Cashier's check scam hits Conway

By David Carkhuff

Ed Wagner Sr. of Conway warns the public to beware of accepting cashier's checks from strangers. When selling an item through a newspaper or over the Internet, trusting in buyers who pay with cashier's checks can cause a world of pain to the unwary, he said.In Conway, at least three people including Wagner, father of Conway Police Chief Ed Wagner have been caught up in the scam. The senior Wagner managed to avoid losing thousands of dollars by investigating the source of his cashier's check.This intricate check scam involves a foreign buyer agreeing to pay for an item that they saw advertised. The foreign buyer contacts the seller, makes arrangements for the purchase and sends a bogus cashier's check as payment. The sting happens when the check appears to be in excess of the agreed-upon sales price, and the innocent seller, in an honest gesture, sends money back as a refund. Then, the cashier's check ends up being worthless, and the seller is left holding the bag for both the amount of the phony check and the additional money they sent back to the buyer."If it's an overpayment on any size check, they should be aware that it could be a scam. Cashier's checks aren't always good," Wagner said.In Wagner's case, a gut feeling saved him from losing thousands of dollars to the scam artists. He was leaving a local bank when something told him to go back and investigate the cashier's check he had received from his buyer and that he had just cashed."I had the money in my hand. I was halfway out the door. Then, I went back," he said.Wagner's eye-opening experience began about two weeks prior to this epiphany."I'm running an ad in The Conway Daily Sun for a 1986 Lincoln Towncar, trying to sell it," he recalled.A person calling himself Jason contacted him, using a Canadian telephone number. "Jason" agreed to pay $3,800 for the car, which was advertised for $3,995. Jason said he would go to FedEx or UPS and mail a check. Wagner received a $5,950 check. "I go to the bank ... I cash the check. The lady counting out the money counts out $5,950. I said, 'Whoa, you gave me too much money!'"Concerned that Jason inadvertently sent too much money, Wagner planned to notify the man of his mistake. Meanwhile, he collected his money."I'm halfway out the door, when I thought, 'This doesn't sound right.'"This inner instinct to go back and talk to the bank teller led to a revelation. He found out that a similar scam, with an identical overage of $2,150, had come to the teller's notice.Wagner said it was a "miracle" that he talked to a bank teller who was alert to the scam. Otherwise, he would have been fooled by the phony bank credentials that appeared on the cashier's check.Bank staff called the number on the check and were assured by the person on the other end that they represented Compass Bank and that they could give him the cash, even providing an authorization number. This contact, however, was a front, Wagner learned.Wagner called the Better Business Bureau and found out Compass Bank is a real bank based in Texas. But the cashier's check wasn't from them, he discovered."Come to find out the check is no good," he said."He was using a bogus cashier check with the bank's logo," he noted.Wagner received a call from Jason. This time, Wagner was prepared and played along. He mentioned the overage."He said, 'Could you send it back?' He said go to Wal-Mart and get a money-gram. I said, 'I'm in Boston and I won't be back until 6 or 7 o'clock.'"Wagner was buying himself time so he could try to locate Jason and help law enforcement agencies put the finger on him."I went to Wal-Mart around three o'clock, I was going to talk to the manager to tell him what's going on, but on the way I stopped at the service counter," Wagner recalled.An employee at the service counter said she had sent a money-gram for an identical amount for a customer, he said.Wagner learned that this customer's bank tried to warn her that it sounded like a scam, but she didn't heed the warning."So she's out her $2,000," he said.Efforts to prosecute the scam artists have proven next to impossible, although Wagner remained committed to bringing the culprits to justice."It's a very bleak picture. It's amazing how little you can do," he said.The Conway Police Department has issued its own warning about the scam."The scam involves a caller wanting to purchase items that had been advertised in the paper or online," wrote Lt. Joseph Faia. "Consistently, in these cases, a cashier's check was sent from the prospective buyer to the seller. The checks that have been sent appear legitimate but are fraudulent. The check will be made out for more money than the negotiated purchase price of the advertised item. A call is then placed from the purchaser to the seller requesting that they cash the check immediately and send them the overpaid balance. The scam works if you cash the check and send the overpaid amount back in the anticipation that the check will clear. To protect yourself from fraud, we recommend that under similar sale circumstances, do not cash the checks or send any money back to the buyer."Wagner said his car remains for sale, but he won't be accepting any cashier's checks from unknown foreign buyers.Assistant editor David Carkhuff can be contacted at david@conwaydailysun.com.