Craiglist??? Strange replies

[Beeman]

I started using Craiglist to sell a few items. I seem to get some odd replies.
I have one item now that I received an out o town reply to. They are offering a cashiers check and they will have their shipper pick the item up. Even offering an extra $50 for my trouble and patience. Something smells fishy. Then at th end of their reply they state have a blessed day.
Anyone else get replies like this?

[Rita]

Yes, it's a scam and they can be very persistent too!

[KatSpradley]

agree scam

[Micahn]

My one daughter has run into some scams like that on craiglist. One time a lady sent her a check that was $3000 for a $50 item. She included a note in it asking for the change to be sent with the item in the mail.
I had her call the police and they came out and made a report and all and said that was all they could do.
So in other words the cops will not do anything unless your stupid and really send them the change lol.

[whinnyninny]

There is a link at the top of each Craigslist page about how to avoid scams:

http://www.craigslist.org/about/scams

[copperkid3]

Originally Posted by Micahn

My one daughter has run into some scams like that on craiglist. One time a lady sent her a check that was $3000 for a $50 item. She included a note in it asking for the change to be sent with the item in the mail.
I had her call the police and they came out and made a report and all and said that was all they could do.
So in other words the cops will not do anything unless your stupid and really send them the change lol.

***************************
In defense of police officers EVERYWHERE, I'm going to have to make a comment and state that unfortunately, ONLY when the elements of a crime have been committed, can an arrest be effected. Which is why this type of crime is so "difficult" to prosecute and remains a favorite of the scammers. It's a basic "con"; as in confidence gained, in which the "mark" (the one is being played) is offered something "extra" for their trouble. Human nature being what it is, most people's greed will jump at the chance and by then it is too late. The scammer sends off a fake or forged check, the "mark" hurries to cash it and send the requested remainder back to the sender and by then it's too late. The original cashiers check bounces, meaning that the mark has to make good on it and the scammer is laughing all the way to their bank and planning the next scam on some other unsuspecting fool....... but then again, there have been some so brazen as to hit the same MARK again with a slightly different version of the same con!!!

Try to think of it as a cage of poisonous snakes sitting in the middle of the room. As long as you don't open the cage and reach in to take one out......your chances of getting hurt are nil.......
But when someone thinks that they are going to be doing the snake a "favor" and let it out.......is when they suddenly realize they have been "bit".

Edited to note that I just received an email this morning on a variation of "The Nigerian Scam".....in which their late husband came by a large sum of money and had it secretly deposited in a securities vault with instructions given that only the scammer could get the cash out. Of course now the scammer is dying of (insert your favorite lethal illness here) and has no heirs to give the money to and wants to "share" a portion with you, if you'll only go in on this scheme and help get the remainder to (again, insert your favorite charity). The problem develops when the "mark" takes the bait and writes back to the sender and then the hook is set, with some form of "proof" that you will be true and faithful to the scammer. There will be a request for some form of good faith money to be deposited or sent to an account to take care of transportation or transaction "expenses".......once this is paid, the scam is complete and of course, you will NEVER see any portion of the alleged fortune.

[Ken Scharabok]

From my understanding on the Nigerian scam typically they run into hurdle after hardle after hardle which, for only a couple of $K more, can be overcome. Some go so far as to invite the scamee to come to Nigeria and meet with high ranking 'officials' in official looking offices (and, apparently, some scamees never returned from there).

From what I've read these 'Nigerian scams' are even against Nigerian law. However, they produce something like the second leading source of external revenue for the county (next to oil) and government officials thus look the other way. (Akin to illegal Mexicans sending back money to their families.)

Another popular one is a foreign sweepstakes which you didn't even enter. To receive the multi-million dollar award you have to first pay 'taxes'.

Yes, it is a scam. They will send a fake money order or bank check. You are to deposit it immediately and then send back the remainder, or to a third party, often in Great Britain, for shipping.

A couple of years ago I sold some tomahawk handles to a party in SC. They send a Western Union money order which turned out to have been reproduced on a PC and printer. Obvious fake once it was returned and really looked at. I reported it to the local state DA. About six months ago I started to receive notices from that office the party had been arrested for some eight similar on-line rip-offs, including mine. They plead guilty to essentially mail fraud and I'm waiting to hear what the sentence will be. They confiscated their computer equipment, but I don't expect to see any money back out of it.

As I recall the minister's wife here in TN, who shotgunned her husband in the back, was involved in one of these schemes.

[Sam_Luna]

Originally Posted by Micahn

So in other words the cops will not do anything unless your stupid and really send them the change lol.

The “cops” cannot do anything until a crime has been committed. I doubt anyone would want law enforcement to arrest people on what they might do.

It is always interesting to see people complain about law enforcement doing nothing when they really cannot, and then bitching when they do something, saying that they should have better things to do. It still amazes me that anyone would want the thankless job, or keeps it once they see how grateful the public is for their service.

[clovis]

Definate SCAM.

[ladycat]

Originally Posted by Beeman

I started using Craiglist to sell a few items. I seem to get some odd replies.
I have one item now that I received an out o town reply to. They are offering a cashiers check and they will have their shipper pick the item up. Even offering an extra $50 for my trouble and patience. Something smells fishy. Then at th end of their reply they state have a blessed day.
Anyone else get replies like this?

I have an ad at Craig's List, and if any of those scammers contact me, I'm going to have a lot of fun playing with their heads.

[65284]

Originally Posted by copperkid3

***************************
In defense of police officers EVERYWHERE, I'm going to have to make a comment and state that unfortunately, ONLY when the elements of a crime have been committed, can an arrest be effected.

Not quite correct. There are laws against CONSPIRING to commit a crime. But unless it a big time local operation involving a lot of money, and there's a chance to enhance their reputation, prosecutors are not interested.

[cfabe]

Yep it's a scam. Unfortunately there's not much anyone in this country can do about it. Mostly they come from overseas, involve a "buyer" sending a seller a counterfeit check that is an overpayment and asking for the balance to be refunded. Then a month later when your bank figures out that check from Central Bank of Kenya was infact counterfeit, they come to you looking for the money back. Your local police aren't going to do anything about it, there is some FBI website where you can file a report but your only real defense is recognizing and ignoring any emails like that. It's best to deal in person only, cash only.

[NEfarmgirl]

It sounds like a scam. Another one was a young friend of ours--college age was selling a text book and she had someone interested in buying it from her. Problem was the buyer was a male who supposedly had a desk job and said his assistant would take care of the transaction. When she gave an address to mail the money he did not like hearing it was a PO box. He demanded a street address. She did not continue with the transaction since 1. why would someone with a job that had an assistant need a text book and
2. why would he really care if the money went to a po box or street addy

Have to be careful anymore

[whodunit]

Too bad there's not a way to scam them back. Maybe just keep stringing them along that you are not getting the check and ask them to re-send it. Maybe at some suggest they use an overnight carrier since you are really interested in getting the deal done. Then mail back something in a way that causes them to have to pay like COD.

[insocal]

Run, do not walk, from that sort of offer. Major financial scam!

[Irish farmer]

Always be cautious when someone says " have a blessed day". I have noticed a lot of cons and fakes use that term to try to make themselves seem trustworthy. I run from people who say have a blessed day.

[NorthCountryWd]

Scammers wreck everything I've tried to sell on CL.

Put a truck up for sale with picture and a couple days later the pic was being used in a scam in Canada.
Put an ad for an apartment and someone who seemed legit started calling asked if I could send pics, then after 3 or 4 phone conversations they wanted to have me deposit a cashiers check for $5000 (rent and security was only $1800) and give them the change.

[awayfrmitall]

Check our www.419eater.com ... Interesting site full of people dedicated to "baiting" the scammer and wasting their time off of a real target.

These scams come in all shapes and sizes. The cashier's check for over the amount is a common one... Offering to rent a room etc is another but the landlord lives our of town so you have to send them money via Western Union to hold the spot. The apartment etc tends to be a empty lot. The I'm hiring you to cash this check and send me 90% is another. You send them the money via Western Union and you don't even know the check is bad until your bank comes after you for all of the money.

I could go on and on.. it amazes me sometimes that people fall for some of the scams since they really are silly but other's are quite indepth and I can see how some very innocent people get hurt.

EDITED TO ADD: That if you choose to "mess with the scammer" be sure to do it safely using a totally different email from gmail or fastmail that hides your IP. Never bait a scammer that has ANY of your real info. In that case just run the other direction.

[Ken Scharabok]

These scammers use over-night delivery (e.g., FedEx) since it avoids possibly involving the U.S. Postal Service Investigative Service for mail fraud.

Apparently a current scam is offering to help you apply for a stimulus grant of several thousand. They just want your personal information for identify theft.

[ladycat]

Originally Posted by Ken Scharabok

Apparently a current scam is offering to help you apply for a stimulus grant of several thousand. They just want your personal information for identify theft.

I've been seeing a bunch of spam mails lately that have something about stimulus payments in the subject lines. I haven't opened any, but now I wonder if that's what those are. I'll have to read one just to see.