Ever since I first heard about these cashiers checks scams I have wondered what the point of a cashiers check was? When I was a kid you asked for cashiers checks rather than personal checks because there was the idea that cashiers checks were guaranteed by the issuing bank in a way that personal checks were not. Now they seem to be an indication of fraud rather than a protection from fraud.
My wife fell for this scam, even as I was telling her it was a scam. She was selling a monsterously heavy, badly used pool table. Someone said they would buy and have it shipped and send a check for the total of both.
I couldn’t make her see the folly of incurring the cost of the item AND shipping for something used that would be more than the price of buying something new locally.
She went as far as having them send the check. It looked real enough. It wasn’t until I called the ‘issuing bank’ and asked them about that she agreed it was a scam.
The bank’s name and number were real. I gave them routing number and didn’t get but 3 digits out of my mouth when the lady stopped me and said “it’s a fake”.
Best laugh so far today.
They are safer than regular checks in that it is not possible for them to bounce due to insufficient funds. In this age of scam artists there’s lots of other tricks to worry about even if you are protected from checks that bounce that way.