Hi dutch2568,
There are a number of ways to protect yourself in this situation.
1.) Take cash for the payment. Unless the bills are counterfeit, this
could be the best option for you. Since the car is not an incredibly
expensive car and the buyer would have to go to the bank anyway to get
a cashier's check, this is feasible. If he doesn't want to carry
around massive amounts of cash, you could even meet at the buyer's
bank. Then you'd be carrying around massive amounts of cash, however,
so you'd have to be careful until you got to the bank yourself.
2.) Take a cashier's check for the exact amount.
-- A possible idea for this would be to meet the buyer at his/her bank
and do the transaction there-- as in, you can see them get the actual
cashier's check from the bank and confirm that it is real.
Cashier's checks are easy to fake, and even if you wait until the
funds are available in your account to release the car, the bank can
realize the fraud and take the money back out of your account. It's
really gotten a bad rap as not being a safe or effective method these
days because of this, but most used car dealers do accept these as
payment and in most cases is perfectly safe. A possible safety net
could be for you to call the bank that the check is written on and
find out whether the check is good or not. If you call the bank and
they say it's good, it's pretty safe to assume that it's good.
http://www.fraudaid.com/scamspeak/nigerian/counterfeit_check_fraud/counterfeit_check_02.htm
3.) Do it by Western Union.
If the buyer is willing to send it ahead, you could then meet at a
certain location and pick up the cash and drop off the car. You could
even meet at a Western Union and have him send you cash (which you
would pick up later)-- this would guard against counterfeit money, but
wouldn't be very convenient. It would probably be easier just to
exchange cash.
These Google Groups threads have some interesting ideas.
http://groups.google.com/group/rec.autos.makers.chrysler/browse_frm/thread/1e7336341e774aae/b49fb3473c72d9c9?lnk=st&q=&rnum=1&hl=en#b49fb3473c72d9c9
"Make them send it through western union as a transfer. That way they will
verify his information on his side using ID (because of the amount) and they
will pay you when you show up with ID. As far as I know there is no way to
be scammed this way."
"Since the paperwork had to be notarized, last time I sold a car I met the
guy at the bank and he took the money out and I put it back in the bank.
Bank did the notary stuff for free."
http://groups.google.com/group/misc.consumers.house/browse_frm/thread/fa59eeb5014ebdb3/bd4c4297ff3e341f?lnk=st&q=&rnum=3&hl=en#bd4c4297ff3e341f
"Here is one for you. I can accept a check from you and at that second call the
bank and ask if it is good. i give them your name , amount , check number, and
account number off the check and the bank has to tell you if it is good or bad
right then. They can't tell you any details or how much money you have in the
account but they have to tell you if the check will cash that second you call.
The CC check is the same thing but even more important."
"At any rate, I agree with the others in suggesting that you simply make
sure the guy shows up within banking hours so you can verify it
on-the-spot."
"Have him bring a Cashier's Check and read off the bank that it is drawn on and
call them you and check to see if it is good. If it is written on them and they
say so. there is no credit money involved in a Cashier's check. When you get a
CC to be made out, at that second the money is gone from his account and there
is no coming back to talk about it. It's not just a check but a check that has
been cashed already and the money gone but you just have not got it yet. You
just can't stop a Cashier's Check if it was really drawn on your account the
second you filled it out at the bank. A CC check is really a check from the Bank
on the bank it was written on and the Bank is responciable for crediting the
funds to any bank or bank deposit holder.... Now
if the bank Confirms the check and the two names on the CC check made out. I
don't see anyway around you not getting paid. Now if you take a CC and don't
call or check on it being good. Well get ready to play the court game of getting
your money back.... the only way the check can be stopped is for a Drug or Murder
transaction [FBI or DEA a part of stopping it] , Payment for a Federal or State
Crime , or Bank that it is wrote on goes Bankrupt . Now the bank can go bankrupt
but you will be paid by the bank FICA program in less that 90 days by them.
So the only way is to not get paid is to make sure the bank really wrote it and
not accept the money for Murder or Crime."
Search terms:
used car cashier's check
used car money order
used car cash money order
And of course, you should be very suspicious if the potential buyer
says that he/she lives in Nigeria :)
I hope that I've helped you and if you need any additional help or
clarifications, let me know and I'll be glad to respond.
Cheers,
--keystroke-ga |
