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Identity theft and
check fraud are nothing new. However with the increasing popularity of the
internet they have been on the rise. Becoming educated and aware will
help lessen the chances of you falling victim to these scams.
Although we
actively screens for fraudulent postings and takes proactive action by
removing the postings and reporting the fraud to the proper agencies, we
are a free information exchange board. It is YOUR responsibility to
perform all due diligence with any potential buyer or seller.
The following
topics below will assist you in being informed, aware, and performing due
diligence with any potential buyer or seller:
- Be wary of foreign buyers
offering cashier's checks
- Be especially
wary if the buyer wants to send a check for more than the asking price. The
scammer will then usually ask the seller to wire the excess money to a bogus
shipping company. Once the fake check is caught, that money is gone and the
bank will take it out of the seller's accounts.
- If you receive a
cashier's check contact the issuing bank to verify its authenticity. DO NOT
use the number on the check as that may only put you in touch with the
scammers. Find the issuing bank through the internet or directory assistance
and call them directly.
- If you insist on
depositing the cashier's check, then ask your bank to put a hold on it until
it clears 100%. This can take two weeks in some cases, but if a fake is
caught you have not lost any money.
- Most emails used
by the scam artists are very similar because they may try to scam several
people at once. Go online and use a search engine such as Google to search
key words, names, addresses and phone numbers provided in emails from the
"buyer." They may appear in messages posted by people who have already been
scammed by the same "buyer."
- Search the FDIC
Alerts to see if the financial institution listed on the cashier's check has
had it's check counterfeited before.
If you suspect that
an ad is a scam please contact us
immediately.
Also, these
websites FDIC Special
Alert, FDIC
Special Report On Fraud, FDIC
Report On Common Cons, and Scamvictimsunited.com are excellent
resources for additional information such as what to do if you suspect you've
been scammed.
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