For anyone selling on Kijiji, watch out for this scam.
I listed a welder for $3400.00 and had a guy reach out right away that wanted to buy it. Said he will send me a certified cheque and then have a guy pick it up once the cheque clears. I thought it smelled fishy already as the guy trusted the welder was in working condition without having a look at it.
Anyways, I received the cheque in the mail and noticed there was an extra $2500.00 on what appeared to be a legitimate bank draft. I asked him why the extra funds on the cheque and he apologized saying his secretary was supposed to send me $3400.00 and the shipping company who is picking it up the other $2500.00. I know shipping is expensive but come on. He went on to say the shipper is picking up other machines, which explains the high rate. He kept saying when the cheque is deposited, his shipper will pick up the welder and I need to also pay him the extra $2500.00 that he put on my cheque.
I didn’t even bother depositing the cheque. I understand that when a cheque is deposited, it immediately shows the funds in your account, although it could take a couple business days to actually clear.
They were hoping I would deposit the cheque, and even told me I could do so at an ATM because the banks were closed, then hand over the welder and $2500.00 of my own money and they could ride off knowing full well that cheque won’t clear.
Just wanted to share this story in case it helps out the next person. There’s a lot of weasels out there so trust your gut feelings!