how does this scam work?

[EvilBetty]

facebook marketplace
giant welding table for sale. probably weighs 3000 lbs

There were red flags all over the place, but I dipped my toe in the water because I need this thing gone. they said "will you take a check as long as it clears before I send movers to pick it up?" I said sure. they send the check but it is for more than the price of the item and they say "oh sorry forgot to inform you, I didn't want to send 2 checks so you'll have to pay the movers out of the single check I sent you". It was a little over 1k more than the table price.

I said no, absolutely not. they deleted our correspondence. this is obviously a scam. but how does it work? If the check clears, I have their money and the welding table and they have nothing. If the check doesn't clear the deal is off, and I move on and no one wins.

 

[JP4CY]

Is there bank info on it that you can call?

 

[egunzy]

Perhaps they hoped you would pay their "movers" before you knew the check cleared and you would be out that amount of money in the end.

 

[Zyklon]

facebook marketplace
giant welding table for sale. probably weighs 3000 lbs

There were red flags all over the place, but I dipped my toe in the water because I need this thing gone. they said "will you take a check as long as it clears before I send movers to pick it up?" I said sure. they send the check but it is for more than the price of the item and they say "oh sorry forgot to inform you, I didn't want to send 2 checks so you'll have to pay the movers out of the single check I sent you". It was a little over 1k more than the table price.

I said no, absolutely not. they deleted our correspondence. this is obviously a scam. but how does it work? If the check clears, I have their money and the welding table and they have nothing. If the check doesn't clear the deal is off, and I move on and no one wins.

Stolen check and the mover splits the 1000 with the buyer?

 

[Dopey]

The movers kill your family?

 

[alarson]

Stolen check and the mover splits the 1000 with the buyer?

There are no movers either.

They ask you to send your money somewhere to pay for the movers. They take that money and run before you figure out their check didn't clear

 

[Rabbuk]

facebook marketplace
giant welding table for sale. probably weighs 3000 lbs

There were red flags all over the place, but I dipped my toe in the water because I need this thing gone. they said "will you take a check as long as it clears before I send movers to pick it up?" I said sure. they send the check but it is for more than the price of the item and they say "oh sorry forgot to inform you, I didn't want to send 2 checks so you'll have to pay the movers out of the single check I sent you". It was a little over 1k more than the table price.

I said no, absolutely not. they deleted our correspondence. this is obviously a scam. but how does it work? If the check clears, I have their money and the welding table and they have nothing. If the check doesn't clear the deal is off, and I move on and no one wins.

I assume they are the mover and show up, take your money, the table and then reverse the payment on the check or report it stolen or something. Then their bank claws the money back from your account.

 

[3TrueFans]

The check will "clear", you give them the item, then later the check will bounce and the bank takes the money out of your account.

 

[Gorm]

I would have responded with two words: "Cash only"

 

[KCy]

My understanding is that there will never be a check and they don't want the item. They are just getting info from you. Usually phone number that they use on their end that requires a verification code. You then tell them the code and they can access your Google account which give access saved passwords and stuff.

 

[EvilBetty]

The movers kill your family?

dont have one. not within a 10 hour drive anyhow.

 

[CyclonesRock]

100% the check is fake. Story will change to the movers will be unavailable and then they apologize and ask you to send them the money back, via wire, venmo, cash app, I-Tunes gift cards, money order, etc...but they are such nice people that to make up for your inconvenience they tell you to just send back the agreed upon purchase price and keep the shipping fee. People fall for this ALL THE TIME. Money goes out, check then comes back as fake/stolen/washed/forged/account closed etc. Your financial institution pulls back the money from your account and probably then questions the heck out of you for why you deposited fake checks. In any event, you are out the money. Legitimate "buyers" are not going to trust a "seller" that they have never met to properly disburse their money to 3rd parties before they even receive their item.

 

[EvilBetty]

The check will "clear", you give them the item, then later the check will bounce and the bank takes the money out of your account.

when the check clears, it is clear, no? what is the point of having a check clear if it really sin't clear? is this a common misconception?

 

[EvilBetty]

My understanding is that there will never be a check and they don't want the item. They are just getting info from you. Usually phone number that they use on their end that requires a verification code. You then tell them the code and they can access your Google account which give access saved passwords and stuff.

they sent a physical check via usps with a tracking nmber. no phone numbers given. just an address to send the check to.

 

[CyclonesRock]

when the check clears, it is clear, no? what is the point of having a check clear if it really sin't clear? is this a common misconception?

There is a very big difference between a check clearing and the funds being available. There are regulations that dictate when banks must make funds "available" whether the check has actually "cleared" or not. Deposits < $5,000 will generally be "available" in 2 business days. However, it could take 2 weeks or more for a check that is no good to actually be returned. The Financial Institutions are not holding the money to take advantage of you, they are holding the money to help protect you. If you spend the money and a deposit is returned, you still need to replace that money.

 

[CtownCyclone]

when the check clears, it is clear, no? what is the point of having a check clear if it really sin't clear? is this a common misconception?

No. The bank has to make that money available to you after a short period of time, but it will take a few weeks for it to get processed all the way around. By the time it does, the issuing bank will inform your bank that is fraudulent.

Meanwhile, you will have given people real actual money and then the whole amount they sent you will be removed from your account.

 

[JustBecause]

when the check clears, it is clear, no? what is the point of having a check clear if it really sin't clear? is this a common misconception?

Yes if you wait the 10 days it would be clear. However when you deposit the check they will try to convince you that the check cleared because the money shows up in your account. The check will not clear and will be from n account that was closed due to fraud.

 

[JustBecause]

they sent a physical check via usps with a tracking nmber. no phone numbers given. just an address to send the check to.

Call the bank that the check is written on to see if the funds are available.

 

[NorthCyd]

If you have a check then you have the account information. Call the bank up and see if it's a legitimate account. I'm sure whatever bank it is with would be interested to hear about this.

 

[CtownCyclone]

Call the bank that the check is written on to see if the funds are available.

The bank may not do this. I had to do some wrangling with my bank to get funds made available early. Our banker said he'd try, but mentioned that they really shouldn't be doing that. End of the day, they did it, likely because we were longtime customers of both banks and had decent amounts of money both places.