I saw this post and had to comment on it.

I worked in banks for over 8 years and believe me, I've seen it all as
far as what scam artists will attempt to pull.

Here are a few simple ways to protect yourself from fraudulent
check/money orders that are given to you for payments.

If you receive a check or money order as payment for something, do
not be afraid to call the bank it is drawn on to verify the check.
Althought the bank will not be able to give you any other information
other than if the check is good or not at that moment, this protects
you from scams because then you know the account is legitimate.

Do not ship anything until you can be sure the check has cleared both
banks, yours and theirs. By rule of thumb, give the check up to 11
business days for checks within the United States. I know it seems
excessive, but it protects you from fraud. Most banks will clear
checks within 5 business days, but to be on the safe side, wait the
extra days so they cannot bounce the check. Be wary of Checks that
have "preprinted" signatures, they are very easy to copy.

Even money Orders can be verified. Money Orders issued from banks and
Post Offices can not be made out for over $1000. If you ever receive
a money order for over a thousand, I would seriously have it verified
because 99% of all money orders have a limit of $1000.00

Also, as strange as it seems, Do not throw out the envelope the check
has arrived in until you are sure the funds have cleared both banks.
This is a valuable source of information for police if a report must be
filed for check fraud. Think about it, its going to have fingerprints,
DNA and quite possible if you get the dumb criminal, a return address
on it plus where they want their goods to be shipped.

The best way to protect yourself from this type of fraud is just not to
accept checks for payment. If the buyer has a checking account, then
they can send the funds to you via wire transfer, western union or the
internet savvy way of Paypal. Protect yourself at all means, its not
being nitpicky, its being cautious.

Sandy Z
And the Troublesome Trio
Lucifer ~ The Ring Leader
Kyba ~ The Enforcer
Shea ~ The Executioner
(and Sasha, the species confused kitty)

[Posted in FML 5645]