Had a Shell landman stop by the house the other day. One of the tricks he tried was to flip open his folder and show me what he said was a check for the full amount, and then quickly close the folder.  I asked him to re-open the folder and when he did, I saw it wasn't a check but a bank draft. Big difference. A draft is more of a promissory note saying that they will release the funds at some promised point...like after the title work is done after 90 working days. And if they don't release the money, it can be quite a legal fight.

When I said "Thats not a check, its a bank draft" he said "Yes but you can take it straight to the bank" again implying that it could be cashed immediately. When I told him that I cannot cash it until the funds were released many months later, he changed the subject.

I had met with a bank's financial adviser and he told me that they had an elderly couple come with such a draft and told him they had just ordered a new car, thinking they could just deposit the draft like a check since the landman had called it a check. They had to call the dealer and cancelled the order.

Be very careful in dealing with these landmen.  You have to parse everything they say.  After meeting this guy, my local politicians are looking much better.