Yes, they expect you to accept the cheque in good faith and make the funds available to them through Western Union immediately. In fact, they'll start pressurising you to release the funds before the cheque is cleared. And of course, the cheque will bounce in the end, but by then it will be too late for you.

This is an age-old scam that has claimed many victims who let down their guard while expecting to make a quick buck.

You can tell by the language of the letters they send you. It is a flowery, unnatural English that is typical of all these con artists operating with African addresses.

YOu advertise a tennis ball on a garage sale site, and you'll have these jokers writing to you in their trademark English, offering to send you thousand dollar cheques and asking you to send just five hundred back to them by Western Union...