I am selling an item and the buyer is in Singapore/UK. He wants to pay for the item with a certified/cashier's check drawn in US dollars. I am in the US. Of course the item won't be sent until I have the check. Is this practice safe?
It can be safe, but take a look through our Scams and Fraud section to see what has happened to others.
A common scam is to over-pay the seller and ask that funds be wired back to the buyer. Your bank will likely give you credit for that check in your account, before a fraudulent check could be returned through the system to your bank. In that case, the seller is out the money they sent back and the property.
The trick is getting a buyer who will wait until your bank verifies with the paying bank that the check was both valid and paid as agreed. This is one reason PayPal and similar intermediary services are doing well. When you get down to the bottom line, there has to be some trust for a transaction to work, and unfortunately, there are always dishonest people.
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It can be safe, but take a look through our 