“Hay” Scam Is Too Good to Be True – Police Say Beware!

Benton County Sheriff's Department is reminding folks that if it's too good to be true, it still usually is. A new scam is circulating through the Tri-Cities so beware before you are taken advantage of.

Here is how the scam works according to the Sheriff's Department:

Today we responded to yet another scam report. I am happy to report the people of Benton County are getting good at picking up on these scams and not getting fooled. Today the scam was a variation of a scam that We have seen before.
The reporting party was selling some hay on Craigslist. A buyer from Texas wanted to buy the hay, which only cost $260 dollars. When our reporting party received the cashiers check it was made out for $1460.00. The scammers told the reporting party to cash the check and the scammer would have his movers come and pick up the hay. He would most likely say something about his movers were delayed and for our suspected victim to kept some but return most of the money. Our reporting party was correct in thinking something was up. He took a closer look at the postage and realized it had a postage of Florida and a cashiers check from Texas. All these caused alarm. Our reporting party was correct in not cashing the check.
If anyone is paying more than you are asking, that should be a big clue. Don’t cash the check and don’t return any money. Keep up the good work of noticing these scams and not falling for them.

A red flag is anyone asking you to cash a check for more than the money asked and as the old adage says, if it's too good to be true, it probably is. You can check out more details on the scam here