My recent car scam

[Aiken Drum]

I never understand this scam. Why would anyone give a stranger something in return before the stranger's check clears?

You send me a check for too much money, I wait until your actual money is in my hands, then I send back the excess with the item purchased. What is hard to understand?

 

[ChopsJazz]

I never understand this scam. Why would anyone give a stranger something in return before the stranger's check clears?

From the Snopes site: "The scam works because the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC) requires banks to make money from cashier's, certified, or teller's checks available in one to five days. Consequently, funds from checks that might not be good are often released into payees' accounts long before the checks have been honored by their issuing banks. High quality forgeries can be bounced back and forth between banks for weeks before anyone catches on to their being worthless, by which time victims have long since wired the "overpayments" to the con artists who have just taken them for a ride. "

 

[Aiken Drum]

Hm, then I'd say it ought to be the bank who is out the money. If they cash a check and give me money when they haven't fully cleared it, that's their problem, not mine.

 

[matteni]

From the Snopes site: "The scam works because the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC) requires banks to make money from cashier's, certified, or teller's checks available in one to five days. Consequently, funds from checks that might not be good are often released into payees' accounts long before the checks have been honored by their issuing banks. High quality forgeries can be bounced back and forth between banks for weeks before anyone catches on to their being worthless, by which time victims have long since wired the "overpayments" to the con artists who have just taken them for a ride. "

What I don't understand is that if you have the motive to steal lots of money and the sophistication to produce a passable bank check then why involve a 3rd party with a car / etc?

Why not just setup an account (which they have to do), deposit the fake check, transfer the money around so it can't be found and run?

Why involve some hapless trusting person in the middle?

I guess I don't understand the criminal mind well enough or I am missing something...