Payday Loans and Fast Cash Guide | Money Order Scams

Money Order Scams

I know that I’ve been on a kick lately about helping to protect my readers from trouble, and money order scams are no different.  I feel that it’s my responsibility to show you some of the shady stuff that goes on with people looking to give/get fast cash.  For every legit payday lender or pawn shop owner, there are dozens of other snake-oil salesmen out there that want nothing more than to take advantage of you.

How Do Money Order Scams Work?

There are a lot of variations of the scam, but they all have the same basic premise that takes advantage of you and your bank.  In essence the con artist will send you a money order that is counterfeit or fraudulent which you deposit into your bank.  Your bank will then allow you to withdraw some or all of the money right away, before they figure out that the money order is fake.

The most common occurrence of the money order scam is on eBay or Craigslist.  You have something for sale and someone buys it using a fake money order, and you’re screwed.  This usually happens from international buyers that say that they have a hard time using their credit card or some other form of payment to buy your wares.  Many times, they’ll even offer to pay more money than the item’s value and the shipping costs to entice you into accepting the money order.  After you ship the item and the bank denies the money order, there isn’t much you can do.

The Nigerian money order scam is similar to this.  There are many variations of this so if you see something similar, stay away!  This scam usually starts after receiving an email from a Nigerian prince/princess/millionaire that says their money is stuck in a bank in their country and they need your help to get it out.  They send you a check or money order (which is, of course, fake) which you are supposed to deposit and wire a portion of it back to them.  You make money by keeping a percentage of the funds.  Obviously this is fake, so don’t fall for it!

What Can You Do?

The most important thing that you can do is to not consider this a way of making money!  If it seems too good to be true, it probably is!

If curiosity is getting the best of you and you want to pursue something like this you have to take a few precautionary steps to make sure you don’t end up in trouble.  The first and easiest step is to ask them to issue you a check or money order from a US bank that operates in their country (Wells Fargo, Bank Of America, etc.).  If they say no, the deal is off.  That is a major red flag.  Secondly, trust your gut.  Consider how realistic an offer like this really is and how risky it could be for you.  If it doesn’t pass the gut check, turn it down immediately.

Related posts:

  1. Positive Ways to Eliminate Debt, Avoid Scams
  2. Where To Turn When You Need Money Now
  3. What I Do When I Need Fast Money Now
  4. Get Money The Same Day You Ask For It
  5. Inheritance Loans For The Money You Need Now
  6. Earn money today – get a job!
  7. How To Spot A Fast Cash Scam
  8. How to save money to make money
  9. Save Money With Check Cashing
  10. Inheritance Cash Advance for Quick Money

Comments

Leave a Reply




Page optimized by WP Minify WordPress Plugin