Norcorider
Well-known member
Beware !!
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Man scammed by a fake certified cheque, lost polaris slingshot
- Thread starter Norcorider
- Start date
Mad Mike
Well-known member
As my dad would say… “you can’t fix stupid’”
Including the stupid of almost all in the main stream media. The headline of a "Certified cheque bounces" is completely false. He had a useless piece of paper. He did not have a certified cheque.
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While I agree, I can see many people falling for this. Most people have blind faith in "certified cheques" etc.
The fact that the buyers could only come at night (when the banks are closed) might have raised the red flags for me.
But if the article is to be believed he required the funds to help a family member, so I am sure he was eager to assist and pushed his luck..
I was thinking the same thing about coming at night but on the other hand, lots of people don't have work flexibility so that isn't the biggest flag.
Agree, but for a 22k vehicle, I would look for options for everyone's safety.
This is also why I take the hit and just trade in vehicles, I have little trust.
Norcorider
Well-known member
I have sold car on certified cheque, but what I did was take the buyer to the bank and deposit it in my account, before I signed the papers.
Hard to blame this guy completely, scammers are getting creative, maybe the cheque did look genuine as he claims.
Hard to blame this guy completely, scammers are getting creative, maybe the cheque did look genuine as he claims.
I'm a little curious about one thing - the bank rejected the "certified cheque", which means they identified it as fake without even attempting to process it. It would be kinda nice to know what they spotted, so we could also look for these things
If the details of what they saw were commonly available, the scammers will fix the issues. Easier to assume that they are all fake unless you see the teller make it and hand it to you.
wolfpack27616
Well-known member
This is so sad for the seller. Scumbags
Aquantance sold motorbike , certified cheque , two guys in white ford van pick up bike , hand over cheque. Aquaintance goes to bank , deposits cheque, they say congrats on sellingb your motorbike. Three days later the bank calls him, fake cheque. Take funds back out of his account .
No bike, no money (18kish) , all he knows is 2 guys , white van . Cell number he had was a phone card app.
No bike, no money (18kish) , all he knows is 2 guys , white van . Cell number he had was a phone card app.
If you're depositing a certified check, ask the bank to call the issuing bank to ask if a certified check in the amount has been issued, on the date of the check.
The news reports shows the cheque in the story. Clearly the seller and this news organization do not know what a certified cheque look like. I expect more from the news but who am I kidding.
If I were the reporting journalist, it would be difficult for me to excuse my inner Ricky Gervais and tell the guy that he is a complete prat. Their isn't a news story for stupid and it's in the hands of the police. Essentially he gave someone his asset and got a piece of paper with some ink.
To be fair, I have no idea what a certified cheque looks like, I have only used them a few times in my life and got them from the bank so paid little attention to the intricate details. I am sure I am not alone in this.
Certified checks can be faked (easily)
Cash can be counterfeit
PayPal, Venmo, and the like, can have payments reversed, and their adjudication almost always sides with the buyer
DO NOT take a personal check... what are ya', STUPID?
Bank to bank transfer is the safest I know of. Costs $32 (at TD. YMMV), is almost instant, is international... but the best part is it has to come from a valid bank account. You have to satisfactorily provide decent ID to get a bank account, and the bank is legally obligated to verify that ID... it's not easy to get a bank account, I doubt anyone is going through the rigamarole of getting a stolen identity bank account to screw you out of a couple of thousand bucks. There's easier money with a stolen identity.
If you do on-line banking, you can do the transfer from your couch, dressed in your jammies.
Bank transfers are reversible, BUT you know WHO you're dealing with, and you have the Canadian banking industry on your side.
... and the best part is often you don't have to go through the motions, just suggest a bank transfer to the buyer. If he balks, walk away.
If someone wants to give you a certified check, escort them to their bank, the issuing bank, to deposit the check... where the issuing bank will do a bank to bank deposit... which costs $32 (at TD YMMV).
Cash can be counterfeit
PayPal, Venmo, and the like, can have payments reversed, and their adjudication almost always sides with the buyer
DO NOT take a personal check... what are ya', STUPID?
Bank to bank transfer is the safest I know of. Costs $32 (at TD. YMMV), is almost instant, is international... but the best part is it has to come from a valid bank account. You have to satisfactorily provide decent ID to get a bank account, and the bank is legally obligated to verify that ID... it's not easy to get a bank account, I doubt anyone is going through the rigamarole of getting a stolen identity bank account to screw you out of a couple of thousand bucks. There's easier money with a stolen identity.
If you do on-line banking, you can do the transfer from your couch, dressed in your jammies.
Bank transfers are reversible, BUT you know WHO you're dealing with, and you have the Canadian banking industry on your side.
... and the best part is often you don't have to go through the motions, just suggest a bank transfer to the buyer. If he balks, walk away.
If someone wants to give you a certified check, escort them to their bank, the issuing bank, to deposit the check... where the issuing bank will do a bank to bank deposit... which costs $32 (at TD YMMV).
World is changing. The last time I did a certified cheque (better than 5 years ago), it was embossed with the amount and with "certified" across the cheque.
The cheque in question has neither markings.
Curious as to.what a current certified cheque looks like now.
Sent from my SM-S916W using Tapatalk
The cheque in question has neither markings.
Curious as to.what a current certified cheque looks like now.
Sent from my SM-S916W using Tapatalk
See these are both things I would expect - embossed cheque (whether it's real or not) and that you generally wouldn't find out that it's fake until the bank contacts you after it fails to clear.
Now if I had to make a judgement on whether the pictured cheque JZ67 posted was real... I wouldn't be confident either way. But I wouldn't accept it by itself, I would need supporting documentation / information (call bank, copy their driver's licenses, etc)
I guess the next question is what are the chances that the Slingshot is still inside the country?
Does it matter? My guess is it is in QC blending in (with dodgy paperwork), it got re-vinned as one that was crashed but not reported or it went in a container. In any case, the chance this guy ever sees it or his money again is very low.
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