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View Full Version : I need some help with a Craig's List Ad (Very strange reply) - Opinions, Please



Glen Blanchard
01-20-2011, 8:11 AM
I posted on CL yesterday. I received an email last night wanting to know if it was still available. I responded in the affirmative, and got the following email this morning. This seems a bit unusual to me. Even the wording is suspect ("Aspen Hill of Maryland"?????? - I mean who talks like that???) This person is willing to pay me without even looking at the machine?? Is this some kind of scam? Anyone know? the longer I look at this, the more red flags go up for me.


Thanks for the prompt response to my mail.
I will be buying from you so please kindly withdraw the advert from C..LIST.
Please be informed that i will be paying with a certified check from my Bank as i just moved here from Aspen Hill Of Maryland on a job transfer.I will need the following details to mail the payment as soon as possible.

1.Name to be on the payment __________________ 2.Home address______________

3.City ____________4.State _____________

5.Zip Code________________ 6.Cell phone#______________________

I will make arrangements for the pick up as soon as you have your money I am completely satisfied with the advert and the payment will be delivered within 2-3? working days.** I use a hearing impaired phone #
and will receive your calls via email ***********
Mrs. (name removed)

Paul Wunder
01-20-2011, 8:15 AM
Don't let this man anywhere near your equipment or your personal information

Stephen Cherry
01-20-2011, 8:16 AM
Smells fishy. If it smells like a scam it is probably a scam.

John Coloccia
01-20-2011, 8:20 AM
Yes, it is 100% a scam.

Van Huskey
01-20-2011, 8:20 AM
I can't quite figure the angle but I am pretty sure there is one. I for one would forget this one.

dan mahler
01-20-2011, 8:21 AM
Yes a scam - they will probably also give your email to spammers!

Nick Sorenson
01-20-2011, 8:23 AM
If you place many CL ads you get used to this ;) It's definitely an spammer.

Andrew Teich
01-20-2011, 8:24 AM
I have had similar responses on CL. In my opinion, a scam. A certified check will be "cashed" by your bank, run through the system, found to be phony, and then funds deducted from your account. All the while your nice jointer is gone. Deal locally and don't let it leave your shop with out cash in your hand.

If you would like to ship it to someone while getting no money in return, feel free to ship it to me. I'll at least be honest about you not getting any money for it.
AT

John Coloccia
01-20-2011, 8:27 AM
I can't quite figure the angle but I am pretty sure there is one. I for one would forget this one.

The money order or check you get will be counterfeit. Most people assume that it's as good as cash (because it's been certified), and will ship the item out immediately. A few days, or couple of weeks, later your bank lets you know that you deposited a bad check. Oops.

This is a form letter scam. It's sent out shotgun style to everything they find on craigslist. No mention of the item or the price. They're so lazy that they can't even do that.

johnny means
01-20-2011, 8:56 AM
actually, the purpose of this spam is to fish forfools who are willing togive out a bunch of personal info. Give them a shill address and email and I guarantee it will be inundated with "offers". When will people stop feeding this monster.

BOB OLINGER
01-20-2011, 9:26 AM
Glen,

FYI, I had a similar reply day before yesterday on a table saw I advertised. They offered to pay an additional $50, would overnight the certified check, and their movers would pick up the saw in a couple days. Of course, no name, no address -
nothing but SMOKE and SCAM. My advice - delete this one and move on asap

Cyrus Brewster 7
01-20-2011, 9:30 AM
Definitely a scam. I was selling a router table setup and was continually receiving these messages. I deleted the posting, re-posted, and informed the potential buyers I would accept calls only. This worked out much better.

Troy Turner
01-20-2011, 9:35 AM
Absolutely a scam! This is why a lot of posters now break up their phone number (555-one two three four). They also tell folks to email them at another email address and not reply via Clist.

Dan Hintz
01-20-2011, 9:36 AM
It's not just a phishing scam, someone will show up to get the item. It's often just a driver for a clearinghouse (never the "purchaser"). You will be out the money, you will get spammed, and you will be out the item.

The use of a hearing impaired phone service is so you do not have access to a phone number from the "purchaser", as well as not hearing any accent they may have... they type at a keyboard anonymously and the phone service agent talks to you.

Brian W Evans
01-20-2011, 9:38 AM
I had a response similar to Bob's - promises of a check and movers who would come pick the item up. They even offered extra $$ for my inconvenience. Stay away from this person. Don't respond any further.

Don Bullock
01-20-2011, 9:38 AM
Yes, it is 100% a scam.

+1 You'll never see the money. Even if you get a bank check it will be a fake. One clue, the person capitalized the word Bank. This kind of scam is very common on the Internet.

Glen Blanchard
01-20-2011, 9:43 AM
Thanks folks. As I mentioned, I was suspicious from the get-go, but had never received one of these before (I don't have an extensive history of selling items on CL, but have done some). I just was unable to figure out the angle. Now I get it. Thanks.

Bill Edwards(2)
01-20-2011, 9:43 AM
Even the wording is suspect ("Aspen Hill of Maryland"?????? - I mean who talks like that???)

Who talks like that?

Guys using an (insert language here) to English translator, who want your

Name, Address and cell phone #, that's who.

Rick Moyer
01-20-2011, 9:53 AM
Read over the Craigslist warnings. Usually, "Is this Item still available " is a good indication of something possibility fishy.

Andrew Gibson
01-20-2011, 10:01 AM
I have found in the couple of CL adds I have posted, it is best to just put your phone number.
I have bought from a few people on CL. A couple I emailed and they called be back and a couple I Just called. I find it easier to call and leave a call back number.
It makes life easier and no spam.

Brian Cosgrove
01-20-2011, 10:26 AM
Glen, Avoid this at all cost. I am a police officer by profession and unfortunately see this all the time. The trick is that generally they send you a certified check (fake) for "accidentally" too much money. They then ask you to deposit it in your bank and wire them back the amount that they overpaid, minus the fee that you can keep for the inconvenience. You go deposit the check, wire them the money and a couple days later find out that the check was bad. You have unfortunately paid them from your bank account by Western Union and its too late. I just had a woman come into our department a couple weeks ago (elderly) who was scammed out of $164,000 through a scam of this sort. Probably a large chunk of her life savings. Hope this explains the process these crooks will go through.

Brian

Pete Bradley
01-20-2011, 10:34 AM
Another variation - the "buyer" sends you a bank check for $1000 over your asking price. He says they already had it drafted and could you please wire them the difference. He says you can even keep another $100 for your trouble! You deposit the check, the bank credits your account, you wire the difference, then the check doesn't clear and the bank deducts your account. You're out the money you wired and you still have your jointer.

Mark Ashmeade
01-20-2011, 10:37 AM
Question for Brian - would the woman who lost $164,000 have her case investigated by the FBI and the villains found (if they were US based)?. I can see that if the scam netted say $500, and originated in say Oregon with the victim in Florida, it just wouldn't be a good use of resources. However, in this case, $164,000 is a LOT of money, with aggravating factors of her age (ie vulnerability) and the fact it's her life savings. I'm not asking you to comment on this particular case, which would obviously be subjudice, but in general, would affirmative action be taken on fraud of such a scale?

Oddly, I had an interest in a RAS on CL about 6 months ago, and they used a hearing impaired service. They jacked the price $100 in the call, saying they listed it incorrectly, and I just assumed it was a mistake and declined to pay the higher price. It didn't enter my mind it was a scam, I just assumed it was a deaf person that made a mistake. Every day a school day, it seems.

Mike OMelia
01-20-2011, 10:45 AM
If you will google certain phrases in the email, you will get lots of responses. I saw this (or similar) in CL ads where the buyer was offering an incredible deal (TGTBT) on a car. They ask for simialr info. It is the reverse of what you are seeing, but the same game. Only you lose money instead of a thing that you own.

Good for you for asking. What is amazing to me is that there is always poor grammar in these scams. Like Nigerian scam letters. I am guessing that these originate in non-english speaking countries.

Mike

Mike Barney Sr
01-20-2011, 10:57 AM
These guys are all correct. Another bit of advise: use a secondary (disposable) email address when using CL. Treat your email address as you would your cell phone #. I have a personal email I use when dealing with legit people and websites. I have a disposable email when dealing with possible shady types like CL ad responders. I use this email to reply to CL ads or to reply to responders to my ads. That way if someone is in fact a spammer, all the spam is sent to that address. When spam is so great I just delete that address and make up a new one. I keep spam down to a minimum with my personal email address. Don't post your phone number in your CL ad. You may start getting spam texts on your cell phone. My son downloaded a ring tone on my cell when he borrowed it and for a year got phone sex spam texts. They finally ended, thank God! Nowadays, you don't even want to tell people your name. Only give out your phone number to an ad responder when you know they are legit.

Brian Cosgrove
01-20-2011, 12:26 PM
Mike, Unfortunately for the woman, the money was all wired domestically, but retrieved overseas instead. That's the problem with Western Union wire transfers. Once you provide them with the confirmation number of the transaction, the suspect can retrieve the money from ANYWHERE in the world, with 99% of the time, it being overseas. I have not seen it much lately, but the hot spot a couple years ago was Montreal Canada.

Brian

Garrett Ellis
01-20-2011, 12:34 PM
I vote to string them along. Scam the scammer, but don't give any personal info or money (or tools) away.

Jason White
01-20-2011, 12:35 PM
It's a scam.




I posted my JET 6" jointer on CL yesterday. I received an email last night wanting to know if it was still available. I responded in the affirmative, and got the following email this morning. This seems a bit unusual to me. Even the wording is suspect ("Aspen Hill of Maryland"?????? - I mean who talks like that???) This person is willing to pay me without even looking at the machine?? Is this some kind of scam? Anyone know? the longer I look at this, the more red flags go up for me.


Thanks for the prompt response to my mail.
I will be buying from you so please kindly withdraw the advert from C..LIST.
Please be informed that i will be paying with a certified check from my Bank as i just moved here from Aspen Hill Of Maryland on a job transfer.I will need the following details to mail the payment as soon as possible.

1.Name to be on the payment __________________ 2.Home address______________

3.City ____________4.State _____________

5.Zip Code________________ 6.Cell phone#______________________

I will make arrangements for the pick up as soon as you have your money I am completely satisfied with the advert and the payment will be delivered within 2-3? working days.** I use a hearing impaired phone #
and will receive your calls via email ***********
Mrs. (name removed)

Erik Christensen
01-20-2011, 12:39 PM
I sell things on CL pretty often and see scams like this a lot. I try to remove the motive for this type of activity by doing my part to make it un-profitable. I respond eagerly with an email from a throw-away account (gmail, hotmail, yahoo, etc) and give them a bogus address to overnight the check to - to make it amusing I use a street name that no native english speaker would ever fall for - usually a combo of american slang & vulgarity that would be obvious to any fellow american as bogus but those scammers in Nigeria (or where ever) go for it every time. They spend real cash to create a phony check and pay to have it over-nighted but it can't be delivered. I then send them daily emails desperately asking about "my" check - I have even been able to have them send out more than one :)

Dave Lehnert
01-20-2011, 12:46 PM
I've been looking at used boats on Craig's List. I found one advertised close to home for what was a good price, not a give away, but priced to sell. Anyway........ I Googled the e-mail address and found a post online where a guy in another state calmed he purchased a boat Via e-bay and seller (same e-mail) never shipped. Talk about getting yourself in a mess. I'm at the point if I go used will only buy from a dealer or someone I know personally.

But you never know...........I have a friend who sold a classic car on e-bay. A guy on the west coast wanted to buy it. Said he would send a check then have a trucking company pick it up. (Sound familiar ? ) My friend was nervous, this was a high $$$ car. He received the check and the guy said keep the car till your satisfied you have the money cash in hand. He cashed check, cleared the bank, held the car a month just to be sure. The guy hired a company to pick it up. said he loved the car and even has a video posted on youtube of his new car.

Bob Wingard
01-20-2011, 12:54 PM
A friend of mine suffered the ill effects of this scam, and it is FAR WORSE than what I've read here ...

He received his CERTIFIED CHECK for an item ... deposited the check ... no one ever came or called to arrange pickup, so he just waited ... checked with his bank ... not only was the check no good .. the bad guy got the bounced check back, and the information the bank gave to HIM was enough to allow him to empty my friend's account !!! Now, he's finding credit cards and loans were taken out on top of that.

DON'T DO IT

Greg Portland
01-20-2011, 1:24 PM
But you never know...........I have a friend who sold a classic car on e-bay. A guy on the west coast wanted to buy it. Said he would send a check then have a trucking company pick it up. (Sound familiar ? ) My friend was nervous, this was a high $$$ car. He received the check and the guy said keep the car till your satisfied you have the money cash in hand. He cashed check, cleared the bank, held the car a month just to be sure. The guy hired a company to pick it up. said he loved the car and even has a video posted on youtube of his new car.
There are reputable middle men who will guarantee the money for cases like this. That's why most savvy scammers will target sub $1k items; it's not worth paying for the service at that price point.

Ruhi Arslan
01-20-2011, 1:44 PM
It is not about whether if this is a scam attempt - although it is poorly designed and old style - but how much fun you want to have with this "Mrs". Create a disposable yahoo or whatever account (I use one for these and sign them as "Yadretseynrob Rekcus". Ask if she could do cash but if not, fill in it with your local (Dallas I presume) FBI address and phone number for the their fraud dept. Better yet, go along with it and once you get the check, take it to the FBI. Who knows, you may run into someone who would care to file it for future use...

glenn bradley
01-20-2011, 3:35 PM
Seriously. You had to ask?

Scott Hildenbrand
01-20-2011, 4:17 PM
Read over the Craigslist warnings. Usually, "Is this Item still available " is a good indication of something possibility fishy.

Ha... I must be awfully fishy then.. That's my first question any time I see a listing. Countless times I'd checked only to find out they'd been too bloody lazy to delete their listing.

Matt Kestenbaum
01-20-2011, 4:38 PM
THis type of scam is highlighted rather prominently by Cars.com as something to watch out for when listing a used car to sell. Definitely a scam.

John Sanford
01-20-2011, 8:02 PM
Another one that I see frequently with cars is a very low price for a late model "flashy" vehicle (4x4s, Lariat Edition, Euro sport sedans, etc), along with some very nice pictures.

That were clearly taken somewhere else. I'm fortunate, the combination of the vegetation, architecture, and background topography here is fairly unique. Pics with a cottage style home in the background with lotsa vegation and no mountains? NOT here.

Bruce Wrenn
01-20-2011, 10:41 PM
This one is most likely a fraud. In reply, notice that "i" isn't capitalized. But I once bought a table saw on CL. Because it was during State Fair, I couldn't go after it right then. Sent the seller a certified check drawn on my bank, which he took to local branch near his house and CASHED. Picked up the saw two weeks later. Last month, I bought an air compressor for $25. Sent the seller CASH, and arranged for later pick up. Pick up didn't work out (my fault.) Seller calls and says he will be with in a couple miles of my house on following weekend, and could he just deliver the compressor to me. Of course I said yes.

Rick Fisher
01-21-2011, 9:46 PM
I would have to mess with these guys.. Its in my nature.

Funny.. when I want to buy something on CL, I always say " is it still available " ..

Garrett Ellis
01-21-2011, 9:58 PM
Funny.. when I want to buy something on CL, I always say " is it still available " ..

Yeah same here LOL. There have been a lot of times where I've been interested in stuff and it has already been sold and the poster just forgot to take down the ad.

Curt Harms
01-22-2011, 9:17 AM
I got a "modified" certified check scam. The Postal Inspectors have a tough reputation so I took it to the local post office. They see too many....they just didn't care. Took it to a branch of Citizens Bank on which the "check" was drawn. They DID care-kept the original, wrote "void" all over it and gave me a photocopy. Took it to a local cop shop, the guy there must have been bored. Said a friend of his knew someone in the RCMP. He became aware of a scam whose address was a P.O. Box in Montreal. The authorities there watched the box til a kid came to collect the mail. The kid didn't know anything of use to any investigation.