By REBECCA RUTHERFORD
For the Los Alamos Daily Post
So my oldest son decided to sell something on Craigslist, and he asked me, “Mom, does this sound weird to you?” Before he even told me what it was, I told him yes, because it’s Craigslist… Anyway, he went on to tell me that the person wanting to buy his item wanted to mail him a cashier’s check and was also going to pay him an extra $100 to hold the item. In between snorting laughter, I managed to tell him that yes, it did indeed sound weird.
What’s so wrong with payment via cashier’s checks? Well, I am glad you asked, because the answer is: IT IS ALWAYS A SCAM.
First of all, what is a cashier’s check?
From wikipedia:
“A cashier’s check is a check guaranteed by a bank, drawn on the bank’s own funds and signed by a cashier. Cashier’s checks are treated as guaranteed funds because the bank, rather than the purchaser, is responsible for paying the amount.”
Sounds super safe right? But wait, there’s more … It could be a fake cashier’s check. It can be fairly easy to just create a counterfeit cashier’s check. Banks are required to make money from check deposits available within a day, but actually verifying the funds might take weeks. So, the check could “clear” but then weeks later your bank will claw back the funds once they realize it’s fake, leaving you out the money.
A frequent scam with cashier’s checks is to offer to pay you more than your asking price, then ask you to take the extra money and pay it to a third party, maybe as a mover’s fee, etc. So, the scammer sends you a fake check, asks you to pay a fake third party the extra cash, and then when the bank realizes the cashier’s check was fake you are out the money they sent, plus extra cash you sent back to them. A bit complicated, but a lot of money laundering actually happens this way.
In another variation, they may say they sent the extra funds by mistake and ask you to send the money back, or they might pay you a “holding fee” then request the money back; in either case you will end up being out the money, because your bank will put you on the hook for it once the fake cashier’s check bounces.
TLDR – to sum it up, the scammer pays you with a fake cashier’s check, then requests you send them back some money. Later when the fake cashier’s check bounces, your bank has you on the hook for the amount that bounced, plus the extra money you sent back to the scammer.
See below screenshot of my son’s convo with this scammer:
In addition to the really cheesy language (Furthermore, aforementioned, who talks like this on Craigslist?), they are trying to pull the classic “here’s an extra $100 to hold it for me”. They would no doubt have then asked him to refund them the holding fee, leaving him out his selling price, plus an extra $100 to his bank. Yes, you can dispute stuff like this with your bank, but ultimately, it’s best to avoid the problem to begin with and remember that anything online (Craigslist, Facebook Marketplace, Ebay, etc.) involving a cashier’s check should be a big NO NO NO NOPE.
And another pro tip for Craigslist – do not ever list your home address, email address or phone number in your ad. And do not ever give your address out to anyone you are selling items to if they want to view the item; find a place to meet in public. You do not need to give out your home address and other info to random people on the internet. This is just leaving you open to more scams, and also possibly putting your physical safety at risk. This was yet another thing I had to educate my son on, but now he knows, and knowing is half the battle!
So, stay safe when selling things online, this is just one of many, many scams out there. The easiest thing to remember is – payment via cashier’s check is a total scam, just say no. Basically, the only time anyone should ever use a cashier’s check is for things where it’s required, like big real estate transactions, and where the payor and payee know each other.
Editor’s note: Rebecca Rutherford works in information technology at Los Alamos National Laboratory.
