The premise sounds pretty encouraging. You've listed a horse for sale on the internet and a buyer is interested. Only thing is that the destination for the horse is some great distance away so the buyer wants to send you a cashier's check for an amount way over your asking price, then you are supposed to wire the difference to a shipper who is supposed to pick up the horse.

The only problem is that the cashier's check is a forgery, which you won't discover until after you've wired the funds to Timbuktu and now the bank and Federal agents are going after you to get the money back from the forged check you cashed.

Here's a copy of an actual version of the scam currently going around (with the seller's personal details removed.)

From: ajibola davids
To: (email address of seller)
Sent: Wednesday, April 30, 2003 10:34 AM
Subject: (Listing description of advertised horse)

Am interested in buying your (description of horse) which price is $(listed price),, firstly i will like to know the present condition of it because am a distributor of it in west africa so one of my client is owing me the amount of $6,500 and he is sending you a certified cashier's check of that amount drawn in america bank so dont worry about the shipment ,i have a shipping agent that will come for the pickup.So what you will do is just deduct your fund and send the excess amount through money gramm to my shipping agent that will come for the pickup at your destination.I will want a trust wothy fellow to transact business with me,so if this is acceptable with you i will want you to forward me your FULL NAME,ADDRESS AND PHONE NUMBER that you will use in receiving the check as soon as possible.

EXPECTING YOUR MAIL SOONEST

Ajibola.

There are new versions of this scam constantly evolving. The common denominators are:

1. The "buyer" never haggles about the price.

2. The "buyer" never inspects the horse

3. The "buyer" never reveals details of his identity, location or contact information other than some generic email address.

4. The "buyer" is owed a lot of money or he is an agent for someone who is going to issue a large check.

5. The seller is to cash the check, keep his/her selling price and wire the balance to a shipper or other agent.

If you list a horse for sale on the internet and receive a message similar to the ones described here, print it out and forward it to the fraud unit of your local law enforcement agency or District Attorney. Since most of these people operate out of third world countries it's unlikely they will get caught and prosecuted but it's worth a try.

Here's another one that I thought I'd post. This con artist couldn't remember what name he (or she) was using!

Subject: ENQUIRY......................... Sheep's Head - Heath Creek (OR) Mare $500.00
Date: Mon, 10 Mar 2003 20:23:43 -0800 (PST)
From: jehny joy
To: (email address of seller)

GOOD DAY ,
MY NAME IS JEHNY JOY, I AM INTERESTED IN BUYING YOUR SAID 2 1/2 yr old titled BLM gelding $500.00 AND THE PRICE IS OKAY BY ME I WILL LIKE TO KNOW IF YOU DO COLLECT A CASHIER CHECK IF YOU DO KINDLY GET BACK SO THAT I CAN CONTACT MY CLIENT TO SEND YOU A CASHIER CHECK $4,000 WHILE YOU DEDUCT YOUR $500 AND SEND ME THE BALANCE OF $3,500 SO THAT I CAN INSTRUCT MY AGENT TO FLY THE HORSE TO MY DESTINATION WITH THE MONEY IF THIS SUIT YOU HOPE TO HEAR FROM YOU SOON ,

REGARDS,
MICHEAL SAMSON............

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