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Comment by Tallain | Hacker News Reader

It's a very common scam to send a cashier's check for an amount + some extra, where you are expected to cash the check, keep the change, and return the amount. Later, the check will reverse, having been caught as a fraudulent check, and you're left on the hook for the entire original amount of the check.

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Just so everyone knows -- you should always be able to call the issuing bank to verify the legitimacy of a cashier's check. They can confirm whether the check exists for the given check number, date, and amount, and that it has not been cashed. (Also, Google the phone number for the bank, don't use a phone number listed on the check itself.)

This is what makes cashier's checks fairly scam-free if you know that.

(Also remember, this is about cashier's checks, not ordinary personal checks.)

Of course this does require that you make your buyer wait while you phone the bank (and possibly do this during bank business hours), get put on hold, etc. And deal with the social discomfort of so obviously not trusting them. And then the risk of what might happen afterwards once you discover they are trying to scam you -- do they just go away or do they get violent or something?

But if you tell them upfront that you'll be calling to verify the check when you meet, it's much more comfortable. Especially because if they're trying to pull the scam, they'll just give up and not meet in the first place.

(Oh, and obviously never accept extra payment and then separately refund a difference. That's scam avoidance 101. If they even suggest that, stop talking to them.)

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