Cheque
Overpayment Fraud
Fraudulent
cheques are used in a variety of scams such as advance fee
letter fraud, overpayment and prize pitch to name a few.
Overpayment
scams is the type of fraud where the person receiving the
cheque is actually owed money for goods sold. The seller
receives a counterfeit cashier's cheque personal cheque or
corporate cheque from the “purchaser” in an amount in excess
of the amount owed; is asked to deposit the cheque and wire
the excess funds immediately back to the sender/purchaser
or the purchaser's agent or shipper; and, the deposited cashier's
cheque is subsequently returned as counterfeit and charged
back to the seller's account.
Anyone
selling goods should be suspicious of any cheque, especially
if it is for more than the agreed selling price. Consider
an alternative method of payment, such as an escrow service
or online payment service. Talk to your bank about
the safest way to receive funds from overseas.
To protect yourself against this sort of scam, never
agree to a deal in which the payer wishes to
issue an amount for more than the agreed price and expects
you to reimburse the balance. The scammers use a variety of
excuses to explain the overpayment, but any such excuse should
be treated with the utmost suspicion.
In
order to avoid overpayment scams, remember the following general
words of advice:
- Know
whom you are dealing with – independently confirm your buyer's
name, street address, and telephone number;
- Never
accept a cheque for more than your selling price;
- Never
agree to wire back funds to a buyer – a legitimate buyer
will not pressure you to do so, and you have limited recourse
if there is a problem with a wire transfer;
- Resist
pressure to “act now.” If the buyer's offer is good now,
it should be good when the cheque clears; if you accept
payment by cheque, ask for a cheque drawn on a local bank
or a bank with a local branch. You can visit that bank branch
to determine if the cheque is legitimate; If the buyer wants
to use a service you have not heard of, be sure to check
it out to be sure it is reliable – check its Web site, call
its customer service hotline, and read its terms of agreement
and privacy policy. If you do not feel comfortable with
the service, do not use it.
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List
of Scams
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