Selling something online. they want to pay by money order. asked me for my name, address and cell #.. normal?

buyer is "away". won't be back any time soon. said he will pick up at a later date. not sure if I should trust.

Selling something online. they want to pay by money order. asked me for my name, address and cell #.. normal?
Something sounds fishy about this to me. The name and address they would need to fill out the money order and mail it to you. They DO NOT need your cell phone number.





I would also tell them that you will only accept a money order from the United States Postal Service. You can then take the money order to your local post office and have them check to make sure it is legit.





Also, make sure the money order clears your account before shipping the item. It usually only takes 5 days for something to clear your account, but with the holidays and inclement weather upon us, this can take a little longer.
Reply:I have advertised various things on craigslist and get these 'form' email repsonses all the time. Usually they want to over pay and you refund them the difference... Also you will notice that the gramar is not it's best.





Evidently it doesn't sit well with you or you wouldn't be asking here........ Follow yur gut.... Don't do it.... IF you accept the money order, deposit it and send them the difference, guaranteed that money order is going to come bouncing back and YOU are going to be left owing the bank the difference plus any money you spent from your asking price..... BIG TROUBLE. It's what is commonly called a "Nigerian Mail Scam".





If this is a legit process purchase being made through ebay... contact ebay and provide the buyers information and your suspicions... And ask yourself, If I bought something on ebay, would I do it if I knew I was going to be away for a while and pick up later?????


~jennifer
Reply:Your name and address are probably freely available in the public domain anyway so I don't think there is a problem with that and also nobody can use your cell phone number for anything. But why would someone want to buy something when they are away and not planning to come back for a while? It does sound fishy.
Reply:Well, they'd need your name to put on the money order, and your address to send it to you. They'd probably want your cell number so they could get ahold of you to arrange for pickup.





Sounds OK, unless they are saying they'll send a money order for more than the amount due and you should send them back the extra amount - that would almost certainly be a scam.
Reply:And can he trust you, an unknown on the internet? He'd need your name for money order, and address to mail it to.


Now, if out of country, (ie, if he's overseas) I wouldn't trust at all!


If he's in the same country as you, realize the hottest scam now is to make fake money orders, and it takes 3 or 4 weeks for them to work through the system, so tell him that since he is gone, you'll ship him the item 4 weeks after you deposit his order. Alternative, is he can do a Western Union and pay cash upfront.
Reply:NO NO NO.





This is a common scam. They will send you a FAKE money order. They will then say they need you to mail them back some money for some BS reason. The FAKE money order will be for more than you asked for the item you were selling, so it seems like you're just giving them their money back.





But the MONEY ORDER IS COUNTERFEIT.





COMMON SCAM





Google it.
Reply:They would need your name to put on the money order, and your address to send it to. The cell #, I don't think they would need. Even for money orders I always wait 4 to 5 days after depositing the money order before shipping the item. If it is a US Postal Service money order you can cash that right at the post office and they pretty much know if it is good or not.
Reply:Yes, this is perfectly normal. As long as you are ok with accepting a money order as payment. You may want to deposit it first and make sure it's legit before shipping the item though. But yes, to make out a money order you need the recipients name and address... that info is publicly available anyway...


The information you don't want to give to strangers would be credit card numbers, pin numbers, social security numbers, drivers license numbers..


your address and phone number are most likely public record anyway. Hope this helps!
Reply:If it's an ebay auction, etc - I think name and address is ok so they know where to send it, but certainly not cell # unless you are comfortable doing that.

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