Ok. First of all, this type of scam IS money laundering. Money laundering involves taking fraudulent funds and washing them with actual transactions that allow the money to end up being mixed in with the rest of the legitimate funds with a very complicated and hard to follow paper trail. Just think Patriot Act. They will come down on you if you're involved. :twisted:
Second of all, you are right about the counterfeit thing. However, the MAJORITY of these crimes involve counterfeit postal money orders. They can be detected quite easily by a trained eye (for example an Amscot manager who sees hundreds of "good" postal money orders every week). As a matter of fact, I have caught this scam twice while working at Amscot and they both involved multiple postal money orders for very large amounts. Just remember that even if you "don't know" that this is going on, your involvement still holds you legally responsible, not just financially. The cops and FBI are not taking any laundering schemes lightly these days and often prosecute to the fullest in order to figure out who is behind this. The most common scam right now is to receive the checks and then to be told to wire the money to either Nigeria or Costa Rica. Don't do it
