I got my first fake money order from a scammer today. Usually these are easy to get, but because I use a PO BOX for my scams, it becomes very difficult. Most scammers send things through [probably stolen] UPS accounts. UPS won't send to a PO BOX, so eventually the scammer gives up on me.

But this scammer was resourceful enough to get me my money order! Note the name it was sent to. That's my HILARIOUS alias. If you don't get it, try saying it out loud a few times. You'll get it.

Now this money order was sent by this Nigerian guy's public relations officer. He sent it to me and I'm sending his son my bike. But due to a clerical error, he over paid me, so he wants me to ship him my bike AND about $1500 cash.

The return address on the envelope is some medial office building in Ohio. The name... who knows, could be a real person, could just be a made up name. If it's a real person, it could be someone in on the scam, or it could be someone that thinks they have a work-at-home type internet job and doesn't realize that they are part of a scam.

I like to repeat this part over and over again:
Money Orders are MORE Dangerous Than Personal Checks!
It's true! With a personal check, you deposit it, wait for it to clear, and it either clears or bounces. If it bounces, you don't send goods.

Money orders are sneaky. Because they are a money order, they always clear instantly. If they are fake, like this one, what happens is the money order will bounce weeks from the cashing. The your bank comes after you looking for the money. AND there is no way to verify if a money order is real. I called my bank, they said they have no way I have to call the bank that issued it. So I called the bank that issued it and they said they have no way either, only way to see if it's real is to cash it and see what happens.

So the years-old public knowledge of "don't accept personal checks, only money orders" has now been reversed. A personal check is much safer, you just have to wait for it to clear.