https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-rXhAnu5ETU
Can't remember if it is this Vin Wiki that talks thru it. Finally, almost all bank funds are recoverable--except for ones sent thru cash services like Western Union. This is a common scam applied to a lot of victims, not just car purchases--but even, a way to get people to 'get rich at home' by buying products online, reimbursing them with money that seems it has cleared the bank, but then find the "check" was never any good and the bank will come back to the victim for restoration.
I'll have to find the Krebs (Krebs on Security) that talks to this scam...but unfortunately it works because one part of our brains (the part that realizes its stupid for someone to pay more than was being asked, what with nonsense that New Zealand is so far away...) and instead fills us with a certain re-assurance that gee, the check has cleared, how could I go wrong? When we really do Not know what a banker knows wrt fraud.