to hold the car until the bank opens tomorrow for the balance. They saw it, they drove it, they loved it. Parents are buying the car for their son's first car. Nice folks.
Thanks for all the help and advice. I knew it was just too good to be true.
[This message has been edited by Rsvl-Rider (edited 07-05-2015).]
It really is a sweet little car. I put a lot of effort into fixing her up. Nothing like a restoration. It was already in pretty good shape, but I like to think I did my part to get everything working and running right for a new owner. I'll be sad to see her go.
You did not mention Craig's list in the first post (that I saw). Anything with Craig's list that seems fishy or untruthful, is.
Sorry, yes it was on craigslist. I use it now and then, both buying and selling. Never had a problem until I posted this big ticket item.
So far I've received two scammer texts, a scammer email, a call from the buyer (just smogged it so completing the deal tonight) and another caller hoping the first buyer flakes out.
Yes yes beware of cashier checks. A story I heard. Contractor gets price from supply house for some equipment. xxx dollars. Goes to bank and pulls out xxx in the form of a cashiers check. From there he goes back to supply house and buys said equipment.
Immediately after leaving supply house "with equipment" he calls the bank and tells them he just lost the check. Bank puts stop payment on check. He now has the goods and his money and quietly leaves town.
Spoon
------------------ "Kilgore Trout once wrote a short story which was a dialogue between two pieces of yeast. They were discussing the possible purposes of life as they ate sugar and suffocated in their own excrement. Because of their limited intelligence, they never came close to guessing that they were making champagne." - Kurt Vonnegut
I was just contacted by a buyer for my 86 GT. It has all the earmarks of a scam. He hasn't seen the car in person but he will pay full price. He can't come to see the car as he is moving to Chicago. He will send a cashiers check for the full amount plus the shipping cost. I don't have to ship the car until I have cashed the check and have the cash in hand. Sounds too good to be true.
That scam has been going on for years. I had great fun (and posted about it) where I strung one of these lowlifes along for days. It's a total bogus BS scam. For the life of me I can't believe that anyone falls for it.
Have the buyer's bank do a Wire Transfer directly to your account instead of sending you a Cashier's Check.
That's what I had to do recently when providing closing costs paid to the closing lawyer when purchasing a house.
------------------ Patrick W. Heinske -- LZeitgeist@aol.com
1988 Fiero Formula - Automoda convertible repainted PPG Ferrari 'Giallo Modena' yellow - FOR SALE! https://www.fiero.nl/forum/Forum4/HTML/070673.html 1988 Fiero 4-cyl Coupe - Dad's car, the Indy 'clone' - now enjoyed by my older brother in memory of Dad
Sorry to hear you guys are selling your car! Any chance you might get another one?
JC
Hey JC. No worries. Still have the 88 GT!
------------------ John Wayne as John Bernard Books in The Shootist... " I won't be wronged. I won't be insulted. I won't be laid a-hand on. I don't do these things to other people, and I require the same from them."
My rides... 1988 GT with a 3.4L V6 automatic 2006 Harley Sportster 'cause I love the twisties on two wheels or four.
I have had some one send me a fake check for more money than what i was asking for what i was selling so i took it to the bank and told them i thought was fake when they ran it through there check reader it would not read due to the lack of magnetic ink used on real checks but the check looked real so if they want your car make them pay with paypal and charge them the 3 precent
[This message has been edited by engine man (edited 07-16-2015).]
Have the buyer's bank do a Wire Transfer directly to your account
Never do this unless you have a very secure relationship with the person you are dealing with.
------------------ Rodney Dickman
Fiero Parts And Acc's Web Page: All new web page!:www.rodneydickman.com Rodney Dickman's Fiero accessories 7604 Treeview Drive Caledonia, WI 53108 Phone/Fax (262) 835-9575
Oh, good! Thanks for putting another nice car back on the road and hopefully the new owner will really enjoy and take care of it! He's probably not interested in getting together with us oldie moldies, but I know you will let him know about the club and the Forum. Also wish you guys were closer and could join us at the picnic on Sunday in Cupertino! Hope to see you soon!
Just a repost of something I have told others in OT when they ask this kind of question, Cash is King, you know that green stuff with dead presidents on it.
We have been given bad checks, checks from closed bank accounts years old, stolen money orders and even a check from a frozen bank account, that one took 3 months to find out it was no good, talk about messing with my wife's Kennel account.
So ya sell local and cash only when selling anything like a car.
or you can follow them to the bank and they can take out the cash right there and then. Much safer and you have them on camera just in case there is something fishy with the checks or anything else.
Steve
------------------ Technology is great when it works, and one big pain in the ass when it doesn't
(...and very wise to have avoided that scam)
