A Winnipeg man is warning others to ask questions when selling items online, after a cheque was delivered to his doorstep that he was later told was fraudulent.

Clayton Carriere told CTV News he’d sold items through online classifieds before, and decided to put his sofa and loveseat for sale on Kijiji. Carriere said he quickly ended up texting with a potential buyer, but the buyer seemed insistent on paying with a certified cheque or bank draft.

Carriere showed CTV News his text conversation with the individual, with a message to him reading:

“Would like to know if you will accept a certified or bank draft cheque as payment and then pickup will be arranged after it clears.”

Carriere responded with:

“Cash or etransfer is always best. It is definitely important to come look at the sofa before buying.”

He provided his address thinking the buyer would come look at the furniture but said he stopped responding to the texts after the individual continued to insist on a bank draft or certified cheque.

Carriere decided to move on but said he was surprised to come home one afternoon and find what appeared to be a FedEx envelope on his counter containing a cheque. Carriere was asking for $1000 for his furniture but the cheque made out to him read $2670.

Carriere said his contractor, who was working in his house at the time, told him he’d answered the door to someone who looked like a FedEx employee.

“The worker that was in my house noticed the truck appeared to be a FedEx truck in his opinion. But he noticed it had a lot of rust on it. And also that there was a second passenger in the vehicle,” said Carriere.

Showing the envelope to CTV News, Carriere pointed out jagged edges and a label that was scotch-taped on, stressing it looked like a “hack job”.

In a statement, a spokesperson for FedEx wrote:

“We regret this person was a victim of fraud. We are looking into this matter and will cooperate with authorities.”

Because of red flags, Carriere said he quickly came to the conclusion that the cheque might be fraudulent. Upon taking it to a local bank branch Carriere said the teller immediately told him it was a fake and kept the cheque but provided him with a photocopy, which he showed to CTV News.

Carriere plans to report it to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre. Jeff Thomson with the centre said consumers selling goods online should be suspicious of payments that are more than the agreed selling price.

“Whether it is a cheque (cashier or corporate cheque) or money received through online payment provider like PayPal or email money transfer, if the amount is more than the agreed selling price and the buyer requests the excess funds to be returned, it is probably a scam,” said Thomson.