Let the Buyer AND Seller Beware!
Online auctions, and websites specializing in buying and selling goods and services have revolutionized the retail business and have been a source of great convenience to consumers. Unfortunately, they have also served as a source for fraudsters and scam artists to prey on the innocent and the honest.
Legitimate internet sites such as eBay and Craigslist for example, have been used to commit fraud by the scam artists. Please be aware that not all people who buy and sell on these sites are honest. There are situations where people will buy goods and services and pay with worthless checks, often counterfeit, often with items which look and feel like genuine checks. Coastal has posted many warnings over the years about these scams, but unfortunately, many people continue to be victimized.
Here are a few reminders:
- Do not accept checks for amounts greater than your asking price. Scammers will talk their victims in accepting checks for larger amounts, then ask the seller to wire back the difference for "shipping expenses", or some other bogus reason.
- Beware of accepting multiple US Postal Money Orders. These items are often counterfeited. Contact your local Post Office with questionable items.
- If you accept a check for payment of goods or services, inform the buyer that you cannot ship the item for a minimum of 10 business days, allowing time for the check to clear. Also, be clear from the beginning of the transaction that you can only accept checks for the exact amount of the purchase.
All Coastal branches are equipped with FBI Warning Posters (pdf) that detail some of the scams involving counterfeit checks.
If you have any questions about any of these scams, please discuss it with the branch manager, or contact Coastal Federal Credit Union's Risk Management Department at
(800) 868-4262, or via email at: idhelp@coastalfcu.org. |
