419 scam vs Counterfeit Check Scam

Over the years I have had many people ask me what is the difference between a 419/Advance Fee Scam and a Counterfeit Cashier’s Check Scam, so I listed out some of the differenecs here.

Initial Contact -
419 Scam
People are contacted out of the blue by the scammers.

Counterfeit Cashier’s Check Scam
People have placed an ad somewhere on the internet to sell an item, so they are expecting to receive emails from people they do not know in response to this ad.

Personal Information -
419 Scam
The scammer asks for your bank account information in order to transfer a large amount of money out of the country and into your account.

Counterfeit Cashier’s Check Scam
The scammer asks for your name and mailing address so that they can send you a cashier’s check for payment and transportation of the item you are selling.

How you loose money -
419 Scam
Scammer tells you that there are fees that have to be paid before the money can be transferred and you are to pay them.

Counterfeit Cashier’s Check Scam
When you get the check from the scammer and bring it to the bank they tell you that the check is good, or that it has cleared. Feeling assured by this information, you take the portion of the check that was supposed to be for transportation and wire it to the appropriate people. Then, days later the bank notifies you that the check was counterfeit and that you are liable for the money that you took out, even though the only reason you took it out was because they had assured you that the check was good.

Victims -
419 Scam
While they may not know that it is illegal, they do know that the situation that they are entering into is one is which they will receive a large amount of money for assisting someone else, and that it will not be a lot of work on their part.

Counterfeit Cashier’s Check Scam
Innocent people who were just trying to sell items that they no longer want or need on the internet, and who trusted the word of their banks when they told them that the check was good, some of which are now facing criminal charges because not enough banks and law enforcement agencies are educated on this scam.

For more information on these scams you can go to http://www.state.ia.us/government/ag/consumer/advisories/Nigeria_Mar_2003.html or our website http://www.scamvictimsunited.com/

Shawn Mosch
Co-Founder of ScamVictimsUnited.com
There is strength in numbers!

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