By using Chesapeake Bay
Market personal classifieds, you agree to all of the terms and
conditions identified on this page as well as in the
Access Agreement.
Thinking of selling a car or
another valuable item through an online auction or
your newspaper’s classified section? If so, the
Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the nation’s consumer
protection agency, wants you to know about check
overpayment scams.
According to FTC officials, the
scams work like this: Someone responds to your posting
or ad, and offers to use a cashier’s check, personal
check or corporate check to pay for the item you’re
selling. At the last minute, the so-called buyer (or
the buyer’s “agent”) comes up with a reason for
writing the check for more than the purchase price,
and asks you to wire back the difference after you
deposit the check. You deposit the check and wire the
funds back to the “buyers.” Later, the check bounces,
leaving you liable for the entire amount.
The checks are counterfeit, says
the FTC, but good enough to fool unsuspecting bank
tellers.
In a different version of the
scam, the FTC says, consumers get a check that has
their “winnings” from a lottery. They’re asked to pay
taxes or fees. Sometimes, the sender claims to be
trapped in a foreign country without any way to cash
the check. Either way, federal officials say, if you
deposit the check, you’ll lose.
Here’s how to avoid a check
overpayment scam:
Know who you’re dealing with.
In any transaction, independently confirm the
buyer’s name, street address, and telephone number.
Don’t accept a check for more than your
selling price, no matter how tempting. Ask
the buyer to write the check for the correct amount.
If the buyer refuses to send the correct amount,
return the check. Don’t send the merchandise.
Consider an alternative method of
payment. As a seller, you can suggest an
escrow service or online payment service. There may
be a charge for an escrow service. If the buyer
insists on using a particular escrow or online
payment service you’ve never heard of, check it out.
Visit its website, and read its terms of agreement
and privacy policy. Call the customer service line.
If there isn’t one or if you call and can’t get
answers about the service’s reliability, don’t use
the service. To learn more about escrow services and
online payment systems, visit
www.ftc.gov/onlineshopping.
If you accept payment by check, ask for
a check drawn on a local bank, or a bank with a
local branch. That way, you can make a
personal visit to make sure the check is valid. If
that’s not possible, call the bank where it was
purchased and ask if the check is valid. Get the
bank’s phone number from directory assistance or an
Internet site that you know and trust, not from the
person who gave you the check.
If the buyer insists that you wire back
funds, end the transaction immediately.
Legitimate buyers don’t pressure you to send money
by Western Union or a similar company. In addition,
you have little recourse if there’s a problem with a
wire transaction.
Resist any pressure to “act now.”
If the buyer’s offer is good now, it should be good
after the check clears the issuing bank.
Throw away any offer that asks you to
pay for a prize or a gift. If it’s free or
a gift, you shouldn’t have to pay for it. Free is
free.
Resist the urge to enter foreign
lotteries. Most foreign lottery
solicitations are phony. What’s more, it’s illegal
to play a foreign lottery through the mail or the
telephone.
If you think you’ve been targeted
by a check overpayment scam, file a complaint with the
Federal Trade Commission at
www.ftc.gov or by calling 1-877-FTC-HELP
(1-877-382-4357). For more information on buying or
selling via an Internet auction site, visit
www.ftc.gov/onlineshopping.
Internet Fraud,
Classifieds Scams, Abuse and Suspicious Replies are world wide
issues that have become widespread in targeting sellers everywhere
specially on the Internet. Often this involves buyers from Nigeria,
Africa, Holland and other countries.
Chesapeake Bay Market
blocks almost all IP addresses outside the Americas. We block all of
Nigeria, Africa, as well as most of Asia and Europe as many of the
scams originate outside U.S. borders. IP Blocking will prevent
responses as well as the placing of ads from Internet users from
those addresses.
Use common sense, enjoy these free classifieds, and remember the
following:
For your protection,
your Email address is hidden on Chesapeake Bay Market Classifieds,
unless posted in the body of your advertisement. Do not post
your personal, non-business email address in your ad.
We block offenders who
we have in our possible scammers database. If you receive any
suspicious looking email, please forward the whole e-mail to us by
cutting and pasting it into the form provided here.
If we consider that
the reply is genuine, we will tell you, if it is a scam, we will
add them to the banned email list & let them know that they have
been reported.
If you are offered or
received a check for over the asking price, most likely it is a
scam. Your bank will initially accept the check. Although it will
probably clear and allow you to draw money against it, it will
eventually bounce leaving you out of pocket. Often the emails are
written in broken English, contain misspelled words and are not
appropriate for the ad they are responding to. DO NOT DEPOSIT
OR CASH THIS CHECK.
Get everything in
writing, including all contact information and details of your
agreement. We recommend taking phone number and having
conversation on the phone or in person before making a final deal.
Unless you are a business looking to promote your products, do not
post your number in your ad.
Don't be pressured
into a quick sale and delivery of any item FOR ANY REASON,
especially if the funds for payment are not in possession.
The best protection is
to use common sense - if it sounds too good to be true, it
probably is. Never refund an amount from a payment made in this
manner for any reason!
The benefit of the services provided by Chesapeake Bay Market is
that most responders to your ad will be fairly local, however, you
may also elect to use an Escrow service, especially
if responding to a query to your ad from outside the Chesapeake Bay
region.
An escrow service offers you the protection you need from
disagreements on receipt of product or services, misunderstandings,
and all sorts of other issues that come up in the online
marketplace.
Essentially, you are hiring a licensed and bonded 3rd party to hold
the funds until all parties are satisfied with the transaction, at
which point the buyer can order the release of his money to the
seller. It provides protection for both Buyer and Seller.
There are number of online Escrow services available. Be careful
while choosing an Escrow service. The fake Escrow service providers
are on the rise. Check for
"Fake Escrow sites" on Google.com to find list of fake Escrow
services. Try to stay away from escrow sites especially ones that a
seller recommends.
Escrow.com is known to be a genuine escrow site since other reputed
sites like eBay uses its service. Chesapeake Bay Market does not
endorse any one escrow service over another.
Advertisers assume all
responsibility for any fraudulent payments to them for goods and/or
services they provide. Use of this site to advertise goods
and/or services are at the risk of the advertisers and responders to
ads. Chesapeake Bay Market / Poor Richard Web Press assumes no
liability for any fraudulent transactions between advertisers and
responders to ads.
By using Chesapeake Bay
Market personal classifieds, you agree to all of the terms and
conditions identified on this page as well as in the
Access Agreement.
Chesapeake Bay Market
reserves the right to refuse any ad for any reason and to delete any
ad for any reason.
