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How to send a large amount of money through mail safely

TaphouseTaphouse Registered User regular
edited September 2012 in Help / Advice Forum
I'm wondering if there's a way to ensure that my money goes to where it's supposed to, and if it's misdirected or intercepted then there's no way for the check to be used improperly.
Basically I'm just planning on sending a cashier's check through certified mail, but if there're any other precautions I could take then I'd take them. It's many thousands of dollars.

Thanks for any feedback.

Taphouse on

Posts

  • EshEsh Tending bar. FFXIV. Motorcycles. Portland, ORRegistered User regular
    edited September 2012
    Why not use Western Union to wire the money? Also, if it's a cashier's check and it goes missing, they can cancel that for you.

    Esh on
  • kaliyamakaliyama Left to find less-moderated fora Registered User regular
    edited September 2012
    Wiring it is best. Fedexing it would be better than certified mail.

    kaliyama on
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  • TaphouseTaphouse Registered User regular
    So it's gotta be through the mail is the point.

  • EshEsh Tending bar. FFXIV. Motorcycles. Portland, ORRegistered User regular
    edited September 2012
    Taphouse wrote: »
    So it's gotta be through the mail is the point.

    You didn't make that point. FedEx it overnight with confirmation and signature needed. Keep the other half of the check in case it disappears so you can cancel it. Your problem is solved.

    EDIT: What is it that you have to send it through the mail and certified check? You're not getting scammed are you?

    Esh on
  • DarkPrimusDarkPrimus Registered User regular
    Esh wrote: »
    What is it that you have to send it through the mail and certified check? You're not getting scammed are you?

    Yes, this is a question that should be addressed. To whom, and why, are you sending so much money?

  • FantasmaFantasma Registered User regular
    edited September 2012
    You are not supposed to send money through Fedex or DHL. You may, however, at your own risk, send a check in the name of the individual.

    Fantasma on
    Hear my warnings, unbelievers. We have raised altars in this land so that we may sacrifice you to our gods. There is no hope in opposing the inevitable. Put down your arms, unbelievers, and bow before the forces of Chaos!
  • supabeastsupabeast Registered User regular
    DarkPrimus wrote: »
    Esh wrote: »
    What is it that you have to send it through the mail and certified check? You're not getting scammed are you?

    Yes, this is a question that should be addressed. To whom, and why, are you sending so much money?

    +2. Anyone who needs you to send thousands of dollars can accept a wire transfer directly to a bank account. If they don’t want it going to a bank account, something illegal is going on.

  • ThanatosThanatos Registered User regular
    Wire transfers are generally fucking expensive. You can send it registered mail with a return receipt if it must be USPS.

    But like everyone else says, what, exactly, do you need to send through the mail like this?

  • Inquisitor77Inquisitor77 2 x Penny Arcade Fight Club Champion A fixed point in space and timeRegistered User regular
    There is a reason that wire transfers and money orders exist. Sending those types of sums via any mail service is extremely risky, if it's even possible. There are several alternatives that are much safer and guarantee delivery of the amount of money you're looking to transfer.

    The easiest way would be to do a simple bank transfer, which can be done physically (walk into your bank and provide the bank account number of the person to whom you want to send the money) or online. If you or the recipient do not have valid bank accounts (although how you don't have a bank account when you have thousands of dollars available would be my first question), then there are other methods. Or you can, you know, write a check and mail that.

    The USPS, for example, provides a money order service. Banks also allow you to create money orders as well. There are other alternatives such as Western Union and American Express which essentially allow you to wire money for a set fee. In both cases, you must walk into a building with the cash, provide valid ID, and pay a fee for the service. In addition, you need to provide the information of the person to whom you want to send the money so that they can pick it up.

    If you absolutely need to send cash, then I honestly have no idea how one would go about doing it. My first inclination would be to call the USPS or a carrier service (FedEx, UPS, etc.) and ask them directly what you need to do. At the very least, you will want to get some sort of insurance on the package, as there's probably a much higher likelihood that it won't get there. You may also be running afoul of some sort of interstate commerce/trafficking laws, so I'm guessing the authorities will also be interested in why a package full of thousands of dollars is being physically transferred from one location to another.

    But to echo everyone else in this thread - your question begs an inquiry into why someone would need to do something like this, if only so that we can provide you with a proper solution. No one here is going to tell you to put it in a box and ship it out. That'd be horrible, horrible advice.

  • TaphouseTaphouse Registered User regular
    edited September 2012
    Court fees. The way they're structured it is that if you pay with money-orders, or with a card or cash, you can only make deposits of 300 bucks at a time and you're charged like $6 for each transaction. So that adds up to a significant amount of money, and it would take forever to deposit as much money as I need to. The court gave me the address where it needs to go, all I need to do is send it.

    I'm paranoid as hell about it. It's the right address but I imagine some employee making off with the check, or the mail getting intercepted. Guessing that's totally irrational if it's a cashiers check and registered/certified/fedex'd. The question is whether it's so irrational as to offset the cost off making a bunch of small payments and racking up additional fees.

    Taphouse on
  • DhalphirDhalphir don't you open that trapdoor you're a fool if you dareRegistered User regular
    Taphouse wrote: »
    Court fees. The way they're structured it is that if you pay with money-orders, or with a card or cash, you can only make deposits of 300 bucks at a time and you're charged like $6 for each transaction. So that adds up to a significant amount of money, and it would take forever to deposit as much money as I need to. The court gave me the address where it needs to go, all I need to do is send it.

    I'm paranoid as hell about it. It's the right address but I imagine some employee making off with the check, or the mail getting intercepted. Guessing that's totally irrational if it's a cashiers check and registered/certified/fedex'd. The question is whether it's so irrational as to offset the cost off making a bunch of small payments and racking up additional fees.

    So send a normal cheque instead of a cashier's cheque (I assume a cashier's cheque is the same as a bank cheque in Australia, in other words, basically as good as cash).

    OR

    contact the court and say "hey, I'm (understandably) not bloody well comfortable mailing this money, I have it sitting in my bank account right here, just let me transfer it all"

  • PaperPrittPaperPritt Registered User regular
    Just send a regular check by mail. I understand why that would make you (or anyone) nervous, as you usually don't deal with that much money, but it's really safe and routinely done everyday by companies.
    If your check goes missing, you can cancel it. If by some incredibly weird set of circumstances it would land on someone else account, you can retroactively cancel it. (the banks do keep track of checks emitted).

    Note: by incredibly weird i mean this : i've been a cpa for over 10 years, dealt with a gazillion of mailed checks, and i've seen it happen once. And the person had been really careless.

  • a5ehrena5ehren AtlantaRegistered User regular
    PaperPritt wrote: »
    Just send a regular check by mail. I understand why that would make you (or anyone) nervous, as you usually don't deal with that much money, but it's really safe and routinely done everyday by companies.
    If your check goes missing, you can cancel it. If by some incredibly weird set of circumstances it would land on someone else account, you can retroactively cancel it. (the banks do keep track of checks emitted).

    Note: by incredibly weird i mean this : i've been a cpa for over 10 years, dealt with a gazillion of mailed checks, and i've seen it happen once. And the person had been really careless.
    Yeah. It probably seems like a lot of money to the OP, but it really isn't that much compared to what businesses send around every day.

  • ThanatosThanatos Registered User regular
    a5ehren wrote: »
    PaperPritt wrote: »
    Just send a regular check by mail. I understand why that would make you (or anyone) nervous, as you usually don't deal with that much money, but it's really safe and routinely done everyday by companies.
    If your check goes missing, you can cancel it. If by some incredibly weird set of circumstances it would land on someone else account, you can retroactively cancel it. (the banks do keep track of checks emitted).

    Note: by incredibly weird i mean this : i've been a cpa for over 10 years, dealt with a gazillion of mailed checks, and i've seen it happen once. And the person had been really careless.
    Yeah. It probably seems like a lot of money to the OP, but it really isn't that much compared to what businesses send around every day.
    Yup. We regularly get five-digit checks in the regular mail. Really, we've even gotten a few six-digit checks.

    But again, if you're really paranoid, you can send it by registered mail with a return receipt for probably around $10.

  • kaliyamakaliyama Left to find less-moderated fora Registered User regular
    edited September 2012
    Taphouse wrote: »
    Court fees. The way they're structured it is that if you pay with money-orders, or with a card or cash, you can only make deposits of 300 bucks at a time and you're charged like $6 for each transaction. So that adds up to a significant amount of money, and it would take forever to deposit as much money as I need to. The court gave me the address where it needs to go, all I need to do is send it.

    I'm paranoid as hell about it. It's the right address but I imagine some employee making off with the check, or the mail getting intercepted. Guessing that's totally irrational if it's a cashiers check and registered/certified/fedex'd. The question is whether it's so irrational as to offset the cost off making a bunch of small payments and racking up additional fees.

    With that kind of stuff I like to use a courier service. Very likely that they wouldn't take fedex depending - best to follow their instructions to the letter, no matter how inane. How far away is the court?

    kaliyama on
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  • schussschuss Registered User regular
    Yeah, as long as it's written to the court, people can't really steal it. Just write a personal check. It's not like even a sketchy check-cashing place would mistake a person for a courthouse.

  • kaliyamakaliyama Left to find less-moderated fora Registered User regular
    schuss wrote: »
    Yeah, as long as it's written to the court, people can't really steal it. Just write a personal check. It's not like even a sketchy check-cashing place would mistake a person for a courthouse.

    I agree, but i'm thinking that OP would have not bothered with a cashier's check if he could have sent a personal check.

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  • TaphouseTaphouse Registered User regular
    Correct kaliyama. And this is the only large sum of money I can deliver, so I just wanted to eliminate risks. I sent it certified mail, cashier's check, got receipt confirmation, and I video taped the whole thing to freak out the lady at the post office.

    Thanks for replies, all

  • DeShadowCDeShadowC Registered User regular
    schuss wrote: »
    Yeah, as long as it's written to the court, people can't really steal it. Just write a personal check. It's not like even a sketchy check-cashing place would mistake a person for a courthouse.

    As someone who works for a financial institution. I have to laugh at this. Remember they don't even need your check just the info on the bottom, routing and account number, to either make remotely created checks or process ACHs off the account.

  • LibrarianLibrarian The face of liberal fascism Registered User regular
    Thanatos wrote: »
    But again, if you're really paranoid, you can send it by registered mail with a return receipt for probably around $10.

    This. Registered mail is the savest thing you can do. I was surprised it wasn't suggested earlier and even had to look up if the US had a system like this.

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