scam

[Mike Schmitt]

I had a friend sell a bike to someone in (of course) Nigeria.... same
deal.... a fake money order arrives for thousands more than it should
be. In this case the "buyer" said he made a mistake and needed the
balance returned via wire. For the scam to work, someone at a bank needs
to fooled in believing the money order is real.... in this case it
worked. My friend, being the honest guy he is, wired the balance and
proceeded to bounce checks all over town.  Then the bank drained his
account b/c the money order didn't clear. It's scary b/c a real money
order is essentially cash to the person it's made out to, so it can be
turned in for cash at a bank regardless if you have funds to cover it
should it "bounce". Luckily, my friend didn't send the bike also.
Thankfully lots of these guys have a less than stellar command of English.