Travellers Cheques for payment?

wyrm

wyrm

Gold Member
Joined
Jan 16, 2001
Messages
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I had a guy from Taiwan ask to pay with travellers cheques (AmEx). It sounds fishy to me. I won't accept a credit card thru PayPal from overseas based largely on the number of warnings posted here, in BLADE, and by the CKG.

Can AmEx travellers cheques be as bogus as credit cards from overseas?
Should I accept this form of payment?

Any assistance is appreciated.

Dale.
 
Yes you can get bogus travelers checks. I would be really careful about accepting them as payment.

Not to long ago had a guy try passing a fake one in the store I work in. The check looked real, and even had real serial numbers and everything.

HTH
 
Originally posted by etp777
I would insist on having serial numbers of the cheques before you accept them so you can check with Amex to see if they've been reported stolen.
Click to expand...

Excellent advice.
 
I assume that you'll not send the knife until he sends the payment. So, when you get the Traveler's Checks, take them to your bank and explain that you've received them from Taiwan, that you don't have any reason to suspect any fraud, but that given the situation, you'd appreciate it if they'd give 'em a good inspection. Once they inspect 'em, accept 'em, and give you US cash for 'em, what have you got to worry about?

If, a few weeks later, someone calls and asks, you can say, "I got 'em from this guy in Taiwan. I didn't have any reason to suspect any problem, but I still explained the situation to the bank teller and asked him to be especially careful in checking them. I've been completely open and honest about this."
 
Let me ask a stupid question.
Isn't Paypal resonsible for verifying credit cards for you, thus making you not financially responsible for any fraud?
 
From what I understand, what they're doing is after you ship the knife, they're getting hold of PayPal and reporting that you never sent the knife so PayPal refunds their money.
 
To Protect yourself from the paypal chargeback all you need to do is send the item with tracking, and make sure he has to sign to accept it.

keep all reciepts and make sure the "reciept" for the tracking slip lists his full name and address.

I was wondering what the hell was up with people not accepting credit card funded paypal.... I have had a couple of deals where they wouldn;t take credit card funds, so I sent the money to a buddy and had him accept it then send back what was left after the fee's so then the money is now "paypal funded" for the payment for the knife.

Still you people that don;t accept credit card funded from responsible people are crazy, check thier ebay feedback or ask around the forum..... why deal with anyone your not sure of.
 
If you think it's fishy, insist on a Bank Money Order.
Money Orders are certified, so the money has to be there.
Don't send anything out before you get the payment, and just like others have said, have tracking + signature on it to safeguard from any tricks that a BG could pull.
 
It might seem stupid, but, make sure the checks are in US dollars as well.

Believe it or not, a fairly common form of fraud is to use checks in foreign currencies, especially ones that say "dollar".

Travelers checks are a pretty big risk. They protect the consumer, but don't really protect the merchant. I would probably just ask for another form of payment.

-- Rob
 
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