potential money scam when trying to sell used PT equipment

[buckeyefarmer]

I got the SS scam call yesterday. I’m sitting here waiting for fbi and homeland security to come get me.

 

[fried1765]

I definitely would not accept cashier's/bank checks or money orders. Weeks later, the bank can say "Sorry, it was no good so we are taking the money from your account." That is true even if you ask the bank to verify it ahead of time. Personally, I use PayPal or cash.

So true!
This is a situation many folks are not aware of.

I sent a cashiers check deposit for $6,400, to to the seller of my L48 TLB.
I picked it up two weeks later, with another cashiers check for $25,600.
The seller had never met me, and I asked if he realized there was some risk.
A friend of mine (who lives on the same island as the seller) had looked at the L48 for me, and the seller was quite OK with that.

I took a personal check for $9,000 for my old Ford 3400 TLB.
Told the buyer he could not pick it up until his personal check had cleared my bank.
My bank later suggested that was not a good idea.
Blank personal check might be stolen, and actual account holder might not see the check on his statement until several months later, and then dispute.

 

[LouNY]

I've taken personal checks for equipment and such, I usually hold the equipment till the check clears but not always.
I have also paid for equipment with personal checks, when I do so I offer to wait to pick it up till the check clears, some times I have to wait many times I don't.
One thing that I have done for years starting back in the Polaroid days was take a picture of the check writers drivers license and the bill of sale and check.
Now days with smart phones and digital cameras I take a picture of the individual and there ID when I sell something for more then a few dollars,
I have only had one person complain and they left without buying from me which didn't bother me a bit.