How To Avoid A Money Order Scam

Posted by GuestPoster on January 21, 2010 under Money | Be the First to Comment

While money order scams aren’t as prevalent as they were a few years ago it’s still important that you know how to spot one, should the scam come your way.  The worst part about the common money order scam is that it has killed off the opportunity for many people to actually use money orders since the receiver will generally think that they’re getting ripped off.  In this post I want to show you how and why they work as well as how to spot one.

Money order scams work because of how easy it is to counterfeit a money order.  Most people have never received one in their life to know a real from fake!  So you’ll receive a money order and deposit into your bank, they’ll receive whatever they paid you for, and it will take a few days for your bank to catch on that the money order was fake.  You’ll then be left to foot the bill for the counterfeit and the con artist will get your stuff.

The common scam is the Nigerian Prince money order scam.  The premise of this is that they want to get their money out of their country and you (their long-lost relative) should help them by accepting a money order then transferring them some cash.  This works because your bank will make some funds available right away from your money order deposit, but once they realize that it’s a fake you’re double screwed.

The Craigslist money order scam works like the explanation above.  You have something for sale and the buyer wants to pay you with a money order.  They get the stuff, you get screwed because it’s a counterfeit.

A safe way to avoid all of this is to never deal with money orders from people that you don’t know, especially your long lost Nigerian brethren.  If it seems fishy, it is.  If it sounds too good to be true, it is.  These fast cash scams work on people who lack common sense, or just don’t know better.  Trust your instincts and you’ll be just fine!