Things that make you go "Hmmmm…"

[kriesel]

Power outage affects TSMC automotive chip output
https://www.tomshardware.com/uk/news...on-mature-node

[Xyzzy]

https://www.reddit.com/r/OldSchoolCo...nn_in_the_60s/

[Xyzzy]

https://arstechnica.com/science/2021...s-of-the-deep/

[Uncwilly]

Originally Posted by Xyzzy

https://arstechnica.com/science/2021...s-of-the-deep/

Adaptation of sperm whales to open-boat whalers: rapid social learning on a large scale?

[Xyzzy]

https://www.quantamagazine.org/new-n...ever-20210419/

https://www.quantamagazine.org/how-m...ists-20210422/

[Xyzzy]

https://www.bbc.com/future/article/2...r-of-human-poo

[rogue]

For the second time in a year, someone has tried to scam me on craigslist. It is a well known scam where you are given a cashier's check for something you want to sell. The check turns out to be bogus and you have no means to recoup your loss.

In the first case I smelled a rat immediately when they sent a check via FedEx over the amount I asked for because they wanted me to "hold it for them". The name and address on the check didn't align to what I could find on the internet. I would have been out $500 if I fell for it.

In the second case, even after I explicitly stated no cashier's check, someone wanting to buy from me was going to send me such a check via FedEx for over the amount because they wanted me to "hold it for them". This one could cost me $850 if I blinded trusted the buyer. Of course they disappeared as soon as I requested a more trustworthy method of payment.

I feel sorry for people who are scammed using this method. One search indicated a cost of nearly $68 billion American dollars a year to sellers.

[VBCurtis]

How does it cost you money (above the bounced check fee) if the check bounces but you're just "holding" the product?

[retina]

Originally Posted by VBCurtis

How does it cost you money (above the bounced check fee) if the check bounces but you're just "holding" the product?

The idea is that you "hold" the product until the cheque arrives. Then you are expected to bank it in. The cheque clears (or so you think, actually it doesn't, the bank only pretends to clear it). You send the product. Some time later, the cheque bounces. And you lose.

I think this only works in the US where the banks clear cheques without verification. There might be some law or something that compels them to make funds available within a certain time frame. The details are fuzzy, but the result is that people can get scammed with bogus cheques.

[rogue]

And there are people who will get the check and send the product without verifying that the check is good, in other words before they take it to the bank to deposit/cash it.

I have made it clear that I will only accept a cashier's check if I am at the bank when it is made or if I am at the bank when they pull cash or if they send money via PayPal.

[Xyzzy]

https://natethesnake.com/