Received Money Order with Instructions

This sounds like a scam. I received a package today via USPS Priorty. I open it cause I don't know who this person is, so just being curious. I get a letter with instructions and a Money order for $3,500 indicating to deposit in my account cash the money order and wire transfer $3,000 and Keep $500.

I just got an email to confirm receipt obvious that it was sent with confirmation.

Is this a SCAM????? Sounds fishy to me. And why do I have to deposit it into my bank account? Why can't I just see if I can cash it at the check cashing spot?

Please advise.

welcome to Scamwarners.
It's definitely a scam, and a lot of scams depend on the victim banking a fake check, and forwarding most of the proceeds on by Western Union or Moneygram. They often ask you not to use check cashing services. Very likely as they are better at spotting fakes because unlike banks, they are less able to pass the loss onto whoever presented the check.
It's not usual for such a check to arrive with no explanation though. Whoever sent it knows both your email and postal address. Any idea how?

The scammer is sitting on a pile of these counterfeit money orders and if they were any good he'd be cashing them himself and getting 100%, instead of offering you 83% to take the risk of jail time. If he's only taking 17%, he's either got lots of them, or they're really bad - probably both. It's also likely that the same cheques have been used for years and that the numbers are recorded.

In the USA offences relating to the passing of counterfeit paper are handled by the Secret Service, and even a cheque cashing office is likely to have video footage of you.

This type of scam is worse than the usual type because you not only lose money but people have gone to prison, which is very possible if anyone believes you knew what you were doing. If you go to a cheque cashing facility it'll be hard to claim to be innocent if you get caught. The cheques will also have your fingerprints, perhaps even in the ink, depending what type of ink was used.