Should you accept a money order as payment for goods sold online? How do you know if it's real? Identifying counterfeit money orders is easy if you know what to look for

Online fraud artists have been using counterfeit and worthless checks for years. Lately there has been a surge in schemes involving sophisticated counterfeiting of a different form of payment: United States postal money orders. The quality of what these con artists are producing is very good and ordinary consumers can easily be fooled. This scam is not only found at the on-line auction sites such as eBay or Craigslist but through email solicitations also.

In the last six months, the F.B.I. and postal inspectors say, international forgers - mostly in Nigeria, but also in Ghana and Eastern Europe - appear to have turned new attention to the United States postal money order. More than 3,700 counterfeit postal money orders were intercepted from October to December, exceeding the total for the previous 12 months.

Counterfeit Money Order Arrests are on the Rise Worldwide

There have been at least 160 arrests made in the United States since October in cases where people have been suspected of knowingly receiving fraudulent postal money orders or trying to cash them. Unfortunately if you have been a victim to any of these individuals your money or you product is long gone.

Despite the arrests, however, the schemes often do not involve attempts by the fraud artists to cash the postal money orders. In many cases, unwitting victims, often contacted by an e-mail message or in an online chat room, are deceived into accepting the bogus money orders as payment for items they are selling, or into cashing the orders in return for a fee. It is the latest twist in a long series of Internet schemes that use bogus financial instruments to bilk unsuspecting victims out of merchandise and cash.

The United States Postal Service can not estimate the dollar value of the counterfeit postal money orders it has intercepted. But other sources estimate that the amount runs into the millions of dollars.

The trend is significant, because unlike private business checks or even other money orders, the postal money order is generally regarded as one of the more difficult financial documents to counterfeit because of its watermarks, security threads and a rainbow of inked patterns and tones.

Small Internet Retailers and the Public are Favorite Targets for Money Order Counterfeiters

The fake money orders have been received by small Internet retailers, classified advertisers or others lured into an Internet con scheme, from sellers of antiques to exotic and classic automobiles. Consumers are simply not using common sense during these transactions.

Postal inspectors had been working with delivery companiesto intercept packages containing bogus money orders as they entered the United States, as well as warning financial institutions to be vigilant. Tips for identifying counterfeit postal money orders are available online, at http://www.usps.com/postalinspectors/.

How to tell the difference between genuine USPS postal money orders and fake ones

U.S. Postal Service Money Orders have security features that distinguish them from other financial instruments. Learning to recognize them will protect you from being victimized by the scheme. Postal Money Orders have special inks, watermarks, and security threads. The two most prominent security features can be viewed by holding the money order in front of a light source. Look for these features:

• A watermark of Benjamin Franklin, the oldest and one of the most famous signers of the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution, is visible on both the front and reverse side of the money order when held to the light.
  
  
• A dark security thread running (top to bottom) to the right of the Franklin watermark, with the tiny letters "USPS" facing backward and forward.

The Postal Service issues domestic and international money orders. Domestic Postal Money Orders cannot exceed a value of $1,000. They are distinguished by their green, yellow, and blue colors. Most counterfeit Postal Money Orders are domestic, with a face value of $750 to $950.

International Postal Money Orders are printed in pink, yellow, and gold and cannot exceed a value of $700. There has been an increase in counterfeit international money orders printed with values of $500 to $700.

How Counterfeit Money Order Scams Work

In a typical swindle, a seller is sent counterfeit postal money orders in excess of the cost of the item being ordered. The seller is then asked to keep the cost of the purchase and ship back the balance in cash, along with the merchandise. This is also known as a Nigerian Scam because many of these types of scams have originated in Nigeria or other African nations. These scams have become very sophisticated recently and there are all kinds of variations. If you want to ensure that you aren't accepting a counterfeit money order never accept one from a stranger unless you have some way of verifying it's authenticity. You can also protect yourself by being smart and watching out for warning signs such as offers to pay more than something is worth. Paying attention to "red flags" instead of ignoring them can save you a lot of grief...and money.

Seller beware!