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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 />
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