counterfeit cashier's check & money transfer scams
1. distant buyer offers a high-value (but fake) cashier's check in exchange for your item
- you receive an odd email offering to buy your item site unseen.
- cashier's check is offered for your sale item, as a deposit for an apartment, or just about anything else.
- value of cashier's check often far exceeds your item - buyer asks you to wire the balance via money transfer service
- banks will often cash these fake checks AND THEN HOLD YOU RESPONSIBLE WHEN THE CHECK FAILS TO CLEAR
- scam often involves a 3rd party (shipping agent, business associate owing buyer money, etc)
2. distant seller requests payment via Western Union or MoneyGram:
- seller often claims that an MTCN or confirmation code is needed before he can withdraw your money - this is FALSE, once you've wired money, it is GONE.
- common items currently: laptops, plasma TVs, cell phones, tickets - but could be almost anything
- common countries currently include: Nigeria, Romania, Ukraine, Spain, UK, Italy, Netherlands - but could be anywhere
- deal often seems too good to be true
3. distant seller offers to send you a cashier's check and then have you wire money:
- this is ALWAYS a scam, in our experience - the cashier's check is FAKE
- sometimes accompanies an offer of merchandise, sometimes not
- scammer often asks for your name, address, etc for printing on the fake check
- deal often seems too good to be true
4. distant seller suggests use of an online escrow service.
- most online escrow sites are FRAUDULENT, operated by scammers
- for more info, do a google search on "fake escrow" or "escrow fraud"
- if you must do business with a distant seller, insist on a legitimate service, such as www.escrow.com
5. distant seller asks for a partial payment upfront, after which he will ship goods
- he says he trusts you with the partial payment
- he may say he has already shipped the goods
- deal often sounds too good to be true
we've blocked a lot of IP ranges, had numerous scammer accounts shut down, and are working with officials in attempts to curtail these kind of scams .. in the meantime, it's BUYER BEWARE.
for local police help, call the non-emergency police number in your local phone book.
for governmental assistance (in US), you can contact the Internet Fraud Complaint Center, or call the FTC toll-free at 1-877-FTC-HELP (1-877-382-4357) or use the complaint form at www.ftc.gov, or call the Canadian PhoneBusters hotline toll-free at 1-888-495-8501.
if you have evidence of other scam types occuring on MyCana, please email them to abuse@MyCana.com;
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