Believe I am being scammed, how to get out of it? wwyd?

amother

Babypink

Sat, May 13 2017, 7:57 pm

How do I get out of this scam. I put an Air Conditioner up for sale for local pickup and someone messaged me asking if they can use a cashiers check and I asked them for their name and address and they gave it to me and they said they will mail the check for my asking price and then when I said ok then they said they are mailing the check and it will include money for me to give the movers that are picking it up and driving it to another state where they had said they lived. My DH is convinced this is a scam and that the check will initially "clear" but then my bank will not get the money from the other bank at some later point after the "shipping money" is given and my Air Conditioner was picked up. There were a few "fishy" things that I ignored, like the person has a NY cell number but say that they live in another far away state and that they didn't seem to care about the condition of this used Air Conditioner and didn't even try bargaining the price after I said I would take $300 or something close to it, they just said they will pay the $300, also they are saying I should cash the check asap and it will clear within 24 hours and then someone will come pick up the Air Conditioner and the extra money for moving it that will be included in the check. I am convinced that 98% sure this is a scam but I don't know how to get out of it. If I tell the "buyer" that the air conditioner is not turning on and we should cancel the sale then I may even be out more money because they will say that since they already sent me the cashiers check for some amount of money then I need to give them back that money in cash and I am sure they will figure out a way to get it back from me Sad

HELP! Any ideas? Sorry for rambling...

amother

Bisque

Sat, May 13 2017, 7:59 pm

Can you open a police report ?

Where did you list the a/c?

chayamiriam

Sat, May 13 2017, 8:00 pm

You will be out the $300.00 for sure. Cancel the sale send the cashiers check back. Don't cash the check it will bounce!!!

TwinsMommy

Sat, May 13 2017, 8:01 pm

100% it's a scam.

Sorry, I Can no longer sell you the air conditioner. I am unable to accept your cashier's check.

If they already mailed it, return to sender.

Accept cash from the actual person coming to pick up WHEN they come to pick up.

amother

Bisque

Sat, May 13 2017, 8:01 pm

Can you not cash the check within 24 hours? Mail it back to him.

Oops, cross posted.

amother

Denim

Sat, May 13 2017, 8:01 pm

U can say the check never arrived.

amother

Bisque

Sat, May 13 2017, 8:03 pm

amother wrote:

U can say the check never arrived.

I like this idea. He can't prove it did arrive.

amother

Bisque

Sat, May 13 2017, 8:05 pm

TwinsMommy wrote:

.

Accept cash from the actual person coming to pick up WHEN they come to pick up.

I wouldn't accept cash from this buyer as he may give counterfeit.

amother

Babypink

Sat, May 13 2017, 8:07 pm

The "buyer" sent the check via usps and texted me the tracking number so I think they will know when it arrived Sad

I would be perfectly happy to mail the check back if they person gives me an address to send it back to, but I don't know that they will, and also, I think that once they got a cashiers check then the money was theoretically taken from their account and they can't void it, so on the small chance that this is legit this won't work, or even if it is a scam then the "buyer" can claim that I can't send back the check, but they will have someone picke up the money from me Sad

amother

Denim

Sat, May 13 2017, 8:11 pm

I think if you call the bank of the check you should be able to confirm if it's fake or not.

amother

Denim

Sat, May 13 2017, 8:12 pm

Even when you get a personal check you can call that bank to make sure there are funds in the account to cover the check.

amother

Babypink

Sat, May 13 2017, 8:13 pm

amother wrote:

Can you open a police report ?

Where did you list the a/c?

Sorry if I am about to sound selfish, but I am scared to get the police involved because this person has my name, address, cell number and will be angry at me obviously if I bust their scam and they go to jail. That really scares me, even more than the loss of the Air Conditioner and shipment money. I had listed the A/C on ebay and they "buyer" contacted me at first via an ebay account that was opened the same day as the auction and gave me their cell number to go over details. I am very new to ebay and was excited (I am probably the best person to scam). The person texted me back and forth and when they said they are sending the check then I asked what to do with the ebay listing and they said End it, so I did (I am assuming that is a legit thing to do, but I don't know). I asked who the A/C is for and they said their wifes store. I thought it sounded nice Banging head

amother

Denim

Sat, May 13 2017, 8:16 pm

You can reject the UPS package.

amother

Babypink

Sat, May 13 2017, 8:22 pm

amother wrote:

You can reject the UPS package.

Can I reject USPS? The tracking number says Priority Mail Express 2-Day™ (Dunno if this is for sure "valid" but it is the info tied to the tracking number sent to me)

amother

Bisque

Sat, May 13 2017, 8:23 pm

amother wrote:

You can reject the UPS package.

When the mail carrier comes to your door say you'd like to decline the delivery. Or say the person it's addressed to isn't home. This way it'll be returned to the post office and ultimately to the sender.

amother

Bisque

Sat, May 13 2017, 8:24 pm

amother wrote:

Even when you get a personal check you can call that bank to make sure there are funds in the account to cover the check.

This.

mirror

Sat, May 13 2017, 8:27 pm

Tell them you need to wait two weeks to make sure it clears. With a Cashier's check the money is available immediately even though the money doesn't transfer from one bank to another until several days have passed. So tell the buyer you need to wait two weeks to confirm.

amother

Babypink

Sat, May 13 2017, 8:28 pm

I think it will just be left at my door and not require signature or someone to answer the door, no?

amother

Babypink

Sat, May 13 2017, 8:30 pm

mirror wrote:

I like this idea. That I need to wait 2 weeks to make sure it clears. Assuming this is a scam then how will the "buyer" respond to that? Also, if the check does not clear than will my bank charge me a fee?

mfb

Sat, May 13 2017, 8:32 pm

For future items, one of the first rules on ebay is to never ever do a transaction off of ebay after posting the item. This is definitely a scam!