Is this some form of money laundering?

[JSD]

Alright, me and my wife buy and sell off of Craigslist all the time with no issue. This situation that has just been brought to my attention seems extremely fishy. My wife was selling "Rock Band" for $80, got an offer for $100 and a cashiers check for $2600 with instructions with what to do with the rest of the money after cashing and taking her share. I told her not to cash the check and I'm thinking about calling the local police because this situation seems way too sketchy.

My theory: This is some form of money laundering where a credit card was stolen and a cashiers check was purchased. This person is now going through a process to clean the money. Thoughts?

Hello Seller,
I saw this Electronics Advert on craiglist site which really interest me,so i'll like to know if the item is in good condition to buy because i think it's an opportunity for me to purchase the item from you,and i'll be glad if you reply my message to know if you are selling the item to me.. And finally ,i'll want you to reply me back with your full name,address & telephone number if your your'e interested in selling the item......................Hope to hear from you

Dear Buyer,
Its in excellent condition. Was really only used about 3 or 4 times. It comes with the drums, the guitar, the mic, al the wire hook-ups and the game. My name is #######. Please reply back a.s.a.p. if you would like to come by and grab it and let me know which day works for you so I can give you my address to come by and get it. Thanks for your interest

Dear Seller,
Thanks for the reply,here's my phone # 987-943-**** which i'll really love to call you right away but i'm always very busy at work which i hardly pick calls but we can easily contact through mail and i'm very much interested in buying your item which i'm willing to offer you an addition of $100 for the item just to show how serious and urgently im in need of the item ,so kindly reply me back with the total cost of the item your'e selling including your name and address inorder for the payment to commence if your'e still interested in selling the item thanks

Dear Buyer,
for $100 dollars its all yours. my name is #### ###### and I live  in ######, MA. Are you available tomorrow morning to come by? Let me know when you want to come pick it up I'll be around Saturday late afternoon as well. I'd much rather give you the address when I know you're going to come by. Sorry. I've just always been a little skeptical of craigslist. so just let me know and we'll work it out.

Dear Seller,
Thanks for the reply, i'll really love to come over and pay you in cash but i'm physically handicapped thats why i won't be able to come and pay you in cash but only through check i'm very much interested in buying your item as a gift which i'm willing to offer you an addition of $100 for the item just to show how serious and urgently im in need of the item ,so kindly reply me back with the total cost of the item your'e selling including your name and address inorder for the payment to commence if your'e still interested in selling the item thanks

Dear Buyer,

is someone going to be coming by and picking it up for you? If they are could you give them the cash? I really dont like taking checks.


Dear Seller,
Thanks for the reply, i stay in Hawaii which will be difficult for me to come over and pay you in cash thats why i've decided to make the payment through Check which i do have a shipping agent which will be used for the shipping of the Item from you,so you don't have to bother for the shipment ,i'll handle and take care of the shipping ,so kindly reply me back with your name and address inorder to know if i should go ahead with the transaction so i can send out the check to you tomorow morning then you receive it latest by Monday morning thanks and reply me back.

Dear Buyer,
I would have to make sure the check clears before I actually ship the item. I hope you understand. So if that is fine send the check to ##### ###### 7 ###### Street, ######, MA #####. And please let me know the address that this is being shipped to or if someone is coming by to get the item for shipping please let me have your full name and Address

Dear Seller,
Thanks for the reply, i'll be sending you a cashiers Check which will be cashable in your bank and you can also hold your item until the Check has been cashed just for you to be rest assured, and i do have a shipping agent which will be used for the shipping of the Item from you,and i'll be sending you an excess funds on the Check which the rest balance on the Check will be sent to my shipping agent through the WESTERN UNION MONEY TRANSFER OUTLET after the money has been cashed for the shipping of the item wihch i do have other items with the shipping agent while i was just waiting this transaction to be made,so you don't have to bother for the shipment ,i'll handle and take care of the shipping ,so kindly reply me back inorder to confirm finally if i should go ahead with the transaction so i can send out the Check to you tomorow morning then you receive it latest by Monday morning thanks and reply me back

Dear Buyer,
ok. everything seems like its all set. So let me just make sure I have this clear. As soon as the checked is cashed I will send the item to your shipping agent. (which you will be giving me the address of where its to go) and then it will be all set

Dear Seller,

Thanks for the reply, i do have a shipping agent which will be used for the shipping of the Item from you,and i'll be sending you an excess funds of $3250 on the Check which the rest balance on the check will be sent to my shipping agent through the WESTERN UNION MONEY TRANSFER LOCATION after the money has been cashed for the shipping of the item ,so you don't have to bother for the shipment ,i'll handle and take care of the shipping ,so kindly reply me back to confirm finally if i should go ahead with the transaction so i can send out the check to you tomorow morning then you receive it latest by Monday morning thanks and reply me back


Dear Buyer,
I'm still confused. Where do I bring the item? Where is this shipping agent? Is this shipping agent coming to pick up the item? you haven't answered any of that yet. Please explain to me exactly what is going to happen after the check comes in the mail.

Dear Seller,
Thanks for the mail,i do have a shipping agent which will be used for the shipping of the Item from you,which means the item will be picked up by my shipping agent after you've cashed ,deduct your own money for the item am buying from you then you send the rest remainder of the money to my shipping agent through any of the WESTERN UNION MONEY TRANSFER OUTLET  nearest to your home,so kindly reply me back if you really undrstand this and if i should commence with the payment ...Thanks

Dear Buyer,
ok I understand That the item is to be picked up by your shipping agent and I am to give the remainder balance to your agent but how will they know when to pick it up? do I contact you once the check has cleared? and if the agent is coming to pick it up can't i just give the remainder of the money to that person when they come to get it? I guess I just dont understand what I am going to the western union for

Dear Seller,
Yeah you got everything right BUT you are sending the rest funds of the money to my shiping agent through the  any of the WESTERN UNION MONEY TRANSFER LOCATION nearest to you,then after the rest funds has been sent to my shipping agent through the WESTERN UNION MONEY TRANSFER ,then the item will be picked up from you the next day....Thanks and hope you understand

Dear Buyer,
ok but when I go to the western union I need to know who the rest of the funds are going to. You didnt give me a name or anything

Dear Seller,
Yeah will be mailing you back with my shipping agent information in my next mail including the tracking number which i use in mailing it out to you once it's sent out...Thanks.

The vague opening email from the buyer would have even gotten a response from me but my wife can be a little naive a times... Ugh...

[Rondo2287]

That seems amazingly shady.

[Eja117]

Yes. I'd agree your instincts are right. That it's totally messed up and you should call the police. I have my doubts you'd even get the $100

[pengaloo]

If they need this item so "serious and urgently," and are willing to pay an additional $100 for it, then why don't they just buy it at the store? It seems pretty obvious that this deal isn't about Rock Band.

[Fan from VT]

Call the police. Or don't do it.

Seems like there's a lag between when your bank thinks the check is "cashed" and when the paying bank actually pays the money to your bank. So check clears according to your bank, you send your money out, then your bank never gets money from the other bank, so you are SOL.



http://www.fakechecks.org/preventionOverpayments.html

and

http://banking.about.com/od/securityandsafety/a/cashierscheckfd.htm

A Typical Cashier’s Check Fraud

The most common cashier’s check fraud has the same ingredients. A buyer wants to purchase a product and will use a cashier’s check. For whatever reason, the buyer has a check made out for an amount in excess of the purchase price. Then, the buyer wants the seller to accept the full amount and send the extra money (either back to the buyer or to a third party).

If you’re faced with a situation that looks anything like this, you’re probably experiencing a cashier’s check fraud. Don’t send any money until you find that the paying bank has actually paid the funds.

The trick of the cashier’s check fraud is that the payee’s bank credits the seller’s account before the funds have actually arrived from the paying bank. Therefore, it looks like the funds have cleared and everything is OK. If you’re not sure what the difference is between seeing the dollars credited and actually having the dollars, visit your bank and ask.

[Eja117]

Well now that I see that he lives in Hawaii that explains that he can't just show up. Also it makes sense to me that he wants you to cash the check and send him the money instead of him just cashing it and sending cash.

[Fan from VT]

So no, it's not money laundering (probably). It's fraud/theft.

Money laundering would be that this person has ill-gotten (but real) money, and wants to give you real dirty money for real clean money; once dispersed it's not trackable.

In this case, this person is probably offering you fake (as in nonexistent) money for real money. Robbery.

[GroverTheClover]

It reads like a Nigerian email scam.

[Donoghus]

It's a definite scam.  Don't do it. 

[JSD]

Call the police. Or don't do it.

Seems like there's a lag between when your bank thinks the check is "cashed" and when the paying bank actually pays the money to your bank. So check clears according to your bank, you send your money out, then your bank never gets money from the other bank, so you are SOL.



http://www.fakechecks.org/preventionOverpayments.html

and

http://banking.about.com/od/securityandsafety/a/cashierscheckfd.htm

A Typical Cashier’s Check Fraud

The most common cashier’s check fraud has the same ingredients. A buyer wants to purchase a product and will use a cashier’s check. For whatever reason, the buyer has a check made out for an amount in excess of the purchase price. Then, the buyer wants the seller to accept the full amount and send the extra money (either back to the buyer or to a third party).

If you’re faced with a situation that looks anything like this, you’re probably experiencing a cashier’s check fraud. Don’t send any money until you find that the paying bank has actually paid the funds.

The trick of the cashier’s check fraud is that the payee’s bank credits the seller’s account before the funds have actually arrived from the paying bank. Therefore, it looks like the funds have cleared and everything is OK. If you’re not sure what the difference is between seeing the dollars credited and actually having the dollars, visit your bank and ask.

After doing a bit more research this is what I came to for a conclusion. Freakin scam artists. Luckily she talked to me about it before sending off the money...

[JSD]

It reads like a Nigerian email scam.

Yup exactly

[wmg1041]

I usually just lurk, but I had to respond to this thread, in the hopes that you haven't yet completed the transaction. The buyer is, without a doubt, trying to scam you. According to craigslist, the mechanics of the scam are as follows:

2. distant person offers a genuine-looking (but fake) cashier's check

you receive an email (examples below) offering to buy your item, or rent your apartment, sight unseen.
cashier's check is offered for your sale item, as a deposit for an apartment, or for just about anything else of value.
value of cashier's check often far exceeds your item - scammer offers to "trust" you, and 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, including criminal prosecution in some cases!
scam often involves a 3rd party (shipping agent, business associate owing buyer money, etc)

Craigslist has done a fairly good job in compiling and documenting the most popular scams on its website (http://www.craigslist.org/about/scams). I would suggest cutting off contact with this would-be scam artist immediately.

[Kwhit10]

It reads like a Nigerian email scam.

Yup exactly

Yea the way they type gives it away right off the bat.

[the_Bird]

Absolutely a classic scam.  It takes a few days for the check your wife gets to bounce, and in the meantime she's wired (unrecoverable) money to these clowns.  They take the $$ out of your wife's account because the check she gets bounces, and she's still out the $$ that she sent to them.

It's absolutely a classic scam.  Not technically money laundering, but GUARANTEED - er....  GUARANSHEED to be fraudulent. 

[dark_lord]

definitely sound like a scam and i would avoid doing it.


also, i wouldnt give my address to any1 on craigslist and think you should reconsider that practice.