The Scam Alert Blog

A common scam going on right now goes a little like this.

Party A is from a foreign country and agrees to purchase an item from Party B. Party A then sends a cashier’s check or money order for more than the amount of the purchase price. Party A then alerts Party B to their “mistake” and asks for a refund of the overpayment. Party B refunds the money only to find out later (sometimes much later as the time for a foreign check to clear is sometimes longer) that the original payment is a forgery or counterfeit. Party A then has a good time spending Party B’s money.

If someone buys something from you and gives you any reason why they are sending a form of payment that is greater than the agreed upon price and they’d like the difference back, red flags should be going up. Make sure that the check has cleared before sending any refunds.

Don’t get scammed,
Mark