A cashier check scam is one of the newer scams operated by Nigerian con-men. Cashier check scams are targeted towards sellers who advertise big ticket items through websites like Craigslist and local newspapers. The big ticket items which may trigger a cashier check scam are cars and motorcycles? Why do only motor vehicles trigger cashier check scams? Well, a motor vehicle is the second most expensive purchase to a home. Running a cashier check scam by purchasing a used car through Craigslist is far less formal (and hassle-free) than purchasing a home.

A Nigerian cashier check scam artist will seek sellers of motor vehicles through online classifieds. The cashier check scam artist will offer full price, but with one stipulation: that the seller agree to accept a check for several thousand dollars above the purchase price of the vehicle, and transfer the remainder to an old buddy that the cashier check scam artist owes money to in the states. The seller will agree, while remaining completely oblivious that they’re participating in a cashier check scam. When the seller receives the check, it clears, and they’ll wire the overage to the cashier check scam artist’s friend. Several weeks later, the seller will be notified that the check was a forgery. This leaves the seller out of thousands of dollars that they naively wired directly to the cashiers check scams operator and possibly without a vehicle, if it was already shipped overseas.

Avoiding Cashiers Check Scams

If you’re selling a big ticket item online, protect yourself from cashiers check scams by screening your buyers. Ask for a credit check or payment in cash, it’s the most effective way to avoid cashiers check scams. A cashier check scam will often typically give you an iffy feeling. Listen to that iffy feeling; it will save you from being taken by a cashier check scam. Don’t participate in anything that even remotely appears to be a cashier check scam. If the buyer wants to pay his friend his debt, let him send his own damn check!