Money Order & Cashier's Check Scams:

Money order and Cashier's Check if used correctly is the safest payment method the seller can expect to get. But it also can be the most dangerous payment method buyers and sellers alike will ever encounter if misused.

1. Money Order & Cashier's Check Scams (Seller Side Scams)

As a buyer, you may want to consider purchasing items on eBay only from established sellers, preferably power sellers. While all eBay sellers have to start somewhere, few start it by selling expensive items. It doesn't necessarily mean that they're all frauds, but it does mean that you need to be very cautious when dealing with these new sellers. And if you decide to purchase from these eBay rookies, you should insist on using Pay Pal as the payment method.

The reason is simply. What if the seller never ship you the item after cashed the money order. Yes, you can leave the seller a negative feedback. Big deal !? Those who are determined to perform money order scams will probably keep switching eBay user id or keep using stolen eBay account anyway. Those people DO NOT care about negative feedbacks at all.

The simple rule is that if you are in doubt of the Seller, DO NOT use money order as a payment method.

2. Money Order or Cashier's Check Scams (Buyer Side Scams)

As a seller, you should NEVER ship anything till you are certain that the funds are in your account already. Seller should treat Cashier's Checks and Money Orders as personal checks; i.e., deposit them and WAIT 10 days to be sure they clear before shipping out anything. If the buyer keep giving you a deadline, let them wait, and tell them if they cannot wait DO NOT use money order as payment method. Simply because you deposit a money order does not necessarily means that the money order clears, even if the Bank is willing to give you a cash advance. However, a 10-days waiting period should be more than enough to make sure the money order clears.

Printers and software are now very sophisticated that con artists can easily make very convincing-looking Cashier's Checks. Often, they will even have the name of a major bank such as Chase or Bank of America printed right on them. As a seller, NEVER assume that a Cashier's Check is valid simply because you saw the name of a reputable bank printed on it.

 One very IMPORTANT note is that at any time after you ship the item using a courier, as long as the item has not yet reached its destination, you are allowed to recall the item or put the shipment on hold. You just have to call the shipping courier and give them the tracking number and instruct the courier to put the item on hold. The shipping courier might charge you an additional fee, but it's much better than losing your valuable goods.