Scams on Craigslist

Ok, this is not a dig on the website "Craigslist". I've sold a number of items on this site over a number of years. It is however a heads up for those of you that use this site.
Apparently there is a fairly new scam out there were individuals will text you claiming to want whatever it is your selling and offer to send a bank check ie: cashiers check and once the check clears your bank, they will cover the cost of a shipper to pick up the item.
Now I didn't get the complete picture from the FBI but when it comes to shipping the product they somehow manage to strap you for cash, Don't exactly understand the full details but if you list something and the person responding will not call or says there not in there home state, it's a scam.
Just a heads up folks, Don't like seeing people screwed out a there hard earned bucks.

This scam...
overpayment

If you are selling something over the internet or through the classifieds, you may be targeted by a cheque overpayment scam. You might receive an offer from a potential buyer (often quite generous) and accept it. The scammer then sends you a cheque, but the cheque is for more money than the agreed price.

The scammer will invent an excuse for the overpayment. For example, the scammer might tell you that the extra money is meant to cover the fees of an agent or extra shipping costs. The scammer might just say that it was a mistake they made when they wrote the cheque. The scammer will then ask you to refund the excess amount—usually through an online banking transfer or a wire transfer (such as Western Union).

The scammer is hoping that you will do this before you discover that their cheque has bounced. You will have lost the money you paid into their account, and if you have already sent the item you were selling, you will lose this as well. At the very least, the scammer will have wasted your time and prevented you from accepting any legitimate offers.

its as old as the hills.

yeah if nobody calls me or is willing to show up then I don't sell that item to that person. Too many scam artists out there. I sold a few things through the site and if I only get an email or text and pretty much I can tell if they are a scammer. I had one guy who wanted to wire me some money and then he wanted me to ship the tiem I was selling (I think it was a mixer) to Africe. He said he worked for a local church and stuff and I emailed him back and haven't gotten anything back from him. But if it was a local church they could find somebody to come over and look at it and ship it. That's what I did wity some books I sold, the guys friend came over gave me the money and he sent them to his friend.

Anytime you try and sell something you just have to be extra cautious and pretty much expect everybody to scam you.

This is new?! I mean, thanks for the heads up, but.....are people that dense? Am I just the only one with a "big ego" to recognize these?

I say let them get scammed. Let nature take its course, because if you haven't learned by now, no amount of media or alternative media will sway you from sending that money.

As far as Craigslist is concerned, and they even tell you right on their webpages: never ship, never use any kind of checks, deal locally, etc.

If you deal locally and use cash only, then the scam risk is virtually 0%. There are those that would try to steal from you in person instead of paying you, but I make sure my pistol is locked to my side, and I usually deal with people at my local police station, reducing the risk even further.

Something else that reduces risk is never let these people into your home so they can see what you've got. Drive to a neutral, public location such as a busy store or police station and do the transaction there.

reply to post by twohawks


Ha! the old check scam, yeah i know those scams very well. once i was scammed by a job this is how it went down:

One day I got a replied message from a couple claiming to be from england, the following day they told me they were going to be moving close to my hometown and they were going be needing a "Helper" because the wife was pregnant and the Husband was going to be busy doing business work traveling for a few months.
In my case they needed me to do a little shopping for them, they gave me a list of things like groceries ect. and a check would arrive next week.
The following week i recieved a check from the mail of about $10,000 so that i can deposit into my account. I was blown away at the time
But I patiently waited for their reply since i had a few more questions.
When I finally got a reply from them it seemed very very fishy because it was TOO straight foward. and then he asked me to send him a portion of his money back to him because one of his other bank accounts failed or something. Thats were it seemed very strange.
Then after a while investigating i realized it was a scam, the check was sent from wisconsin and everything was fake.

Look, I 'm not an idiot. Nobody took me for anything. This is a different twist that's being used because buyers have been duped into appearing to bye certain items and being hoodwinked into nefarious intent. I'm just giving a heads up to those unfamiliar with these newer processes.

reply to post by _BoneZ_


Been there done that. And if it were for multiple attempts in this regard I wouldn't be posting it now.

Often times it's easy to tell they are scammers, because their command of the English language is extremely poor, and grammatical errors abound. If you look closely, there is always something that will give it away. Those scams have been going around since the internet became popular- quite a few years ago now. They just have to put a new twist on things once in awhile to see if you are all paying attention *LOL*

Have a good week everyone!!

SK

Originally posted by ownbestenemy


Am I just the only one with a "big ego..."

I say let them get scammed. Let nature take its course, because if you haven't learned by now, no amount of media or alternative media will sway you from sending that money.

I say...to try and help the naive and too trusting in life; there are many good souls on this planet...that just don't know...and need people to teach them about scammers; how they operate; and how to avoid them.

reply to post by caladonea


You are far more forgiving than I. Maybe that is a fault; to which end it is to be determined by forces outside of our scope; but it seems obvious to me such ploys are a scam. I am not a child of the Internet nor am I a relic of the past; I am the fortunate one who grew up during the transition. From old to new, I saw the development of what was, to what is.

Age old wisdom helps me recognize such scams and new age savvy helps me know how to spot them.

Do you actually still use checks over there?

Has to be over 15-20 years since the last time I saw one. They are obsolete here.
But offcourse, new scams pop up to adapt the payment methods.

Originally posted by Gromle
Do you actually still use checks over there?

Has to be over 15-20 years since the last time I saw one. They are obsolete here.
But offcourse, new scams pop up to adapt the payment methods.

Checks still are being used. Just received mine from my former leaser. They are far and few between but many normal people know where they are from and where they are going to.

Originally posted by ownbestenemy

Originally posted by Gromle
Do you actually still use checks over there?

Has to be over 15-20 years since the last time I saw one. They are obsolete here.
But offcourse, new scams pop up to adapt the payment methods.

Checks still are being used. Just received mine from my former leaser. They are far and few between but many normal people know where they are from and where they are going to.

Ah ok. Never used them myself, but I remeber seeing my parents use them.
I guess that about 95% of the payments here goes online, the final 5% cash.