I got scammed

[bnorth]

Originally Posted by nwobhm

1) Have you ever filed a claim and received your money back? I personally know many people that have been defrauded out of thousands of dollars with USPS Money Orders. USPS was little to no help at all. If the guy that cashes it was the recipient the USPS is done.

2) This is completely false.

The value of USPS Money orders in the past was that they could be cashed at a PO counter for cash. Show up with package and MO, cash the MO and ship the package and at the same time generate a transaction receipt with a tracking number. That is no longer the case as the USPS rarely has cash in their drawers.

Sending a USPS MO to an unknown individual was and always will be just as dangerous as any other form of payment.

YMMV

I recently sent USPS money orders for a few thousand dollars for cards and their bank held up funds for close to a week before they put the money in their account. Now they limit them to $1000 each and if over $3000 total you need to fill out paper work. Wish I would have know that before I got there.

It amazed me but after a little research fake postal money orders are fairly common.

[Michael B]

Originally Posted by bnorth

I recently sent USPS money orders for a few thousand dollars for cards and their bank held up funds for close to a week before they put the money in their account. Now they limit them to $1000 each and if over $3000 total you need to fill out paper work. Wish I would have know that before I got there.

It amazed me but after a little research fake postal money orders are fairly common.

A certified check may be a better way. Depending on the relationship/standing you have with your bank you may be able to get them for free. I happen to be a member of the private client group at my bank. It is great and I am nowhere near wealthy by any standard. I get unlimited, from what I understand, cashiers checks. If I want a bank m.o. I would still pay. I have not used it that much, but it will come in handy later this year when I buy a new car. I believe the regular fee is $10 or so.

[ullmandds]

paypal g & s has always protected me...yes theres a fee...but...it's quick and easy!

[Fred]

To the OP -

Well, that just sucks. It's a good thing it was only a couple hundred bucks and not more. This just goes to show that there's always some a-hole out there looking to take advantage of trusting people. This thread has many good comments on how to avoid these issues. Hope this doesn't sour you on the BST.

[bmattioli]

Scammers Suck.. You want to help out the seller and this is what happens. Karma will get him. Always does..

[nwobhm]

Originally Posted by bnorth

It amazed me but after a little research fake postal money orders are fairly common.

Which is why they are now useless without the ability to cash them at the USPS counter. USPS had a hotline that could be called to verify if they were legit. Best of my knowledge it hasn’t worked for years.

There is no longer a way that I know of to move anything other than cash that is instant. Cashier’s checks no longer clear without days long wait. They can even be stopped.

[Jewish-collector]

More reason to buy in person. Hard to get scammed buying from a reputable dealer at a show.

[Papergoy]

Paypal is updating their terms as I recall where friends family is not available to any business account. I've only ever used it with true friends/family (ie- buying tickets for an event and being reimbursed by the person I'm going with, etc)- otherwise everything is business and I pay the fees. But I'm a business and it's simply a cost of doing business. I would never think of asking anyone (when I could) to use f/f as why would I? But I only sell business inventory (never anything from my personal collection) and run everything through my books as...well..you're supposed to do things that way, and I like sleeping at night. Others don't do it that way, and sleep just fine so different strokes for different folks.