[newfant]

I don't know why people are railing on you so hard over this. It seems logical to believe that once a check "clears" that you would have the money and the bank could never get it back from you even if a problem was later discovered.

You had the money in your account. You could have withdrawn it and spent it. Most people would believe that the check was good after it had cleared.

I actually had a class on bank transactions in law school called "Commercial Paper," but I can't remember all the rules. It seems like if you had actually followed through with the transaction (sent the guy the go-kart and $4500), that you would have qualified as what is known as a "holder in due course" (HDC). As a HDC, you would only be subject to certain defenses after the bank paid you. A good lawyer might have been able to keep the bank from recovering the money back from you.

I think the problem is that federal regulations require the bank to pay you within 7 days, whether the bank actually knows that the check has cleared or not. I don't think your bank tried to screw you over, they were just doing what is required by federal law. However, they should probably provide you with notice that foreign checks that "clear" may not actually be good and that the bank might be able to come after you for the money.

Thanks for telling your story. I originally thought that people who fell for these Nigerian scams were just dumb people, but if the bank is telling people that the Nigerian money orders have "cleared" when they really haven't, then I can see how people get duped.