Hi I have a friend who is selling a rather expensive car, he is hoping to get 20,000 for it, he has advertised it in autocar and has it listed on ebay.
He has already had the "I will send a cheque for 30,000 send me the difference" offers etc and was wondering what is the safest way to accept payment other than cash.
So is there anyway that a person who pays money into my friends account using internet banking can then say at a later date that his account had been hacked and can that person or the bank reclaim the money?
(IANAL etc) Make up a bill of somesort - that would probably help, to show that the money has been agreed to be paid, and I suppose if its some sort of direct credit make sure its from their own account. Doesn't Mr Ebay have some sort of system for car payments, what do they suggest?
Personally I would be happy to accept a building society cheque or bankers draft, which I would verify with the bank/BS by phoning them (looking up the number myself), to verify the cheque/draft is genuine and not stolen, and to confirm all the details on the cheque, particularly the date and amount, also the payee if they keep a record.
There was a thread here a few weeks ago about accepting BS cheques - someone came up with a possible far fetched fraud which the above checks wouldn't spot, but it seemed too ridiculously far fetched to me.
Here is what a friend did, for an amount maybe 1/2 of that, which worked.
Buyer opens up building society account in same b soc as seller already had account with, and deposits the necessary amount of money in that new account by whatever means he chooses. Then they both go to the b soc and the buyer transfers the money from his account to the seller.
Is that the one where the dodgy buyer uses a genuine BS cheque/draft, but then merely reports it as stolen to the BS/bank, immediately after the car has changed hands?
It was pointed out to you in that thread by someone else that:
"A BS will not stop a genuine cheque written out to a third party only on the say so of the second party."
If you disagreed with that why didn't you reply?
Besides, even if you are right, how does this crime work? Let's see...
The buyer Mr Fraudster goes to his bank/BS, asks for a genuine BS cheque/banker's draft, for 20,000, made payable to the seller Mr R. Carseller. Mr Fraudster's account is charged the amount of the cheque/draft at the point he requests it, so his account is now 20,000 poorer.
He then gives the cheque to Mr R. Carseller, who phones the bank/BS to confirm the cheque is genuine, confirms the date, payee and amount. Mr R. Carseller pays it into his account.
Mr Fraudster then phones the bank/BS to report the cheque stolen. The cheque is stopped while the bank/BS investigate. They find that a bloke called R. Carseller, who just happens to have exactly the same name as the person to whom the cheque was payable, has tried to pay it in to his account. The police are called, who go knocking on Mr Carseller's door.
Mr R. Carseller points the police at his ad in AutoTrader or whatever, advertising his car for sale for 20,000. He claims Mr Fraudster gave him the draft/cheque to pay for it.
What happens next? Mr Fraudster is still 20,000 out of pocket. How does he get his money back? Does he claim the cheque was intended for *another* person who happens to have the exact same name, ie Mr R. Carseller, who was selling something for exactly the same value? And that the real Mr R. Carseller broke into his house and stole the cheque?
BeanSmart website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here.
All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.