Can I accept money orders as a method of payment?

[Kijiji_Kelly]

You can accept any method of payment that you would like, however I wanted to forward an article from a Canadian newspaper The Star regarding money order scams/frauds:



The money order fraud scam


Frauds involving cheques and money orders are becoming popular, according to banking experts.

"Unfortunately, we have seen many of them over the past year," says Doug Melville, senior deputy ombudsman of banking services at the Ombudsman for Banking Services and Investments (OBSI).

These scams have a common pattern that goes like this:

The fraudster, who's unknown to customer, responds to the customer's ad offering room for rent or item for sale.

A cheque or money order is sent to the customer (it is always fraudulent) and the customer deposits it to a personal account.

The amount sent is sometimes accurate, but sometimes is for more than was supposed to be sent.

The fraudster creates an excuse for overpayment or requests a refund of the amount paid, since the room or goods are no longer needed.

The fraudster asks the customer to send the money back by wire. Most people don't know that money sent by wire is irrevocable.

The customer withdraws the amount from a bank account, thinking the money is good once the bank's hold period expires (usually about five days for Canadian items). The customer is mistaken.

Fraudsters often suggest that the customer uses a non-bank service, such as Western Union. They don't want the bank's branch staff to ask the customer questions that could uncover the fraud before they get their money.

Money is sent by wire (usually out of Canada) and disappears.

The cheque or money order is returned by the other bank on which the item is drawn, because the item is counterfeit.

The bank demands repayment for the fraudulent amount deposited and takes it from the customer's account.

The OBSI investigates complaints from bank customers and asks certain questions.

What were the circumstances of the contact? Did it raise any suspicions?

Did customers discuss the nature of the transaction and underlying arrangement with bank staff when making the deposit? Bank staff may be informed of scams and able to spot them if they are told of the circumstances.

Did the bank send the wire that gave the money to the fraudster? Did a bank staffer or supervisor approve the wire? Did they ask any probing questions of the customer?

Consumers should be very wary of people responding to an ad offering a room for rent or offering to sell something.

Don't accept cheques or money orders (even certified cheques) and then send back a cheque of your own or wire cash to anyone in the form of a "refund."

Don't assume that it's safe to use the funds after the hold period has expired. Fraudulent cheques and money orders can come back a long time afterward and be charged back to you.

International cheques and money orders take even longer to process than Canadian items.

Understand that banks hold you responsible for what you deposit into your account. Fraudulent cheques, money orders and even counterfeit cash can be charged back to you.

"Ask your banker for advice on how to protect yourself when depositing cheques from people you don't know," Melville advises.

"The more information you share, the more your banker can help protect you."



Kijiji Kelly

[HamiltonCyclist]

Postal money orders are secure, the post offices of Canada and the USA will sell and cash each others money orders without any hassles. forget about banks and check cashing service outlets. I have been accepting and sending them for decades and have never had an issue with any of them.

[Knightfox]

[sanabs]

I keep wondering why Kijiji does not provide us with paypal. I think it will make it a lot easier for people to purchase stuff they see on here instead of having to meet up all the time or using other forms of payment. I think buyers are mostly turned of just for the fact that they will have to contact sellers and the whole nine yards. It does not make it businesslike lol! I hope kijiji consider this.

Anyways sorry about been scummed on other sites hopefully it does not happen to you or any of us here.

[sanabs]

No response?

[ValueForYou]

I have to agree about the money orders. When I was new at this stuff, I was partially caught up in the scam, thankfully the bank educated me on this topic before it went any further. I have never used the postal money thing before, does that really have a good rep and is hard to do fakes of it? I guess I'm asking if it is very reliable.

All in all, I agree with the thought of putting Paypal on here. So far I haven't run into any problems with fradulant Paypal payments... With everyone's experience with Paypal, has anyone run into frauds using it?

~~ Kristen ~~

[Knightfox]

You've been lucky.

I used to rely on PP for payments on Ebay. No longer. And they offer NO PROTECTION whatsoever for transactions outside of Ebay. Only use Paypal on EBAY transactions.

I got scammed out of a $2000 item AND the money after the buyer fraudulently disputed the payment with Paypal.

Paypal is for the buyer/payer...never for the seller.

Even more so when the buyer/payer uses a cREdit CArd

[TheTreasureChst3]

hello everyone,

i was looking for an alternative way to sell items and that is how i ended here.
i guess i could use some advise though.
i am leary about giving a total stranger my address to make a transaction and i really am not going to meet anyone in their home either.

what other options are out there if any to sell one's items ?

i work in law enforcement and am therefore pretty sceptical of everyone and take extra precautions to assure mine and my child's safety.

any advise would be so much appreciated

thank you kindly

[Kijiji_Kelly]

[Anfelface]

Kijiji is owned by eBay!!!!!!!!!!!!So, Kijiji, why can't they use Paypal? Just asking, as most don't know this, it is in the little tiny info subjects at the very bottom of most, if not every page on Kijiji!

Angel!

[alex_us01]

[whitedixie2003]

THIS HAS JUST HAPPENED TO ME. HOW DO YOU GET THIS GUY.
HE WONT STOP CALLING MY HOUSE. HE CALLS ALL HOURS EVEN IN THE MIDDLE OF NIGHT. BY BANK HSBC HAS CLOSED MY ACCOUNT AND THEY TURNED THERE BACK ON ME!!!!!

[puppyluv8805]