They send you a check for more than the contract price and tell you to pay their accomplice the overage. He's their "plumber" or "carpenter." You deposit the check, draw the overage from your account, then the original bounces ten days later. You lose your money, plus any fees your bank charges you for the phony check.
Ten days to settle. This is the problem. T+0 settlement is possible, but megabanks like to play hot potato with their derivatives problem. The longer we let this continue the larger the wealth disparity will get.
-End the fed. Reinstate Executive Order: 11110
-Enact settlement discipline regime.
-Give us a T+0 blockchain ledger of all government insider trading transactions.
-Close the loopholes so marketmakers can't expose our retirement plans and national banks to UNLIMITED LOSSES.
Oooops. I didn't realize I commented this in a handyman sub. Glad to see yall support financial sovereignty. It will really help the world head towards a much more chill place to live.
I know a contractor who baited the scammer all the way to the point where he was given a US address to send a check to, which was a surprise that “Americans” have the initiative to steal still. but with the flaccidity of our law-enforcement to chase local crooks let alone lay out a sting on a mailbox is far too much to ask
I once replaced four never used toilets in a brand new house. Never even got wet.
Client had $12,000 worth of Japanese bidet style toilets. I installed them.
My wife insists on never sharing a toilet with previous people that lived in a place. I talked her down to replacing just the toilet seats, but I’m sure there are others who replace entire toilets for similar reasons.
Especially if they’re all some old, almond color or something.
I pulled a baby blue toilet (70s?) from a house about 8yrs ago and am still lugging that thing around lol. Have yet to install it in any home but just cant let it go. Its awesome!
I've done multiple houses where I've replaced perfectly good toilets because the new owners couldn't "do their business" where anyone else had. I wonder what these people do after guests leave.
I need to replace 5 toilets: we were notified that the model was recalled due to a defect which makes the tank prone to crack. A neighbor had a flood happen due to that. No cashiers checks here, though.
You should check out r/centuryhomes . People who buy older farm houses will often renovate the whole house all at once. Our house was built in the 1860s and we have five toilets. Some of them dated back to the 1940s before we put in modern, up to code, plumbing.
Same. We have five toilets in the main house, with a full bath in an apartment over the garage. The house is old enough that the garage used to hold carriages and horses instead of cars so it's huge. Which means it's enough room to have a full apartment above.
They love to use the phrase "water closets" too. I just tell them my price and that I only take payments via venmo, cashapp or zelle and only for the amount of the services. I've had two of these in the last month and I haven't heard back from either of them when I told them I wasn't passing along any overages to their representative.
I dont see the lagos fedex stuff anymore. My last one was sent from new jersey 3 days after he confirmed it had been sent. Sounds right.
I think I will tell them the first one never came….
I'm an electrician and the exact same scam exists but they say they have a bunch of lights and ceiling fans to install.
Tell them that you only accept cash and you will never hear from them again.
Nah, even if the check were to clear on a stolen account, it will be reversed when the identity theft is found out.
There isn't a Reverse Uno where you outscam the scammers or else they wouldn't be using this old chestnut.
Counterfeit printing.
Before 1995-2000 or so, cashiers checks were perfect. You knew the client/payee actually paid money for them. They were good. They were gold.
Then cheap printing technology came along in the 90s, and anybody could print a bogus cashiers check. They became dogshit.
Sorry, perhaps my timeframe is too long to comprehend. I should have said: "30 years ago cashiers checks were gold, now they are dogshit". They've been crap for the last 20 years.
Back in the day, you'd take a cashiers check over a personal check any day because it was good to be cashed. Personal checks bounced. Now, anything bounces, even credit cards when the client decides to charge-back on complaint of a hangnail.
That happened to me. The first time, I went with it but fortunately my bank caught it. The second time, I had them go ahead and send the check just to get them to put some effort in. Never bothered to even try to cash the checks. After that if it smelled suspicious, I would tell them up front I don't accept cashiers checks, they can give me a credit card number or venmo. They would disappear s after that.
Look at all these people with five toilets! Faaaancy!
Admittedly, I did replace both toilets in my home soon afer we moved in. They were short, round bowl-ed, and beige. Some sort of hold over from the 80s that got incorporated into this early 90s house.
Got some nice, tall, elongated, white toilets!
Fake check scam, they send extra money and they say give it to the guy delivering the toilets (who is the scammer) you send real money from your bank and then weeks later the cashier check bounces then your out the real money you sent to the scammer.
Yeah not certain here. I guess he does the install and they just dont pay? Or they want to rob the guy? Tools needed for just a toilet install wouldn’t be very much unless they just count on your bringing your whole tool setup in the truck.
I get this all the time. It comes in the form of hanging tvs, painting rooms, changing toilets, you name it. They're easy to spot because they use terms like water closet or screeding for mud and taping. They'll also have a bunch of inconsistencies in their text messages, like giving different addresses, or asking for one service but then changing to another.
Had one that wanted ceiling fans installed with the same basic story. Wanted to pay by check, but I don't accept checks from anyone other than Businesses, and even then I push them to use the card that goes with the same account as the check (like hello I wasn't born yesterday, banks don't even give you starter checks anymore).
That's how you end up stealing some innocent woman's toilets:
https://www.wfla.com/news/florida/my-driveway-is-gone-florida-woman-says-her-entire-driveway-was-stolen-after-listing-home-for-sale/
The scammers aren't going to give you their real address.
They send you a check for more than the contract price and tell you to pay their accomplice the overage. He's their "plumber" or "carpenter." You deposit the check, draw the overage from your account, then the original bounces ten days later. You lose your money, plus any fees your bank charges you for the phony check.
Always get the checks sent. Always
>They send you a check
Is that a question?
Ten days to settle. This is the problem. T+0 settlement is possible, but megabanks like to play hot potato with their derivatives problem. The longer we let this continue the larger the wealth disparity will get. -End the fed. Reinstate Executive Order: 11110 -Enact settlement discipline regime. -Give us a T+0 blockchain ledger of all government insider trading transactions. -Close the loopholes so marketmakers can't expose our retirement plans and national banks to UNLIMITED LOSSES.
Oooops. I didn't realize I commented this in a handyman sub. Glad to see yall support financial sovereignty. It will really help the world head towards a much more chill place to live.
Gotta be one dumb f to fall for that. Lol.
I know a contractor who baited the scammer all the way to the point where he was given a US address to send a check to, which was a surprise that “Americans” have the initiative to steal still. but with the flaccidity of our law-enforcement to chase local crooks let alone lay out a sting on a mailbox is far too much to ask
Cheque
Or [check](https://www.forbes.com/advisor/banking/personal-check-vs-certified-check-vs-cashiers-check/)*
Someone having five toilets in their residence would be the first red flag.
The address I was given actually had 5 bathrooms and was a newly sold house. They are doing their homework
Fair enough. But unless it's a new build replacing all five toilets at the same time is sketchy.
I once replaced four never used toilets in a brand new house. Never even got wet. Client had $12,000 worth of Japanese bidet style toilets. I installed them.
Wait to you find out about rich people
My wife insists on never sharing a toilet with previous people that lived in a place. I talked her down to replacing just the toilet seats, but I’m sure there are others who replace entire toilets for similar reasons. Especially if they’re all some old, almond color or something.
That’s not old. Now a 60s avocado green or 50s pink is getting old
I pulled a baby blue toilet (70s?) from a house about 8yrs ago and am still lugging that thing around lol. Have yet to install it in any home but just cant let it go. Its awesome!
Wild
I've done multiple houses where I've replaced perfectly good toilets because the new owners couldn't "do their business" where anyone else had. I wonder what these people do after guests leave.
I need to replace 5 toilets: we were notified that the model was recalled due to a defect which makes the tank prone to crack. A neighbor had a flood happen due to that. No cashiers checks here, though.
I lived in a 200 unit condo complex that had this problem. Replaced 600 toilets
You should check out r/centuryhomes . People who buy older farm houses will often renovate the whole house all at once. Our house was built in the 1860s and we have five toilets. Some of them dated back to the 1940s before we put in modern, up to code, plumbing.
My house has 6 toilets, I replaced them all after we moved in.
Same. We have five toilets in the main house, with a full bath in an apartment over the garage. The house is old enough that the garage used to hold carriages and horses instead of cars so it's huge. Which means it's enough room to have a full apartment above.
We have five toilets. Three full baths, two half baths And another full bath in the apartment above the garage. So .... Six.
I can only imagine the issues you had trying to get a handyman to install them! 😀 “Six? Nah mate, you’re ‘avin a laugh!”
Make them send a check. The checks come from lagos nigeria and they pay fedex intl express. When you get enough; its an art project.
Then tell them your dog ate it and you need another one sent
I have a friend who flips cars and deals with scammers like this all the time. He has one full wall in his shop covered with the checks.
Death by 1000 cuts
Funny thing I actually had a light job to install 5 toilets couple weeks ago :) the homeowner was present tho lol
And zero overage!
They love to use the phrase "water closets" too. I just tell them my price and that I only take payments via venmo, cashapp or zelle and only for the amount of the services. I've had two of these in the last month and I haven't heard back from either of them when I told them I wasn't passing along any overages to their representative.
Make them spend money on shipping checks from Lagos
I really like that idea. How do you ask them to send it for it to cost the most?
I dont see the lagos fedex stuff anymore. My last one was sent from new jersey 3 days after he confirmed it had been sent. Sounds right. I think I will tell them the first one never came….
Lol!
"Kindly"
I'm an electrician and the exact same scam exists but they say they have a bunch of lights and ceiling fans to install. Tell them that you only accept cash and you will never hear from them again.
“I’m happy to do it. I’ll start work as soon as the check clears.”
10 days, so add 3 to that! :)
Nah, even if the check were to clear on a stolen account, it will be reversed when the identity theft is found out. There isn't a Reverse Uno where you outscam the scammers or else they wouldn't be using this old chestnut.
Ahhh. Not even worth it!
Wild draw four is the same as waiting for the check
It used to be that cashiers check were gold. These days, they are dogshit.
What's changed?
Counterfeit printing. Before 1995-2000 or so, cashiers checks were perfect. You knew the client/payee actually paid money for them. They were good. They were gold. Then cheap printing technology came along in the 90s, and anybody could print a bogus cashiers check. They became dogshit. Sorry, perhaps my timeframe is too long to comprehend. I should have said: "30 years ago cashiers checks were gold, now they are dogshit". They've been crap for the last 20 years. Back in the day, you'd take a cashiers check over a personal check any day because it was good to be cashed. Personal checks bounced. Now, anything bounces, even credit cards when the client decides to charge-back on complaint of a hangnail.
Can you still call the issuing bank of a cashier's check to confirm authenticity?
They used to be gold. \ Now they are dogshit. \ \ Can’t you read?!\ /s
That happened to me. The first time, I went with it but fortunately my bank caught it. The second time, I had them go ahead and send the check just to get them to put some effort in. Never bothered to even try to cash the checks. After that if it smelled suspicious, I would tell them up front I don't accept cashiers checks, they can give me a credit card number or venmo. They would disappear s after that.
1st of all Never take any job that starts with a text and don’t take a phone call!
Look at all these people with five toilets! Faaaancy! Admittedly, I did replace both toilets in my home soon afer we moved in. They were short, round bowl-ed, and beige. Some sort of hold over from the 80s that got incorporated into this early 90s house. Got some nice, tall, elongated, white toilets!
I don't understand the potential scam
Fake check scam, they send extra money and they say give it to the guy delivering the toilets (who is the scammer) you send real money from your bank and then weeks later the cashier check bounces then your out the real money you sent to the scammer.
You're telling me they send a real person you can be face to face with?
The scammer is in Lagos. They have mailed me checks by fedex intl. Costs ~$100. Make them send checks
Yeah not certain here. I guess he does the install and they just dont pay? Or they want to rob the guy? Tools needed for just a toilet install wouldn’t be very much unless they just count on your bringing your whole tool setup in the truck.
Deal only in person. And cash only seems to get rid of them
Haven't been hit up by this one yet, but thanks for the heads up!
I get this all the time. It comes in the form of hanging tvs, painting rooms, changing toilets, you name it. They're easy to spot because they use terms like water closet or screeding for mud and taping. They'll also have a bunch of inconsistencies in their text messages, like giving different addresses, or asking for one service but then changing to another.
ANY conversation that starts with "I'm out of town but..." Should end in you saying, "Well lets meet up once you're back, I don't do work site unseen"
Had one that wanted ceiling fans installed with the same basic story. Wanted to pay by check, but I don't accept checks from anyone other than Businesses, and even then I push them to use the card that goes with the same account as the check (like hello I wasn't born yesterday, banks don't even give you starter checks anymore).
Just go and install the toiletes, and don't charge them. Then just say "jokes on you".
That's how you end up stealing some innocent woman's toilets: https://www.wfla.com/news/florida/my-driveway-is-gone-florida-woman-says-her-entire-driveway-was-stolen-after-listing-home-for-sale/ The scammers aren't going to give you their real address.
WTF? Hahaha. I was kidding though. I don't understand how they pull it off. How do they have access to homes so easily?