Craigslist - Scumbag Scammer

Unfortunately this is all too often. Its always the same theme - "Although I normally live in US/Canada, for blah blah reason, I need the item sent to some country in Africa. I'll overpay you in shipping using PayPal.".

You even receive the same e-mail as the PayPal confirmation e-mail. Except when you log in and check (NOT using the link from that e-mail), no money. I tell them, no still no money. Anther e-mail from a 3rd party insurance company says its ok to send the package since they will guarantee PayPal transfer to me. LOL. I tell them no thanks.

Unfortunately, this happens to just about every single item of some value that is package-able when ads are placed in Craigs or Kijiji. Just to give you an example, my recent sell of DSLR lens worth $650 received about 5 of these e-mails from 5 different people!

Sigh... :(

Oh and once he claimed he is in New Zealand for a business trip and wanted me to send it there. I told him which city? I have 2 cousins living there! And he never responded to that e-mail... LOL.
 
there is actually a lot of people out here that get scammed from south america for dogs. i only sell by cash and carry. its the safest way to go
 
Good spy. There's some way to secure those sketchy kind of checks, I forget it. A real estate agent told me about it, it has something to do with bank checks I think.
 
Excellent! Some really valuable information here; I'd like to think I would be 100 percent aware of these scams but I can't be sure. Picked up some good tips.
 
My friend had an incident where he found an Acura Tl for 2950 and they supposedly were in minnesota. They would ship the car free for him to try out for seven days but he had to wire money through moneygram, if he was asked what the money was for, he had to say it was personal. And the address was in the UK. He checked to see if it was a real address and it didn't come out he checked it here in the states and it gave a business address.
 
Kashta said:
I thought I would post this here, since so many of us buy and sell fish, aquariums, and equipment/supplies through Craigslist or on eBay.

As some of you know already, my mom passed away last August. A few days ago, I posted her wheelchair for sale on Craigslist. In response to that ad, I got a 419 scam email this morning.

Aside from this "Mike" person asking for my name, address, and phone number. He's from out of state, needs it urgently, offers more money than I listed it for, and claims he will have some company come here to pack and ship it to him at his expense. Yeah, right.

The truth is, if you accept a money order like that and deposit it. Even a fake money order will "clear" within 3-5 days or so. It usually takes many weeks after this happens for your bank to discover it was a fake money order. When they do, they take that money right back out of your account and you are held responsible for the bad deposit. Doesn't matter if you knew it was fake or not. Plus.. if someone at the bank suspects you may have known the money order was no good and deposited it anyway, they'll report this to the police and have you investigated for fraud.

From "Mike Johnson"
Still Available For Sale?
​
My reply
Yes it is, Mike.
​
From "Mike Johnson" (several hours later)
Hi

Thanks for writing back,I'm cool with your final price because i do need this item urgently..let me know if you will accept payment with Money Orders as this is the only way i can make the payment because i am located in Oregon..i don't mind offering you an extra $40 for holding the item for me.

I would have loved to come take a look at it though but i will not be able to do so due to the distance but i'll really appreciate a picture from you.You may reply with your name and contact address also your phone number where you will like to receive the payment,and concerning the shippment i will handle all the shipping expenses myself via Global Express Shipping Company they will take care of the packaging and the shippment.

I shall look forward to hearing from you soon.

Thanks

Mike
​
After getting that message, I Googled his email address, the name of the shipping company he gave, and Craigslist scams to see what I would find. Sadly, this kind of non-local money order scan is very common.

My reply.
Very funny, "Mike Johnson." I haven't laughed this hard in a long time.

No, I don't want your fake money order. For my $85 asking price + the extra $40 you offered for nothing + plus the added expense on your part for fictitious packing and shipping... you could easily buy a used, heavy duty wheelchair in "Oregon" and probably have it delivered to you "urgently."

I will, however, be happy to send you the picture you requested.

See attached.

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View attachment 78170
Click to expand...


Thanks for posting! this scumbag just contacted me
 
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