Ag Review advertisers, beware of scam

We recently heard from an Agricultural Review advertiser offering a cautionary tale for fellow advertisers. The advertiser said she was contacted by someone interested in buying an animal from her. The prospective customer then e-mailed her saying that payment was on its way and that she should cash the check immediately. The customer said the payment would contain “excess funds” that the seller should then send to a third party to cover transportation costs.

The prospective customer’s e-mail was poorly written and contained numerous grammatical and spelling errors. The poor quality of the e-mail made the advertiser wary, and she did not follow through with the sale.

This is similar to a scam that has been circulating for several years. The way it works is that a potential buyer sends the seller a fake cashier’s check, made out for more than the agreed upon selling price. Then the “buyer” claims to have made a mistake and asks the seller to wire the difference back or write a check to refund the over-payment.

The seller deposits the check, the bank credits the account, and the seller assumes the check has cleared. So the seller wires or mails the requested funds. But the “buyer’s” check bounces, and the bank reduces the seller’s account by the wired amount.

There are ways to spot these scams. They usually have multiple misspellings, poor grammar and often look like form letters. The “buyer” typically sends a check and pressures you to deposit it quickly so you can send a refund or forward a payment to a third party.

We thank the advertiser for sharing her story, so that we can also share it with readers and advertisers.\