On Sun, May 15, 2016 at 2:41 PM, Dave Cole <[email protected]> wrote:

> Most people understand what a certified check is.   However you can
> always ask him if he will accept a certified check before you travel.
>

No, most people don't understand checks.  They THINK a certified check
is as good as cash but there is a big scam going around where people
buy things like this with fake certified checks.  They use very nice
looking counterfeit checks.  These are even good enough to fool the
people at the bank where you deposit the check.   Then some days later
you get a notice from your bank that the check is bogus and you are
simply out the money with zero recourse.

So when some guy offers to give me a check for something I'm selling
on CraigsList I tell them I will hold the check until the bank tells
me it is good with could take 90 days  (This is NOT the same as when
the bank releases funds.  That is determined by a fixed schedule and
is some small number of days depending on the amount.)

If I do accept a check from an unknown person I warn them to bring two
government IDs,their car registration and cell phone and then I shoot
a photo of them holding the check and all those documents.  And their
car with them in the photo.

But it rarely goes that far.  If I just write "You may not know it but
counterfeit cashier checks are a problem." then I never hear from the
scammers again as they know their scam will not work.  The scam only
works on sellers who think a check is as good as cash.   All you have
to do is try and sell some expensive boats, antiques and whatever on
CL and you will get many offers to pay with fake checks.  It is so
common that CL prints warnings of this on many of their web pages.

A certified check only means that the account has enough funds to
cover the check.  I can call my bank and stop payment on the check
before I put the check in the mail and the guy who gets it will have a
worthless check.

Wire transfers are different.  They are same as cash and not revokable
but banks charge about $40 per transaction.  Western Union is also
same as cash too.

PayPal works well for smaller transfers but the 2% fee is to high for
larger transactions.  PayPal offer a good brokerage service and can
revoke a transaction in the case of fraud.  It makes on-line buying
pretty safe.


-- 

Chris Albertson
Redondo Beach, California

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