Be careful when it sounds too good to be true. I received a call from someone asking details on a property I had for rent. He was calling from out of town and needed to move in soooon. So he said he would send us a check to reserve the property. We gave him the address where to send the check and asked him to sign the papers too.
We received the contract back with the name (fake) and the signature plus the check of the first, last and one month security. Looks good, right? Nope. He sent us more money than we had asked for. So he sent us an email saying that please deposit the check and send him back the overage because he had made a mistake. Of course it didn't sound right. So we told him that before we deposited the check he needed to fill out all the paperwork for the condominium association with a background check and credit check. He said he would fill it all out immediately but to please send the overage because he needed the money.
All this was by email, no phone number and no personal information. Feeling that something was not right, we didn't deposit the check and we told him that as soon as we received the information and the check cleared we would refund his money.
Of course we waited for his information and of course nothing came.
Why? The idea is this. They send you a check with an overage. You deposit the check they send you and the bank clears it. After a few days the bank comes back to you to tell you the check was no good. In the meantime you already refunded their overage and they are nowhere to be found !!!
BE VERY CAREFUL when you receive checks and the person doesn't give you personal information you can check. We were saved because we thought it didn't sound right.
Hope nobody falls for this.
Comments(6)