Does this sound legit?
 

I am trying to sell a car. I've posted on a few sites. I have an interested person who contacted me via email. They said they are interested and would like to purchase but will not be able to come and see the vehicle and pay cash due to their work schedule, They will pay with a certified bank check and have movers pick it up after the check clears my account.

Is there any possibility that this could be a scam?

It is definitely a scam. The certified check will be counterfeit, but you will not know it until several weeks after you have deposited it into your bank account. Your bank will deposit the money into your account but they will remove the money when they find out that it is counterfeit. You will assume that the check has "cleared" but it has not.

thank you!!!

Yes.

Use a 3rd party Escrow company to handle the transaction if there's a lot of money involved.

Best Ways To Exchange Funds in a Car Sale - Kelley Blue Book

I don't agree with the KBB section on certified checks, unless the check is issued by a local bank. As I understand it, the typical scammer uses a counterfeit certified check with an out-of-town bank, or a bank that doesn't even exist. Your bank will credit your account, but when they discover that the check is counterfeit, they will debit your account and you will lose your money.

Is there ANY possibility it is NOT a Scam?

:cus:

Why can it not be legit?

Payment with a Certified Check is usually very easy to confirm and much different than payment with a "Bank Check". If you'll note the OP's original post, he's not using clear language for what he's been promised.

Depending on what bank issued the check, some "bank checks" are easy to confirm.

There isn't always a boogey man.

I'll bet you a dollar that it is a scam.

Agree to the buyers terms but tell him/her you will not surrender the car until the check has cleared. If it is a scam, they will move on. Not a scam? Congratulations, You sold your car! Please keep us informed of the result.

This is a well known scam... To sweeten the pot, the scammer will then write a check for MORE than the asking price, telling you to keep some of the money and return the rest "for the inconvenience"... Once they have that money, they disappear...

The old “work schedule “ scam. You can meet on the weekend, and have your buyer bring cash.

The key word here is "cleared". Your bank will never clear a check until they have received the money from the bank that issued the check. If the check is counterfeit, that will never happen.

NO!!!! Do not continue correspondence with the scammer. They will go away when they realize that they did not get you to bite.

OP, send a reply back that you will use Vemo, Paypal, or another service THAT YOUR BANK USES. When payment is verified, then and only then will you meet them to transfer the title in person.
I will bet you will never hear from them again.

Just to let everyone know, I sent a message back to the "buyer" and said "You can pick up the car when the check clears YOUR bank." I also told them I needed to check with my bank to make sure there weren't any issues.

Shocking, I have not heard back from them!

I knew it smelled like a scam, but the "certified check" comment threw me. I posted here because I knew people would give me good advice! I did plan to go to my bank tomorrow and also ask them about it.

Thanks everyone!

If you don't recognize this as a classic scam, I hope you don't sell things online.

None whatsoever. It is a tried and true scam used all the time. I played along with a scammer one time on Facebook Marketplace and he did send me the certified check. It was an excellent forgery. I emailed him after receiving the check and told him he was a scammer and I had no intention of selling him the item. Guess what? Never heard back from him, no argument, didn't want the certified check back...nothing.

Just tell them to pay by Bitcoin to your public key :)

Take the the check. HOLD the car until after the bank clears the check. If they can't agree to that then it's a SCAM

If you do that, you need to get a letter from your bank stating that the check has totally cleared, and not subject to a future account debit. The scammer is depending on you assuming that the check has cleared because the bank has credited your account. Personally, I have never heard of a bank agreeing to provide a letter stating that the check has cleared.

They want to send you a cashier’s check for a car they’ve never seen and then have it shipped to them so you can’t verify who they are or where it’s going. SCAM

6 cars in the last 2 years. Not everyone is a scammer and the folks who get taken advantage of, just aren't smart or savvy enough to avoid it or don't have the brains to ask for advice, like the OP did here.

Paranoia runs rampant in TV land.

How many cars can I sell in a year in FL?

All people and companies selling more than 3 cars in a 12 month period need a Florida Car Dealer License. Additionally, you'll need this license even if you advertise more than three cars for sale.

Are you a dealer?

If interested to keep things safe and simple, Carvanna is a good option.

No its not possibly a scam, it is a scam. They did this to my brother. Very common scam.

This is exactly the scam. They send you a check for way over your cars price then ask you to send them a part of the overpayment. The check clears, then its determined to be a counterfeit and you are out the funds. They have no interest in the car, in fact 99.999999% chance they are out of the country.

This is not only a Scam- it is one of the most common and enduring Scams.

I would bet $1000.00 that it is a scam!!

Scam……run

You should give the contract information to the police or Crimes against seniors

100% Scam.

Tell them you will accept a wire transfer from the bank instead.

I'm too cheap to bet that much.

Scam run

The MAJOR variety of scam cancel any contact with it

What year, make, model & mileage ? I know someone whose looking

This may be off point, but I just sold my p/u truck to Carvana (shopped all the online services; they had the best offer…~$700 more; all competitive) and they gave me about $800 less than retail—$15000 for a 2017 Nissan. Didn’t take 48 hours; no hassles; no dealing with public; no listings on sites and YOU KNOW THEIR CHECK IS GOOD. Just a thought.

Yes I think it is a scam for sure. I posted an E bike for sale in classifieds a few days ago & received an extremely suspect message. First of all the person exhibited poor use of English. (Not that there’s anything wrong with that in itself.). Then the person said several times: “LOL” for no apparent reason. Seemed odd the use of that particular phrase, like trying to impress the seller with American usage of slang. Use of punctuation was way off. As we got further into the posting the person asks if I’m. “Really real”. Then immediately says : for me not to worry because he had me checked out. Anyway I became suspicious due to the myriad of mistakes & oddities so I quit replying.

These are scams! went thru with a transaction like this years ago because I wanted proof. I got the certified check in the mail. I called the bank/credit union which existed and asked them if it was legit. It wasn’t. I sent the check to the FBI and I told the buyer I was doing the same.
Do not go thru with this.