I received a check in the mail for $4,752 for a car purchase over craigslist and I want to cash it but I'm afraid that if I get the money the checks going bounce and I'm going to be forced to pay it back how do I make the person that wrote the check responsible after I cash it if it is a bad check.

Deposit the check instead and then wait until it clears your bank before you spend any of it. If the check is bad then call the cops. Once you cash the check you are responsible for paying back your bank if it bounces.

You should have asked for a CERTIFIED CHEQUE for that amount of money, christian. Has the car already left your possession ?

Tick

CAREFUL!

There are scams running around Craigslist like this.

1) Did you ever personally meet the "buyer"?

2) Did they contact you and then offer you more money than you were selling the car for?

3) Do you have to use the excess money they gave you to ship the car to them?

Something to be very careful of... if it is a scam, you can deposit this check and the bank may clear it after a few days. You'll spend the money to ship the car and a while later, your bank will notify you that the check turned out to be no good. You are then stuck with not only losing what you spent but also you will then owe the bank.

It's a very common scam. If you never met the buyer, 99.5% chance that you're being scammed.

First investigate the details

1. was the 4752 the price you asked or was it for more than you asked.

2. Why did they mail you the check, where are they from ? Was it a person check or a business check ?

3. is there a branch of that bank locally where you can take it in and cash it at that branch.

If you put the money in the bank and it bounces as long as you have not withdrawn the money from the bank, they merely take it from the bank. If it does bounce you will have to pay it back.

You can in turn sue and turn it over to the police.
But of course if it turns out the check was fake, and you can't find the real writer, then it is impossible.

It is a normal fraud for craigs list, they send you a larger amount, and you are to send them back the extra, normally by western union. Or they decide not to take the car and ask for all the money back. It is not for 5 or 6 weeks, that they find it is on a stolen or fake check and it bounces.

So tell us more about this and the check.

I wanted to add... I was selling a 91 Honda on Craigslist to get it out of my garage. I was asking $750 for it. I can't tell you how many mails I got where people wanted to give me more than what I was asking for but I had to pay to ship. If they didn't come to look at it, or couldn't pick it up themselves, it was a scam. Who buys a car without looking at it first?

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Originally Posted by odinn7

I wanted to add...I was selling a 91 Honda on Craigslist to get it out of my garage. I was asking $750 for it. I can't tell you how many mails I got where people wanted to give me more than what I was asking for but I had to pay to ship. If they didn't come to look at it, or couldn't pick it up themselves, it was a scam. Who buys a car without looking at it first?

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I think this was a scam check as well. I stay away from Craigslist due to this type of behavior of the members.

I sell many things on Craigs list all the time. But it is easy, cash only and in person.