Hi guys,

so im selling a watch on another forum and me and this guy mark has come to agreement on a sale. the method of payment is bank wire transfer. now its been 3 days and he indicates hes out of town and cant do the wire and is suggesting a check. he has all my bank info and im getting the feeling its a scam hes not making attempts to go to the bank and send the money...

any help?
joel

 

Walk away. He can easily arrange transfer over the phone. A cheque can bounce up to three days after showing in your account.

 

Contact your bank, put a temporary hold on all cheques written from your account and block any wire transfers.

 

will do asap, it seems fishy and hes a slow responder he even asked for my address

thanks for the help

 

Yeah, that's ridiculous. Once someone has the bank info, it should be 24 hours at most, no reason a check would be better for him.

 

Just inform your bank about this situation. Cheers.

 

Send him a scathing message calling him all sorts of vulgar names, threaten his pets, and then close your accounts, move to Montana, and live off the grid.








..... just kidding!

 

if you pick up odd vibes: walk

otoh: i once did a bank wire from LatAm to Germany and my bank also INSISTED on an address of the seller (money laundering laws,iirc)

 

Yes, asking for the receiver's address is not uncommon.

But agree with others. If you have a bad feeling, take precautions. It's a bit odd that you'd make contact to buy a watch, then go on a trip.

 

And your bank will likely close your existing account and open another for you. Let them do this without complaint. It's the best for them and the best for you.

The more you wait, the greater a risk you take.

Tom

 

Just had a client put Apollo 13 on a wire description.. Bank froze it for over a week because they thought I might be selling government stuff...

 

Yeah, well that's the initiation when you buy a watch like that. We forgot to tell you about the process?

 

Reminds me of those stories of how joking around on Venmo can get the Feds attention:

http://gawker.com/the-words-that-will-get-you-in-trouble-on-venmo-1738331672

 

Stuff does happen on up and up transactions.

I bought a motorcycle off a guy across the country. The bike was legit and on the up and up. I first found it on consignment at a reputable dealer and I got all the maintenance records from them. Wire the money to the seller and the wire gets held. ??? The wire is held, but I can't get a clear answer why. My brokerage says more information is needed on the recipient. They want the recipient's home address. OK. I'd already figured that out during my background check on the seller, I provide the address. OK, now we need his DOB. OK, I'd figured that one out too before sending the funds. OK now we need his driver's license number. Wahhhh??? I don't have that and I'm not going to ask the seller for this information, especially since I still don't have a clear answer on why the money is being held and I'm not meeting my commitment to wire the funds. I tell the seller there is some kind of delay on the wire, but that I'm working on it.After 2 days of back and forth, I finally get the answer on why it is being held. The recipient is on some kind of terrorist watch list OK, we're at a stalemate. Can I stop the wire and get the funds back. You can stop the wire, but the funds can be held. How long can they be held for. Indefinitely. Are you serious? I cancel the wire and overnite the seller a cashier's check. After another few days, the bank calls me up and says the funds have been released and put back in my account.

Frightening that a simple attempt to legitimately buy something can get your money stuck in a black hole and make you look like a wanker to a seller.

 

As said some banks want the address of who you are sending. Get it a bit if swift code doesn't work.
I get stuck out of town with dodgy Internet I wouldn't use for bank transfer

Give him a week to put money in your bank account and move on. Not as if you have sent him the watch yet.

 

I use a savings account for receiving wire transfers. The bank man said they wouldn't be able to remove any money with that info.

 

thanks for all the feedback guy! i contacted my bank they claimed it was okay if anything happens i will get my money back as it would be fraudulent.

Kringkily i actually laughed out loud a little bit at your comment... classic