ped@bunkerb.UUCP (___) (04/18/84)
**** WARNING **** WARNING **** WARNING ****
DO NOT ACCEPT Postal Money Orders.
There is a scam where someone buys something from you,
or asks you to cash a supposedly very reliable postal money
order. It will turn out that the money order was purchased
for a dollar and altered to some other higher value.
If Deposited in your account, the Bank will deduct it from
your acount when the Post Office rejects it.
Be Safe DO NOT ACCEPT THEM TO START WITH.padpowell@wateng.UUCP (PAD Powell [Admin]) (04/19/84)
Look Gonzo, If you are dumb enough to believe that anybody's
check, money order, etc., cannot be forged/altered/manufactured,
I think you are a little tiny bit naive. Not dumb, but naive.
And if you think Electronic Fund Transactions will solve this problem,
HOOO BOY!!!! are you in for a rude shock.
Patrick ("PSSST! Wanna buy a hot VISA card?") Powell
Note: the above statements are the official policy of the Ontario Provincial
Police. Wording has been changed, but the statements are correct. This was
detailed on Monday night to an interested group of people.leblanc@ucbvax.UUCP (Emile LeBlanc) (04/19/84)
<> Re: ped@bunkerb's warning on forged postal money orders. I have a friend who was 'ripped off' as described in the original message. It seems that the forgeries don't have to be that well done since in general people trust money orders. Be careful (my friend sold a $350 guitar for a $1.47 money order!). Emile LeBlanc (ucbvax!leblanc) (leblanc@Berkeley.ARPA)
brower@fortune.UUCP (Richard Brower) (04/20/84)
For anyone without the a checking account, Postal MO's are a quick, clean
way of sending "cash" through the mail. Because a few people have misused
them is no reason to condemn all people who have. After all, people have
been counterfitting money for a long time, and everyone still accepts cash.
And if you have accepted a bum bill and it is found at the bank, it will be
confiscated by the treasury department, and there will be nothing returned
to you (or even if you discover the bum bill yourself and turn it in to the
treasury department. The best idea may be to inspect your cash or money
order carefully, cash MO's at the Post Office (where your bank account has
nothing to do with the transaction).
Also, for those of us who occationally use MO's for things, who are not
into altering them, you have done a great disservice, because it is damned
hard to redeem a Postal Money Order that is not made out to you, even when
you are the one who purchased it.
Richard Brower Fortune Systems
{ihnp4,ucbvax!amd70,hpda,sri-unix,harpo}!fortune!browerark@rabbit.UUCP (Andrew Koenig) (04/20/84)
It has been mentioned that if you find you have been given a counterfeit bill, you're out the money and have no recourse. This is not true. My homeowner's insurance policy contains a clause that allows me to claim losses from counterfeit money, up to some limit. You might check your policy.
barryg@sdcrdcf.UUCP (Barry Gold) (04/21/84)
People should "in general trust" any piece of paper to be good without
examining it. My jaundiced view comes from working one day a week as a
check cashed for my father-in-law. I have seen:
a $50 bill on which the face in the middle looked slightly drunk--
and the Treasurer's signature was missing a dot over an "i."
a $1 bill with "00" painstakingly lettered in each corner--and
George's face replaced by one suitable to a hundred.
We returned these to the bank that had sent them to us.
We also get all sorts of interesting checks, money orders, and
identification. Net readers might be interested in knowing that we still
cash postal money orders with good identification (after inspection to make
sure the amount is unaltered) IF they come in the mail from out of town--
and the person has the envelope to prove it. We do NOT cash money orders
signed by the purchaser but not by the issuing financial institution.
Too many judges are now ruling these things are virtual checks and can
be stopped, even against a "holder in due course."
More details on request.
--Lee Gold
--
Barry Gold
usenet: {decvax!allegra|ihnp4}!sdcrdcf!ucla-s!lcc!barry
Arpanet: barry@BNL