I agree with the posts that say YES THEY CAN BE FORGED - these days it's so easy to get scammed and some money orders are so good they get past some banks at first.....
I would think cashing it immediatlely is the way to go but don't know if it would come back to bite you after you cash it -
there are some people here that work in the banking industry - I'd love to hear what they say -
but are you feeling someone may be scamming you ?? If you have a red flag like that - maybe it's best not to take a chance and don't do business with them ?