If it's too good to be true, it probably is

By ERIC GROSSO
SPECIAL TO THE VINDICATOR
After receiving an $11,000 cashier's check via FedEx, I began to scratch my head. What? Who? How? After finding out the truth about the check, I stopped scratching my head, as it began to spin.
I had almost been defrauded by a Nigerian-based scam operation that costs Americans millions of dollars each year.
About a month ago, I had posted my car on a General Motors enthusiast web site, in an attempt to sell the car for a modest sum of $4,900. Within a few days, I had a buyer.
A gentleman claimed that he wanted my car after seeing one small picture of it. He asked for an address to send the check, which I gladly gave him.
No test drive? No questions on the condition of the car? No pictures of the driver's side of the car? I figure this must be a joke, so I delete all his e-mails and forget about it.
On Wednesday, I hear the FedEx delivery person knocking on my door. I sign for an envelope. Funny, I'm not expecting anything.
I open the package. Interesting, it's a Bank of America cashier's check for $11,000. What's more interesting, though, is that there is nothing else in the package besides the check.
My first step is to call Bank of America to make sure the check is real. I give them the number and am told the funds are readily available, and to cash the check at my convenience.
My next step is to find out where the package came from. I call FedEx, give them the tracking number, and find that the package came from Lagos, Nigeria. They don't have information on the name or address of the sender.
At this point, I'm still scratching my head. It helps me think. My first instinct is to take a quick trip to Las Vegas. But, using a rare impulse of good judgment, I decide to hold on to the check until the next day.
I post another message on the same General Motors enthusiast Web site. To my surprise, my fellow gear heads clue me in on the scam. This is the point where my head begins to spin.
Scam
I venture over to yahoo.com and type in "Nigerian Car Scam." Sure enough, it's for real. I find two other examples of people ending up losing thousands of dollars, and possibly their car, to a scam similar to this one.
The "buyer" finds an ad posted on a Web site for your car. He then e-mails you, requesting your address to send a check for the car. After getting the check, you cash it. The check is actually counterfeit, even though the issuing bank (in this case, Bank of America) will verify it's real.
Because the check is more than what the car is being sold for, the seller takes the difference after cashing the check and wires it, per the "buyers" request, back to him via wire transfer.
So, when the check is found to be counterfeit, you are out all of the money wired back to the "buyer," plus all of the fees the bank charges you.
On Thursday, I receive an e-mail, and then a phone call, from the gentleman who had sent the check. I kindly inform him that I know it's a scam, and that it's a shame that there are people in this world who make a living by scamming others.
After assuring me that it's not a scam, I tell him that I have turned in his contact information to the authorities, namely the U.S. Secret Service, which has an entire division devoted to various scams coming from Nigeria. The next thing I hear is a dial tone.
Finally, my head stops spinning.
X Eric Grosso is a Vindicator correspondent who covers Newton Falls.