Scam Alert!

I wanted to inform all Briar Press users of a potential scam.

A couple of weeks ago, I sold a drying Rack thru a Briar Press Classified; the buyer’s name was Jon Schaefer (440-753-8105).

He asked for an address so he could mail us a check, which we gave him. When his check arrived, we noticed the check was written for $500 more than the selling price. The buyer said it was to cover the freight costs — and asked us if we could pay the freight company. We deposited the check and waited for it to clear the bank.

In the interim, the buyer texted multiple times to see if the check had cleared. He then asked us if we could send payment to the freight company — which was suspicious, so we continued to wait until the check cleared. A day later, the bank notified us that his check had bounced.

The scam in this instance was to get us to send money to the “freight company” before the check clears and/or bounces. So keep an eye out for similar scams. Don’t send money until you have confirmed with your bank that a check for payment has fully cleared!

Does anyone know if a Jon Schaefer is registered on Briar Press?

John Flynn
Books and Binding

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I noticed that Briar created a post about this type of Scam. http://www.briarpress.org/spam

Notice that the company’s name on the mailing label is different from the company’s name on the check.

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Adding Image of the check.

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The location is different as well.

This type of scam is common. usually impossible to trace.

Very common scam. I got lots of these every time I sold a press when I lived in the US. To the degree that I think they might specifically target this hobby. Sometimes they send the cheque with the surprise extra $, other times they suggest the additional cost ahead of time. The US really needs to step into the modern world and stop using personal cheques, I can’t imagine how many millions are lost every year to scams.

even with bank checks or money orders, with multiple accounts, these checks can bounce around for a month or 2 before they finally dead end.