Frauddd!!! Watch Out.

Wow. Thats F'd up. Sorry to hear about your troubles, Im sure it was frustrating. Keep your Head up, At least people are noticing your work! :)

We have a report thread here. http://fineartamerica.com/showmessages.php?messageid=132424

I got scams like this when I posted a room for rent. They will say something like "my father has mailed me a check for $50,00 dollars. Just cash it, take out the deposit money and send change back". Pretty much a Nigerian scam variation. Anything with a hotmail or Yahoo address is usually the first warning sign. When they say cashier's check it's a scam. Never send anyone change. Only accept exact amounts. I use Paypal.

I would do all payments via PayPal. It's is by far the most popular. Whether a sale or purchase, when people plug their credit or debit (don't know if PP takes debit) cards into PP, I assume they are checked immediately as any vendor would get approval on a CC purchase.

Yes, many people don't know cashier's checks are still cleared manually, and often have to go thru many reserves. That's why scams using them are so successful.

You can go a full 3 weeks thinking you sold something successfully only to learn from your bank the CC was returned, and you are out of your money AND the merchandise you have already shipped.

Edit: for the record, CC checks CAN clear faster, but it is dependent upon various things. A CC issued by a major banks and with all transactions being performed in the same city, they can clear in a day or two. However, the smaller the bank issuing, and the greater the distance, the more time it can take.

@ Dan, I had no idea a cashier's check was not cleared right when the bank you took it too processed it! I have accepted these for years on ebay or whatever. So what is a trusted means of payment? Credit card or paypal? I have not been selling on ebay for awhile but they are 21 days unless you are dealing with a secured buyer I think. My sales are fairly small but my husband has sold musical equipment for $100's, I just told him about the cashier's check risk.

Ah Nigeria, land of con artists

the main con is, you send money back. any person that already knows what your procedure is when sending art is usually a scam. if they send more money then needed, it's a scam. you tell them that you want the amount you asked for, no more or less.

---Mike Savad

What Heather says. A very old and very common scam.

Use great caution with ANY transaction that involves a cashier's check. Many people think that in today's technological world, checks clear fast.

Not true.

A cashier's check can actually take 20 days or more to clear.

Which means that three weeks after you cash it at your bank they will notify you the check was bogus and that they have deducted that amount from your account.

As a general rule of thumb, it may be best to stay away from any transaction, whether buying or selling, that involves a cashier's check, western union transfer, and so forth.

Very common scam. Red flag goes up when they ask you to send back money.

They don't have my banking info. The check was a citibank check. I don't have an account with them, but I went there to cash the check, where I discovered it was fraudulent. So luckily they don't have any info on my account. But thanks for your concern! :)

Report to yahoo also. It's a scam. A recent post was very similiar.

Juliet - they do that to get your banking information - I would alert your bank....