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Texas LAND Summer 2017

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SPORTING ISSUE<br />

<strong>Summer</strong> brings tourists and visitors out to the<br />

scenic areas of <strong>Texas</strong>, and sometimes the guests<br />

take artwork, handcrafted goods and collectibles<br />

home with them from their trips. You may not find<br />

many buyers presenting you with a cashier’s check for a<br />

small-ticket item, but this method of payment has been<br />

considered solid and trustworthy for large-ticket items or<br />

from buyers who contact sellers online—until recently.<br />

<strong>Texas</strong> and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association (TSCRA)<br />

Law Enforcement was recently notified of a case involving a<br />

forged cashier's check offered for payment in a cattle sale made<br />

over the internet and by phone. The buyer sent a contract hauler<br />

to pick up the cattle, but the seller made sure to check with<br />

their bank to make sure the cashier's check was legitimate. As it<br />

turned out, the check was a fake. But because the seller took the<br />

extra step of verifying this with his bank, he did not lose his cattle.<br />

While this case deals with livestock, the same<br />

principles of caution apply to any transaction.<br />

Many people assume a cashier's check, which is a<br />

check issued by a bank and payable to a specific person,<br />

is as good as cash. By using a cashier's check, a buyer<br />

is guaranteed those funds by the issuing bank instead<br />

of gambling on the legitimacy of a personal check.<br />

However, cashier's checks don't have the guaranteed<br />

safety they once had. Scammers have found ways to<br />

take advantage of honest sellers, and as technology<br />

advances, thieves can create fake checks with a home<br />

computer and printer that would fool most people.<br />

So how do you make sure you’re not<br />

risking becoming a victim?<br />

Tips to avoid cashier’s check fraud:<br />

• Know your buyer. The best way to avoid a scam is<br />

to refuse to accept cashier’s checks from strangers.<br />

However, as online transactions have become more<br />

commonplace, it may not be possible to know your buyer.<br />

• Trust your gut. Does something feel a bit off about the<br />

transaction? Have they insisted on making<br />

changes to the agreement or have a<br />

litany of excuses or extenuating<br />

circumstances? It may be better<br />

to rely on a more dependable<br />

method of payment or<br />

arrange with the buyer to<br />

hold the cattle or product<br />

until the paying bank has<br />

cleared the funds. If the<br />

buyer can’t or won’t do this, it<br />

could be because it’s a scam.<br />

• Use common sense. Is the buyer in a rush? Are they<br />

knowledgeable about what they’re buying? Do they<br />

want to forego other methods of secure payment?<br />

• Give the check a critical eye. Does it look fake?<br />

Are there misspellings? Is the paper poor quality<br />

or missing security features like watermarks?<br />

• Don’t accept a check written for an amount over the<br />

purchase price. Scammers will sometimes offer a<br />

check over the purchase price and then request the<br />

seller to send them the overage via wire transfer or<br />

Western Union after the check has been deposited.<br />

• If possible, ask for a cashier’s check written by a bank<br />

that has a local branch so you can verify that it is real,<br />

once it arrives. They might be in a better position to see<br />

if a check is genuine versus asking an unrelated bank.<br />

• Know the difference between funds being available<br />

for withdrawal from your account (usually this can<br />

happen quickly, within a business day or so) and the<br />

paying bank clearing the funds. It could take a cashier’s<br />

check days or weeks to clear the paying bank.<br />

Anytime a scam involves a cashier’s check, official<br />

check, or money order from a bank, and you believe that it<br />

could be counterfeit, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s<br />

Office of the Comptroller of the Currency recommends<br />

that you should contact the issuing bank directly to report<br />

receipt of the check and to verify authenticity. When<br />

contacting the bank, do not use the telephone number<br />

provided on the check, because this number is probably not<br />

associated with a bank, but rather with the scam artist.<br />

If you have been victimized by a fraudulent check<br />

scam, call your police department and your TSCRA special<br />

ranger. To find your local special ranger, visit TSCRA.org.<br />

TSCRA has 30 special rangers stationed strategically<br />

throughout <strong>Texas</strong> and Oklahoma who have in-depth<br />

knowledge of the cattle industry and are trained in all<br />

facets of law enforcement. All are commissioned as<br />

Special Rangers by the <strong>Texas</strong> Department of Public Safety<br />

and/or the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation.<br />

TSCRA is a 140-year-old trade association and is the<br />

largest and oldest livestock organization based in <strong>Texas</strong>.<br />

TSCRA has more than 17,500 beef cattle operations, ranching<br />

families and businesses as members. These members<br />

represent approximately 55,000 individuals directly involved in<br />

ranching and beef production who manage 4 million head of<br />

cattle on 76 million acres of range and pasture land primarily<br />

in <strong>Texas</strong> and Oklahoma, but throughout the Southwest. °<br />

42

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