err, thinking i might be getting scammed

[funkywaggnelz]

But I don't see how... Lemme explain...

So I posted my whole comp on craigslist and I got the usual 5 emails f rom scammers. Sometimes for fun I play along to see how they will scam me and cut it off with a nasty email. Anyway, I got the typical "i want to buy this now, i will send yout his much blah blah" but they offered to pay with check and to come pick it up. Still they offered way more than what I was selling it at (the same comp I have been trying to sell here, they sent me a check for 2800). SHipped DHL and the routing stuff was like through Dubai but the check was from someone named yvette in rhode island. Anyway, keeping going with it, I took it to the bank and asked about it. They put a 5 business day hold on it to wait for it to clear because of the concern I expressed. They said if it was a fake then it would just be removed from my account plus a 5 dollar charge. I deposited it and the 5 days have gone by no problem. the hold cleared and now I am concerned to even touch it, you know?

What do you guys think? I mean if it was a fake or a scam it would have been caught in those 5 days, thats why they put the hold on it.

 

[Jorsoft]

I'd check with your bank and see if everything is kosher in the end and what protection you have if something arises later. I think this is definitely a scam but since it hasn't been caught yet it may be a very good one. I'd be very wary!

 

[funkywaggnelz]

I agree kinda. I mean I don't really see what they could do at this point, you know? The check cleared so even if the check was a fake or something like that, wouldn't it be on the bank now because I waited the holding period? What if for my own safety, I closed that account and reopened another with a different account number?

Edit: The other aspect being that at most this person only has my name and an address. The address isnt even my permanent one that I use for banking and identification purposes. I used my local, temporary one cuz Im at school. So they couldn't really get like my banking or ID info, could they?

 

[FireFox]

It will clear, at first....it will actually take anywhere from 1-3 months for them to realize it's not legit.

And no, It'll fall on you....they'll take the money back and charge you whatever they want for it.

 

[funkywaggnelz]

How could it take so long and how could it fall on me? Isn't that kind of the banks fault?

 

[FireFox]

It takes so long because a lot of checks are cashed every day, and it takes time for them to check to see if it's legit or a forgery.

By federal law, banks have to make the funds that you deposit available to you within 1-5 days...once they discover that it's a forgery, it will bounce.

And it's your fault because you're the one dealing with the guy and you're the one who willingly cashed a possibly forged check.

 

[veedubfreak]

Heh, i got one of these emails yesterday. Saying im the last decendant of "insert my last name here" and that they had 16 million dollars. All i had to do was "insert scam here".
Delete..
Move on with your life.

 

[funkywaggnelz]

Thanks for the info Firefox... I won't touch the money.

 

[Merkwürdigeliebe]

Yeah, I was almost scammed in a similar way. They are stolen checks.

 

[Apokalipse]

Scamming the Scammer: He wanted powerbook we gave him P-p-p-PowerBook!

(nS) NEWS SOCKET > SCAMMING THE SCAMMER: P-P-P-POWERBOOK!