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Cheque was made out by buyer from much more than the value of the car and I have been told to send the balance on to him by Western Union...
I advertised my little fiat for sale for 250 and I received an e-mail from a guy who wanted to buy it. He was adamant that nobody else was to get a look in and wanted my name, address, post code, land line and mobile number. He said that he would get his secretary to draw up a cheque. An e-mail the next day said that the secretary had made a mistake and had issued a cheque for £3,800. He said once the cheque was to clear I was to keep an extra £100 for my trouble and send the rest via Western Union Money Transfer to his shipper. I was very suspicious and have sent an e-mail saying that I would prefer he cancelled this cheque and re-issued one for the correct amount and I am awaiting a reply.
This is a classic example of an overpayment scam. The cheque will be bogus and likely to be drawn on a foreign bank. The system works on you being told the cheque is good by your bank and you have clear funds. So you pull the money out and send it to him.
Then down the line -- this can be several months later -- the cheque is found to be bogus and the bank will deduct the money from your account and you are liable for the loss.
British banks will guarantee a UK drawn cheque clear in 6 business days but no such rules exist for foreign cheques so even if they have told you it is clear they can deduct the money in future. By that time your customer will have been long gone taking the money with him and leaving you with a whopping great hole in your bank account which your bank will demand you repay.
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