Certified Check

NYSpeed Automotive
1

I know there have been discussions about this in the past but a quick search didn’t yeild much.

Someone has inquired about purchasing my 350z. He called me and asked a all the basic questions about the car. Then we haggled a bit. He said he wanted to iron everything out before hand since he’d be flying in to pick it up. I googled his area code, and it is 514 from Montreal, Canada. He said he cannot take more than $10k across the border, so he has to pay by certified check. He has no issues with me contacting the bank on the spot and confirming the transaction(I will get the bank’s phone number from google.com hopefully).

Should I be weary? I have his phone number. The transaction will need to be notarized since that is the law for transferring the title. I could get copies of his driver license at that time.

I will also inspect the check for a watermark.

What else should I be doing to protect myself?

2

Get the money first, and wait for it to come back as clean from the bank. Probably will take two weeks to figure that out.

That would be the ONLY way I’d deal with a certified check. He can give you some # to a fake bank and they’ll act all “sure, this isn’t a scam” and BAM!

He drives your car away and then the funds disappear a week later when the check is deemed fake.

Tell him if he wants to do it that way, he has to pay first and wait for the check to clear.

3

well, I would research the bank and get the number myself. I would never trust the phone number that he gives out.

4

if he is making a purchase and declares the fund at the border crossing, he still cant bring it over?? he would probably get taxed I assume.

5

Flying internationally with $18k in his bag is a bit much to ask…customs and airport security will BOTH have A LOT of questions.

6

I would tell him to bring 10k USD cash and a certfied check for the difference.

That way if somehow it is a scam, you dont lose out on everything.

7

yeah, I think I am going to ask him to do that actually

8

Too easy to get scammed with a fake certified check. Why not just wire transfer it?

Cash when you’re not buying piles is a bit ridiculous. If someone told me they’d only take cash on an $18k deal it would scream scam to me as the buyer thinking I was going to get shot when I showed up with the money.

9

werd, what if the bank is not open on the weekend? I’ll talk to the guy and see if we can do it that way.

10

You can do a wire… or take the guy to YOUR bank with the certified cashiers check from HIS bank, and have YOUR bank call HIS bank and put the liability on him for it…

however… most SCAMS dont have the scammer come out to see the car FYI

when i bought my m3 the seller was worried, so i had him hold onto the title until the money came back 100% and then he shot me the title via next day air…

and if the check did come up bad, he could just report the car stolen

11

yeah, we have been haggling quite a bit and I found his email name has a facebook with a bunch of friends(it is private though). I am thinking this dude is serious, but I still want to be careful. we should be able to get to a bank, but it is only open 9am-12noon on saturdays, so it isn’t much time.

This guy really wants a red 350z roadster though, geez. He is travelling pretty far for it.

12

weary

    1. adjective, tired or exhausted
    1. adjective, causing fatigue or exhaustion
    1. adjective, caused by or suggestive of weariness: a weary laugh
    1. adjective, discontented or bored, esp by the long continuance of something
    1. verb, to make or become weary
    1. verb, to make or become discontented or impatient, esp by the long continuance of something
13

Most mass market scams don’t, because they’re run by idiots who can barely speak English. They cast a wide net putting almost no time into the scam and hope to catch a very small percentage of complete morons. A true con man who’s actually good at his craft would have no problem showing up, sounding very legit, and driving off with the car.

Is it likely the guy is legit? Sure, but I still wouldn’t take the chance with my 18k. Good luck with the hold onto the title plan if the certified check turns out to be a scam and your car is now in Montreal with “some guy who said his name was so and so, and had a facebook page”. It’s a ton of red tape to get investigate murders that occur cross boarder… they’re not going to give a shit about some guy in NC selling a car.

14

I rate this a 50/50 on being legit… post up what happens…

and you can take more than $10k across the boarder… I believe that’s the point where you have to declare it (maybe pay a fee?)

15

I’d say more like 95/5 legit/scam, but I still wouldn’t bet 18k on it.

16

argue the percentage, but the bottom line is that a certified check does not cut it in this case.

17

yeah, we’ll see.

I did a google search on his email. Found that he used to lurk and buy/sell every now and then on Hardcore Snowmobiler forums. His last activity was in 2008.

his join date was about the exact same time that he posted a WTB for some sleds. Then since then he has posted a few sleds for sale and some gear. Not much to go on there.

18

i just went throught this whole ordeal selling the sentra this past weekend. the guy flew up from Georgia. he paid with a $7000 cashiers check and the other $1000 was a money order from the post office. we agreed on the price before he flew up so he had all the moey set and ready to go before he left Georgia.

i called my bank and asked them what i needed from him in order to verify that it was a real cashiers check.

Ask him for:
Full Name
Adress
Check Information.- routing numbers all that stuff
Bank name and number
and he even faxed a copy of the check over

he was very willing to do all this to assure me that it wasnt a fake check. so i called his bank and asked them to confirm that it was a real check. i verified the bank number he gave me online. they confirmed it and said it was the real thing.
also an interesting fact i found out that i didn’t know. the only way he can cancel the check is if he takes it back to the same bank he got it from and turns it back in to cancel it. not over the phone, no other way to cancel the check.

as for the money order. i was kinda hoping he didnt screw me over on the other $1000. so i took his word for it and stopped at the post office and got it cashed before we went to the dmv. and it was legit, so that put more belief into it.

so theres my .02

19

ok, he did say that he would go to the bank on friday. I will have him fax me a copy of the check and do all of that on friday afternoon.

That is, if the sale goes through

20

if he really wants it, he will do a wire transfer. your bank set up an escrow account for you so it goes to ACH before your account. This way he will not have any bank info of yours and cannot get the money back and scam. Its easy… just call the bank, tell them what u want to do, get some info from his bank and its a done deal. you will get charged a wire in fee tho… worth it IMO. I sold my bmw like this… and the guy was local, just wanted everything covered.