Jenny Gonzalez, a cartoonist who sells mini comics at her website, had this to report over on the TCJ board earlier this week:

I have someone who contacted me by email wanting to order a large quantity of comics. Rather than going through the paypal option on my site, he says he wants to send a cashier’s check or money order through the P.O. Box. Ok fine, but instead of having me send the books to an address, he says he has a “shipper” that will arrange to pick up the books from me directly. What really is weirding me out though is this paragraph from an email he sent me today:

>>>I also want to alert you on the fact that you will be recieving an overdraft Cashier Check or Money Order , which will cover the money for the pickup (pickup and shipping to the final destination) as well as the money to be paid to the company that will take care of the pickup and the Items with you. So please, as soon as you receive the Cashier Check or Money Order , go and cash them immediately, deduct the money that accrues to you, and send the balance to the Head Office of the company that handles the shipment via the nearest
Western Union agent in your area. Deduct the Western Union charges from the balance and send the remaining immediately .

While Gonzalez got hep to the scam, there are a few other mentions of approaches like this, and a link to a Snopes page on this kind of scam–you end up being responsible for the overage on the bad check. Cartooners, beware!