SunTrust money order legit?

Knuckles

I received a personal money order today issued through a 'SunTrust' bank. I've never heard of this bank before and am worried about the money order not going through for some reason as it looked pretty cheap.. amaturish.. but don't want to hold the persons item for 15 days if I don't have too because it's a Christmas gift. Is anyone familiar with this bank and what their money orders look like so I can confirm that this one is legit.. I deposited but it won't clear for 15 days.. should have scanned it but didn't..


edit to add.. sorry for the major off topic post. Don't want to take a 1k hit.

lawnmowerman

I have many accounts at Suntrust Bank and they hold the mortgage for my house. It should be fine

matt

tennesseebanker

Yes, Suntrust is one of the larger regional US BAnks
It should be fine if it's not counterfiet.

stevek

<<< should have scanned it but didn't.. >>>


I always keep copies of customer's money orders and checks. You could also have called the bank with the money order number to verify that it was legit.

NewJerseyMeatHook

SunTrust is a-ok.

metalmike

Not to be a scrooge here but if it was a Christmas gift why didn't the lazy buyer go to his or her bank and get a bank draft which is easily confirmed? Just my opinion but for 1k I'd cma Knuckles... Mike

storm888

The bank is just fine.

The MO could be fake.

Calling the bank with the numbers is not fool-proof.

This is a pretty common scam, so I am not revealing
any anti-consumer secrets:

Crook buys a good $1K MO from the bank. Crook makes
a nice duplicate of the MO. Crook does an EBAY transaction
and mails the duplicate to the seller. The seller receives the
MO, calls the bank with the numbers. The bank says the MO
is "good as gold," and the seller deposits it. The crook emails the
seller, "When are you going to ship my merch?" Seller replies,
"I will mail it today." The crook says, "That's great because I
really need it fast for a Christmas present." Two days later,
the crook negotiates the real MO at the maker-bank. The crook
collects his mail from the disposable addy. A week later, the
seller gets the bad news from his depository bank.

I would not ship until the thing cleared.

But, the MO is probably good as gold.

Knuckles

Alrighty, thanks guys..

anyone recall what their money orders look like? The one I got was blue.. nothing fancy, looked the same as a check but a little bigger. It didn't have any watermarks, where you hold it up to the light and see something through it.. Along the top it mentions something along the lines of the darker shade of blue fadeing out lighter down the check as the security feature.. pretty lame imo but maybe that's really all they do and it's good.. bleh whatever I'll ship the item and have faith in my good karma

stevek

<< <i>The bank is just fine.

The MO could be fake.

Calling the bank with the numbers is not fool-proof.

This is a pretty common scam, so I am not revealing
any anti-consumer secrets:

Crook buys a good $1K MO from the bank. Crook makes
a nice duplicate of the MO. Crook does an EBAY transaction
and mails the duplicate to the seller. The seller receives the
MO, calls the bank with the numbers. The bank says the MO
is "good as gold," and the seller deposits it. The crook emails the
seller, "When are you going to ship my merch?" Seller replies,
"I will mail it today." The crook says, "That's great because I
really need it fast for a Christmas present." Two days later,
the crook negotiates the real MO at the maker-bank. The crook
collects his mail from the disposable addy. A week later, the
seller gets the bad news from his depository bank.

I would not ship until the thing cleared.

But, the MO is probably good as gold.


>>



I guess anything is possible and certainly that scenario is possible. I'm not sure what the laws are regarding this, but I would have to believe the laws are quite severe regarding counterfeit money orders. If I was a store owner selling something and some stranger came in with a "cheap looking" money order, I would have to be extremely cautious because that person could be from anywhere...but we are talking here a person with a home address...shipping to that address - a counterfeit money order would lead to quick criminal prosecution of that person at the address. I can't see it happening. But of course if wanting to make sure the money order clears before shipping, that's certainly not a bad suggestion especially for 1K.

orutulsa

I've sent two SunTrust money orders in the past week. Wish I would have scanned an original before I sent them. I do know they are on very light blue paper with a machine stamped dollar amount kind of in the left center. It's usually hard to read and I think it's right below the line where you write who the money order is payable to. The sender has to sign the lower right and there is a line below the sig line where the sender has to fill out his/her address.

gameusedhoop

One other thing to look for is at least one serrated edge one the money order. It may be a pretty fine serration, or a little more aggressive. Most MOs either come in books and must be pulled out individually, others still use carbons, like my bank. The bank gets one, the buyer has one, and the original gets sent. Most fakes wouldn't have the serrated edge.

onlyanumber

1-800-Suntrust

They should be able to help you even if you don't have an account. Your description of the money order sounds like what the legit ones look like.