Online sale of a computer

[ambp]

What is the name of your state? Mississippi

I sold a computer on the internet to someone for $200. They messed up and sent me a check for $3200. The $3000 was suppose to go to their freight company for shipment. If I ship the computer to them myself is it legal for me to keep what is left out of the extra $3000.

 

[seniorjudge]

What is the name of your state? Mississippi

I sold a computer on the internet to someone for $200. They messed up and sent me a check for $3200. The $3000 was suppose to go to their freight company for shipment. If I ship the computer to them myself is it legal for me to keep what is left out of the extra $3000.

And why would anyone buy a $200 computer that cost $3000 to ship?

What's the rest of the story here?

 

[racer72]

What do you want to bet the check is a phony and you were'nt suppose to find out till you had sent the money to the freight company? Even if the check was legitimate, the money is not yours, you could be opening up a nasty can of worms by trying to keep it.

 

[dallas702]

Sounds like another version of the Nigerian scam. I'll bet the next email you get will ask you to send the $3000 back to them (or the phony shipper) from your personal funds. Then you find out the check they sent you is a fake. Then your bank makes you repay them the $3000 to cover the "buyers" bad check.

Did you verify the identity of either the "buyer" or shipper? If Ebay, when did the buyer join? Does the location of the buyer and shipper match? Does the location of the buyer and Ebay ID match? If Ebay, have you tried emailing the person ID'd on Ebay through Ebay and not as a response from the "buyer" (lots of stolen Ebay IDs are used).

DO NOT send your computer. DO NOT cash the check. Tell the "buyer" to send you the proper amount by money order....and not "Joe's Money Orders". A known vendor of money orders. Keep the check you have for the FBI or Secret Service for evidence.

 

[EvilWizard]

I had a friend who was selling his truck on Ebay. He found a buyer who made a deal with him to send a money order for more than what the truck was worth and then my friend was supposed to send the overage amount back... Needless to say my friend wound up losing thousands of dollars because the money order was fake.

If you want to cash the MO I suggest you let the bank representative know that you want to make sure the MO is legitimate before sending any money or goods to the person buying.

 

[HomeGuru]

What is the name of your state? Mississippi

I sold a computer on the internet to someone for $200. They messed up and sent me a check for $3200. The $3000 was suppose to go to their freight company for shipment. If I ship the computer to them myself is it legal for me to keep what is left out of the extra $3000.

**A: you are flat out lying. They DID NOT mess up. You and they knew it was all a planned scheme and a royal scam. Get a real job so you won't have to deal in phony checks.