Rickw said:I'm not saying this person wasn't trying to scam you but if you could have gotten his money first, and it sounded like you could, then where's the scam? I understand it's a scam if he wants you to front him the table before you get paid but I didn't interpret it that way. It just sounded to me like you could have gotten the money first and then send him the table and his balance. You would have known, if you couldn't cash the check, if the deal was no good.
The scam is in the fact that the check is NO GOOD. The scam artist sends you (Rick W) a cashier's check for $10,000 and wants you to 'keep' $5,000 for your item (a pool table you have for sale) and send THEM the $5,000 that's 'over the agreed amount for the item'. The bank cashes the check for $10,000, because they haven't discovered that it's 'bad' YET. You send the scammer the $5,000 and start boxing up the table for shipment. NOW,finally, the bank discovers the check is counterfeit and they want 'their' $10,000 back.You have to give it to them. You've already sent the scammer $5,000 and he ain't sending it back. You still have your table (which they probably didn't want to start with) and you have to come up with $5,000 out of YOUR own pocket to pay the bank back... hence: the word Scam..