I get emails that purport to be from people that I know well. But I then email them independently of that email (i.e., I do not just hit "reply"
and ask them if it is really from them. Nope! Someone hacked their address book and is sending frauds malware, and worse to all of the addresses in the book.
You are being lured into a scam and if you follow the instruction, YOU will be on the hook when that incoming check is discovered to be fraudulent a couple of weeks AFTER you have forwarded big bucks fro your bank account! There are quite a number of reports of this scheme, in different forms, all over the forums!
Based in MD, near DC
Shopping from the Carolinas to New York
Have video cam; will travel
Poor customer service? Don't get mad; get video.