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Customer Engagement & Retention

Craigslist Scams Revisited – 5 Main Scam Indicators

It’s funny how creative people get on Craigslist and other Free Classifieds.

The scariest thing is that I’ll bet their “creativity” is actually working on a few people.

I’ve written similar posts about Craigslist scams before, but the one I was the target for recently was a bit more unique.

I recently posted an ad on Craigslist for a 2008 Honda Civic. Basically I’m just testing the market on a car I’m leasing for business, but I think it’s an interesting case study too.

Here are a few of the emails I’ve received:

First Indicator of a Craigslist Scam:

The vagueness of the question. “Is this posting…”

Tip: If someone sends you an email that doesn’t say EXACTLY what the product is, it’s probably a scam.

Second Indicator of a Craigslist Scam:

The follow-up email they sent:

What made this scam attempt a bit unique was that they mentioned the brand of the car I am attempting to sell.

Most follow-up emails will still be vague and un-targeted.

Third Indicator of a Craigslist Scam

Offering MORE than the asking price. Maybe this has really happened for some, but I’ve been selling and buying things on Craigslist for 4 years now and have NEVER seen this happen.

The people who use Craigslist legally are generally looking for good deals.

Forth Indicator of a Craigslist Scam

Shipping, Out of Country Transaction, Asking for PayPal email ID, Shipping Companies, etc.

Fifth Indicator of a Craigslist Scam

Bad Grammar!

I mean, it’s not a requirement to spell or write correctly to sell things online, but things like “Hoping to read back from you soonest…” is pretty obvious.

Again, the thing I thought to be creative on this one was that they actually did mention the brand of the product when they emailed back.

Got this warning on another Free Classified website that applies to Craigslist too.

[Website name] is meant to be a local service for those in Utah and the immediately surrounding areas. However, individuals outside of the country will frequently contact sellers or post their own fraudulent ads. Do not be misled! These are not honest people with exceptional deals, but criminals trying to take your money. Watch for the following signs:1. Buyer explains that they are currently out of the county.

2. Buyer offers to pay with a money order or cashiers check for significantly more than the asked for price.

3. Buyer explains that a third party or service will pick up or deliver the item.

4. Email inquiry is poorly written, generic, or strange sounding.

5. Offer is simply too good to be true.

Have you received emails like these when selling products on Craigslist?

If you’d like help listing items on Craigslist in a professional way, contact us today. (include “CL Listing Help” in the message for a special MM discount)

UPDATE

I just received another email this morning, another perfect example of an attempted Craigslist Scam.

Notice how they follow they same warnings we’ve talked about:

  • “…item posted…” (not specific about WHAT the product is)
  • “…ready to pay for it immediately without any delay…” (this doesn’t happen very often, if at all, on Craigslist)
  • “…tell me what price exactly will be your best asking price…will wait to read from you.” (grammar and unclear – if they had actually looked at the product, they would KNOW the asking price)

ANOTHER UPDATE

Hope these updates help you in your quest to make money via Craigslist:

306 replies on “Craigslist Scams Revisited – 5 Main Scam Indicators”

Interesting. This is a timely article as there are ongoing scams on Craigslist, along with some horror stories. I was warned about them several years ago and frankly, with so many options available, I don’t have the need to use Craigslist.

Having said that, I’m not suggesting that Craigslist doesn’t work, it’s just that I feel their policies are not being as well enforced as they should be. As with anything, the watchword should be buyer/seller beware.

one thing that tips me off is the person offering way too much information as that example. i don’t care if they are buying it for their grandmother or how she is, etc., i just want my money. this is true of all liars, they give out too many details. i had a guy email me to try and steal my motorcycle. he told me he was a marine biologist out to sea and had to use paypal to buy my bike for his son. i needed to send my paypal account info (another tipoff). he would put the money in my account and his agent would come and get the bike. i told him i had business with a credit card terminal, send his cc#, expiration date and three digit code from back, deal could be done instantly. he said “fuck you” and was gone. i called paypal and as i thought, i would have gotten stuck with no bike or money as they hold the funds in my account for three weeks to make sure money is there and not some bogus cashier’s check. i sold a harley through the paper and told him cash only. he paid with 150 $100 bills. sold a porsche the same way, cash. don’t be a chump…

I think I had the same guy answer my ad for motorcycle – saying that he was a marine biologist and wanting my pay pal account info. He must be still out there.

Same thing happened to me trying to sell a motorcycle. Ocean Engineer, out to sea; alias, Barbara Jones; husband emailed & asked me to email his wife. She wanted to buy as a gift for dad. Open PayPal acct, she will pay for Money Gram chg, & moving company (approx 10 hrs away), will come pick up. Rcvd very poor ltr from “PayPal” threatening me if I did not go thru with transaction after I told her to have husband send money to local bike dealership & movers could pick up there. Last I heard from her!

Hey guys, hey obvious is this SCAM???

Hello!
Thanks for getting back to me let’s do like this, actually now I’m
not in town for now, due to we are very busy at this point preparing
for our wedding. i wont be able to meet with you to see the item but
am ok with the price that you listed on the advert. i will contact my
secretary to issue a Check out to you and when you received the check
And for you to know that an truly serious about this, I will pay an
extra 50 to hold it down for me, I will make arrangement for pickup
once you receive the check. So get back to me with below details to
mail the check out to you asap.

Name:
Address:
City:
State:
Postal Code:
Phone Number:
Total amount for the item:
Item Name:

And as soon as this is provided, the payment will be mail to you and i
will let you know when its mailed out. I need you to be honest with
the sale as I am a God fearing person. Note you don’t need to worry
about shipping the items for me as soon as you have the check and have
the check cash i will make arrangement for the pick up myself.

Thanks,Mary Jude.
Show original message

Yes these people are still out there, I posted an ad last night for my motorcycle, and at 5:30am this morning I get a text saying they are in the military out at sea wanting to buy the motorcycle for an uncle, they ask for my name I set up my PayPal account with and PayPal email, they say they have an agent to pick up the motorcycle, I respond asking if they can call me and I can only accept cash and then the agent can pick up the motorcycle at the same time, funny they did not respond back……I called the number back and got an answering service, this was definitely a SCAM!

This crap is way out of control. What we need is some professional vigilantes to hunt these scumbags down. And break their kneecaps just for starters and photograph them in agony and place their names and addresses on craigslist for all to see. Breaking their fingers would be good too. That way if they tried another scam they would feel the pain. The law is useless. I’m old school. This method works trust me. An older kid was bulling my six year old son. I told my boy this if this kid does it again you punch him as hard as you can right smack in the nose and tell him don’t ever touch me again. My boy made me proud. He got in trouble for it the school protects bullies. I told him you did right and asked him if that bully was still mean. He said oh no daddy he’s real nice to me Now! Cause pain get results

Kevin, do you have a Trek 220 girls bike for sale? I am trying to figure out how to contact you because the number on your ad is saying it’s not a working number. Please update the number and post the ad, I’ll call you, would like to buy before Christmas, thanks!

Hell yeah that’s how we do it. I told my boy the same thing, but my son didn’t want to be in trouble at school. I always told him not to fight unless you’re defending yourself.

I’m glad I read this. All 5 of your indicators were present in my recent case. Yesterday I posted my PS3 and some games for sale. I’m wanting to sell them and get a Xbox 360 because I can get more from a private buyer then selling them to GameStop. First of, the “buyer” had HORRIBLE grammar. Second, they were asking to buy it as a birthday gift for a girlfriend who lives “out of state”. They offered me $100 more then the asking price to ship it USPS express mail. Their idea of “out of state” turned out to be Nigeria when I asked for the shipping address. From that point I knew something was fishy. They requested to make the payment through PayPal. I gave them my PayPal email to send the money. Its currently pending awaiting the tracking number of the shipped items. After reading up on scams with Craigslist. Too many scams mentioned the same thing, most included Nigeria and the exact postal code I was given, 234039. Other sellers beware! I haven’t shipped the items, and after this I’ve contacted PayPal cancelling the transaction.

I posted 3 Atvs and 1 trailer on craigslist, for the amount i put 1500 because i could only put the price of 1 and that was the highest priced one i have. But I put in the description bla bla bla ill take 1500 no less. The secound was bla bla no less than 1200. Third was bla no less than 250. Then the trailer no less than 275. So a guy text me wanting to buy, Most of the time well all the time ppl want to know things about it and still try to jew you down. Well he didnt, and i didnt post any pics. I thought well maybe he miss understood the posting and thought i was selling it all for 1500. So i told him that if he wants to get everything i will take 2700. He said ok, asked me to set up google checkout, i have never heard of it, but did it anyways. Then he asked for email add. Then i had to check my email for a shipping com. It was Widget moving company, i had to ver. my add. I did, then he said the money 2700 plus 400 for shipping has been taken off his credit card and put into Google checkout. I got a email from them saying it has been, but pending that i needed to ver. by sending 400 bucks the shipping through western and then my money would be on my card. Well Im not dumb when it comes to my money. So i contacted Google checkout through the email they sent me, The number i called said they wasnt taking calls at that time so i emailed them. I told them someone wants to buy an item and pay through google check out and i wasnt sure if it was a scam. A hour later i get a email saying that his money went through and i cant get it till i ver. by western 400 bucks and name add and a number. It all sounded good but to many mistakes were made u shouldnt half to pay that kind of money to get ur money.If someone spends that kind off money without seeing atleast some pics, than its a scam or a really Dumb body that has more money than they know what to do with. And yes he sounded as if he was from across the sea somewhere. Gramer ten times worse than mine. Wont answer a call always half to call u back. Everyone watch those guys they are very smart think about it most of the time if u see rag heads they are doctors surgens and really good scamers. Wish there was away i could reverse it on him and someone take his money then invest it into catching these lil punks. I hope this helps someone, it was really hard to find anything about sellers getting scamed like this it was always buyers.

Scam Thanks for the reply; I appreciate it. I’m okay with the price and I’m ready to buy from you plus I’ll be adding an extra $50 just to have an advantage over other potential buyers as I understand I may not be the only interested buyer; just something I picked up along the way. My mode of payment will be via Check and it will be sent by UPS Overnight delivery. I will be responsible for the pick-up (pickers will only show up at your location after you have your payment), and in addition the movers’ fees will be added to your payment so as to avoid needless delay; they will schedule an appropriate time for the pick-up after you have your payment as I have other properties waiting to be moved alongside yours. Will be great to just come in person and examine what I’m about to buy but my work schedule wouldn’t let me nonetheless I trust the details provided is sufficient; conversely, more pictures will be deeply appreciated just to satisfy my fiancée. Should you agreed to sell for me; I will need the name you want written on the check and the address you want the payment sent out to (NO P.O BOX), your cell phone will be appreciated too (so I can have it saved in case I need to call)

Nice article. I deal with the same issues. It seems I expect the scam messages. I attempted to sells domains on Craig’s List. 99% of all inquiries generate either job responses or bad leads to purchase the item.

CL should make it mandatory to log in. Any person deemed in violation would be held accountable, such as their account being canceled. I waste my time responding to these scam messages. It’s frustrating. They need to figure out a more effective strategy to counter the scams.

Nicely written article.

I am not trying to be mean here but when you are knocking the bad grammar and mis spelling from the scammers, please proof read your own comments that also have bad grammar and mis spelled words lol.
Just saying!

My sister was trying to sell her elliptical machine on Craigslist and ran into a woman offering to pay more than she was asking. Subsequent emails revealed the woman was out of town and willing to pay by money order; the next email was where her money orders were switched and my sister was going to receive the money order for an increased amount and she was to return the money by Western Union…yeah, okay! I’m not certain if my sister will receive the money order, but it will be delivered to her local police station!

I’m so glad that I’m not the only one this has happened to. I am currently in the process of sending back a check that was written for $1100 more than my asking price for what we were selling… The buyer is from Minnesota (which I only found out from the FedEx shipping label – the buyer never actually told me) and the check was written by someone other than the buyer and the company was from Los Angeles, CA. On top of that, the buyer was using a “moving company” to pick up the piece from us and currently, the “moving company” is in NY, NY “picking up some other items”. The buyer asked that I wire the extra $1100 to a contact with the “moving company” so they could come to my house to pick up the item. NO THANK YOU! I asked him to clarify some of my questions with the transaction and he never did. That check is not getting cashed but will be on the first truck back to Minnesota!!

Yeah I fell for this and now owe my bank $2600! I am an idiot and could just puke that this has happened to me. I am a single mother with very little money.

I am so sorry to hear this. There a re many scammers out there but the most common and effective (that people continuously fall for is the “refund” scam. If anyone asks you to deposit a check or money order and refund them the difference or asks you to mail the difference to someone else and the money is drawn on your account, it is a scam! Also, it is very hard to race the third party who actually absconds with your money.

Don’t feel too bad I just had the same thing happen 2500 bucks- I thought I was giving the guy a hand because I’ve been in the same position having been in the military- sent the money then he asked for the rest the next day due to backing out of the deal, next thing i know the check was a fraud and the bank says i owe them becuase of it.

The worst thing is that NOTHING is being done about it! The police can do nothing and my bank did nothing. I TOLD them that I thought it may be a bad check! They should have been trained to give much better advice than they did. I didn’t know I had to wait almost a week for it to clear.

I use CRAIGSPAL

Been finding and FLAGGING many scammers.

It’s us versus them (scamers), If everyone flags his own “niche” of search that daily browse , craigslist will be CLEAN!!! of spammers and scammers. Craigslist removes post flagged from multiple IP addresses, if we have everyone search narrow to his own niche and flag spam posts, we get clean result.

I recommend this application to all my friends, and we keep our craigslist niche clean!

just 2 cents…..

i just encountered what i read in your articles! I have a car
listed on cl and recieved emails from -roland bort-stating
he wanted the car a.s.a.p. &he would have it picked up.
he would pay with cashiers check or money order or if
i preferred,i could send him my banking information!
not going to happen! i emailed him back stating that i
would accept a cashiers check &that was the last i
heard from him! his email address was …….thanks for posting your information about
scammers….howard byrd lenoirn.c.

We were selling a motorcycle. A guy wrote that he wanted it, was out of the country and would send a check via Fed Ex. The check arrived 2200.00 OVER asking price, allegedly for shipping overseas. We deposited the check and it CLEARED. Have not shipped the bike and will now call he bank to see if a cleared check can still bounce.

I’m not “certified” to give you advice but I would say BE. CAREFUL!

There’s a reason Craigslist warns, over and over again, about doing business with people locally.

I hope it all works out for you but I’m awful leery of oversees check stuff on Craigslist.

the same thing is happening to me dont know what to do got a CHECK 2100 OVER asking price not sure what to do thinking this is a bad scam dont know if i should even try and deposit the money?

the banks clear the check but it really doesn’t clear for several weeks don’t touch that money and contact your bank!

Here is another Craiglist scammer. His email address is
david************@gmail.com

Hello,

How are you doing this morning? Sorry for the little delay in payment, the payment has been mailed out to you via FedEx, here’s the FedEx tracking #794*************** for the payment which would be delivered to you this morning and the movers coordinator’s information below…

Name: Charlse***********
Address : 2912 *********
Denver, CO 80****

As I’ve told you initially that the movers fee will be included in the payment, so the overpayment is meant to cover the cost of shipment for the item alongside my other properties including tax and insurance plus the movers fee.

Please do act accordingly as agreed after deducting your money for the item, make the rest fund available to the movers coordinator’s info via Western Union at any of their location around you and get back to me with the Western union details below (as it appears on the receipt) so i can contact the movers for the pick-up at your location …. Deduct the western union transfer charges from my fund also $40 for yourself (meant for any hassle or run around).

Sender’s name and address (as it appears on Western union receipt)
Money Transfer Control Number (MTCN 10 digits #)
Actual amount sent.

Do let me know your schedule for the rest of the week/weekend regarding pickup as i have some other properties to be moved alongside the item.

Hope i can trust you with the overpayment and this will be done in good faith. Your Honesty and transparency will be appreciated.

Thanks for your patience and understanding,
Regards.

Here’s a few examples that I’ve received…. the email address is dosezelbrat123@gmail.com

Hello,
Thanks for your reply concerning my inquiry and sorry for the late
reply,am quite comfortable with the condition of the item since i
won’t be making any repairs on it,i would mine adding extra $50 to
your asking price for keeping it for me. I am paying by Check/money
order. It will take few days for payment to get to you. As per
pick-up,You don’t need to worry about that as i have a Moving company
I will make arrangement with for the pick-up after payment has been
received by you . Kindly reply with your details on where the Payment
should be send to. I will let you know how i intend to pick it up.

Here is the information needed for the payment below.

(1) Full Names

(2) Mailing address, No P.O.Box Please

(3) Your direct Telephone Numbers(Home or Office and Cell)

Note:
As soon as you have your money in hand we can talk about the pickingup
of the item ok. I would like you to take the posting off craigslist
today.
Thanks and have a Blessed Day.

—————————————————————–

Hello,
How are you doing,i hope you are fine and alright.I have been
busy myself but doing great.There is something i think i must bring to
your notice.After a reconciliation of my account,i discovered that
somehow my partner must have over paid you.The payment that was meant
for another transaction was sent to you and the one meant for you was
sent to another,however i want to believe i wont have a problem with
you.
Please once you receive your payment,i will like you to deduct your
money and send the remaining via western union to the manager of the
shipping company that will help me with the pickup.I will provide the
info you need to complete the western union transfer once you receive
payment.Thanks once again for your understanding.
Warm regards.

————————————————————————————

Hello,
I will like to let you know that the payment will be delivered to you
this morning via Fedex with this tracking # (7*************),once you
cash it at your Bank,deduct your payment and send the remaining
balance to the shipping company information via Western Union in cash.
I got in touch with the moving company concerning pickup and they
told me to get words with you as to know when you will be available
for them to effect pickup after they have receive their fund.
They gave me their information that will enable the fund gets to
them via Western Union in cash and below is the information of the
Account Manager where you will send the funds to after you have
received the payment.

Use part of the remaining balance to pay for a MINUTE Western Union
Transfer fee.

Receiver’s Full Name : Jeanien Wilson

City : Jamaica

State : NY

Zip code : 11434

Country : United States

After making the payment,you will have to send me the following
information about the transfer so that i can forward it to them.

Money Transfer Control Number (MTCN) :

Senders Name and Address:

Total Amount you send:

Amount for Western Union Transfer Fee:

I will wait to hear from you upon receipt of this email.

N.B: You will have to go to any Western Union location and send the
remaining balance to the shippers information in cash

OMG I THINK I JUST GOT HIT BY THIS GUY TOO. I was saling a coffee table, he is sending me a money order but also said he sent the wrong amout. i have not recieved payment yet. It should be here by monday. where do I turn him in at I saved all messages.

yup….same bs they said to me……..I was desperate to sell the item and really needed the money. Waited a day, bank said the check seemed to be ok…..week later my account is negative $2600.00 and I owe all the money back to the bank. They said it”s not their fault it was a bad check….now it”s my problem. I hope these assholes get caught someday! Until then DO NOT cash the checks!!!!! Shred them!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We were scamed for 3000 dolars on a 4 wheeler! The guy had us western union the money to him claiming he was a women! The deal was to good to be true but we were blinded by it! Problem is people don’t look up scams till they have been scamed! Guess lesson learned just very frustrating!

Good point, ‘people don’t look up scams until they have been scammed.’ That’s exactly what happened to me. I was out of work and a ‘too good to be true’ job offer came up. I was desperate for a job and sent them $350 via Western Union-half of my rent money, that I was going to get back on my first paycheck. Then they told me to be ready to work-online-at 8 am on Monday morning. This started to seem fishy to me, and I checked out the company name. It was a legitimate company, legitimate website and all. They had even linked to the company’s website in their interview. I should have guessed that an interview over Yahoo messenger was sketchy, but like I said, I was desperate for a job. When I logged in at 8 am, to supposedly learn the new program I waited for a response for forty five minutes-totally professional, right? Then the ‘job liason’ or whatever she called herself, asks me to send eight hundred and some dollars to Nigeria. At this point I figured out that this was a scam, and I felt absolutely sick. I am not a stupid person, I just needed a job. I was very fortunate not to have lost more or been evicted, but shame on them! Using dire circumstances to fleece people out of their hard earned money. On top of reporting the incident to the FBI’s Internet Crimes, I reported the incident to the Better Business Bureau and the company who’s name they were using, thinking they might like to know that this was happening under the umbrella of their company ( they even used a the name of a legitimate employee, background info and all) and I all got for my trouble was a snotty e-mail from the BBB telling me I was too stupid to live. This is OBVIOUSLY a big problem, and yet people who get scammed are mocked, and nothing else is done. I wish their was more I could do to help prevent people from the same-or worse-situation.

someone just tried to scam me. the name is dorsey ray and this is what she said.

Do you still have it? is the price negotiable??

i said

yes it is still available but i would like full price because it is in very good condition and it is oak.

she said

hello,
thanks for getting back to me, just so u know i’m okay with the condition and the price and i am ready for its purchase.my form of payment will be by check which can be cashed instantly, or deposited for clearance and after that we could proceed with pick up arrangements so you can be rest assured.Payment with be sent by via UPS or Fed-Ex with a next day air delivery.

I’ll be responsible for the pick-up and the moverspick up money will be included in your payment so as to avoid delay and enable movers to schedule an appropriate time for the pick-up at your location. After the check has been cashed as i have other properties to move alongside.

Would love to come for viewing but i’m afraid it won’t be possible due to my work frame. It won’t fight into my schedule but more pictures would be deeply appreciated deeply. Kindly get back your full name, and address including your cell and land number so i can make out the payment.

Thanks.

does that sound like a scam??

Hello Jasmine,

We’re not by any means “legal council” but, from the looks of the information you pasted here, this would be a great example of a shaddy scam.

The fact that they don’t mention anything specifically about the product, the fact that they don’t mention your name, and the fact that they are having it all shipped are “3 Strikes, You’re Out!”

Good luck selling your stuff on Craigslist!

I was wondering about scams going the other way? I responded to an ad, and whoever wrote back said they were worried about trusting people on CL and wanted to verify who I was, which required me to enter my phone number on a website CLsafteycheck.org…Do you think this is a scam or genuinely worried people?

Yep, that sounds like a scam too. Anytime they ask you to enter information like that to a website or a link, it’s probably a scam. Most of the time, if it’s not a scam, they will provide a contact phone number where you can call them to talk about meeting somewhere in public locally.

Thanks for bringing that to our attention!

I have received several requests like this on my ad. “Send phone number as I have questions” My phone number is included in the ad. Only thing I can figure is if I respond with a number they now have my e:mail address. They have my phone number and by reverse lookup, my address as well. Best bet is to refer them back to the ad.

I almost fell into a horrible CL scam- I answered an ad for an apartment, and the person responded that they were living overseas, so they couldn’t show the apartment, but if I wanted it, they would send the keys over to me. They said that they were a professor, and gave me a story about their background and education. Then when I said that I would take the apartment, it turned out that they wanted me to deposit money through an ebay account, and it would go straight to them, and then the keys would get sent over. They gave detailed instructions on how if I didn’t like the apartment, I would have 14 days to return the keys, and they would give me my money back.

The apartment was basically a too good to be true price for the neighborhood that they said it was located in, but just to be sure I went to the address that they had given, and it was a very nice apartment building. I asked the doorman if there were any residents living overseas who had put an ad out on CL to sublet their apartment, and the doorman told me that it was a scam, and they had been doing it many times. He even told me the name of the person and their email address, before I was able to tell him it. I knew the apt was too good to be true, but I cant believe that this scam has happened before, and I hope that no one has ever fallen for it!!

I have the thing I was looking for a house to rent and they said they just went to Africa for a mission and want somebody to take care of their house for 4yrs they want me to sent the deposit by western union and they will sent me the key by fed ex I went by the and there is people unloading stuff to move in and I knew it was a scam

I just inquired about several cars I saw listed on Craigslist and received responses that just didn’t sit well with me. I decided to do a little investigating and that’s how I found you.

Two of the cars I inquired about generated near identical responses…even though they were different cars and one “seller” lives in Florida and the other is in Ohio. I sent this reply back to “one” of the sellers:

Hi “Jessica”,

Thanks for your reply.
It’s funny how you and “Mrs. Jones” from Ohio are selling your cars for the exact same reason and both your husbands hold the same job! If you really want to pull off a successful scam, you might want to change things up a bit when you send out your email responses!

Hugs and kisses!

“Jim”

The scammers I dealt with are: Patrick Jaynes (a bailiff from Philadelphia), Jessica Stan (from Ft. Lauderdale, FL) and Judith Jones (from Cleveland, OH). “Judith” and “Jessica” were the ones with the near identical email responses.

I haven’t heard from the 4th seller that I contacted but I’m going to go out on a limb and say that it’s probably a scam too!

Patrick Haynes situation can you tell me about that?

Did he reply back to what are the details.

We just tried listing a vase in Craigs List for $250.00. Some guy using his “wife’s” email sent the following:
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 .I will need the
following details to mail the payment as soon as possible.
1.Name to be on the payment _________2.Home address__________
City_________State _________ Zip Code___________3.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 **
Thanks
Name was Mary Williams, address jwjoswill4@gmail.com
Almost fell for it, until my 18 year old computer genius son looked it over, then I really got to thin king about this. I told them I knew they were scammers & I haven’t had an email since.
Thanks,
Liz

this guy or lady whatever is trying to buy an antique from me tryed to cash check noone would cash it thinking it is a scam MAry williams is the email name and the email address is jwjoswill4@gmail.com fell for it dont know what to do now thank you….

i got exactly the same email from exactly the same sender (jwjoswill4@gmail.com) yesterday for an antique dresser I’m selling, and identified it as a scam. i’m adding another bump on this comment thread to increase the likelihood that future googlers will come here before they get tricked. red flags:

1) not interested in seeing the item before buying (would YOU do that?)
2) has an excuse for not giving a phone number (I’ve corresponded with hearing-impaired over phone before, “my phone works by email” is totally bogus)
3) wants to pay via weird method, not in cash or in person
4) payment before receipt clearly constructed to give me a false sense of security.

amazing this thread has been active for over a year! I wish I knew who to report this to. CL seems primarily interested in scam postings, not scam buyers.

if you’re using gmail, i’d recommend hitting the ‘report phishing’ button on their response email. then at least somebody knows about it…

I just got a similar message from the same email addres that you listed.

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 .I will need the
following details to mail the payment as soon as possible.
1.Name to be on the payment _________2.Home address__________
City_________State _________ Zip Code___________3.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 **
Please, send me your physical address for easy and saver delivery
Thanks

I just got that very same email! I didn’t catch on as quickly as you did and gave my address. Then, she said she sent the check and that she has ‘accidentally’ sent it for $1800 over the amount and wanted me to wire it Wester Union to her movers. I thought something was fishy so researched and found all this. I emailed her and told her i would be tearing up her check as soon as it arrived. This time her email was under ‘Jessy Spencer frankfurt2k@hotmail.com‘. I feel so silly that I got pulled that far into it, but I am so glad I found this before I cashed anything! This website is a lifesaver!

Just got one from the same person…

Her email address jwjoswill4@gmail.com

Hello, thanks for getting back to me . Am sorry i will not be able to come and check the item again as i promised . My Dad is very sick . Am still very interested in the item . Please kindly withdraw the advert from C.LIST due to disturbance and i will be giving you $50 for keeping the item for me… Please be informed that i will be paying with a certified check from my Bank ..I will need the following details to mail the payment as soon as
possible…

Name to be on the payment…
Home address___
City____
State____
Zip Code_____
Cell phone #______
final price____

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 ** N.B UPS does not deliver to a P.O box addresses.Thanks

I listed a new top-quality backpack for half of what I paid for it.
The first week I got 4 replies.
All the people had unusual “foreign” names, phone numbers that were in states very far from me and one word responses like “Interested” or “Terrific”,… “call me @ …..”

Didn’t make sense so I ignored them.

We are trying to sell our couch and received wellllll over what we initially asked for. Check out the e-mail below. We received the check, but we are turning it into the police asap. Problem is, we didn’t realize it was a scam until afterwards, so we gave him our phone number. Bigggg mistake.

——-

I’ve just been notified by the movers indicating the pick-up time and date with a detailed explanation from the coordinator regarding the movers fee and they made it clear that all payment should be made to them via western union as a preferred payment including a receipt confirmation prior to pick up.

Here’s the details below:
Receiver’s Name:
Address: .

Do let me know your schedule regarding pickup as i have other properties to be moved alongside.

Please act accordingly as agreed after deducting your money for the item, make the rest fund available to the movers via Western Union at any grocery store or any of their outlets near you and write back with the western union details below (as it is on the receipt) so i can forward to them as confirmation of payment prior to the pick up and they can schedule for it at your location …. Deduct the transfer charges from the remainder also $40 for yourself (meant for any hassle or run around).

I never thought I’d fall for one, its a bit more complicated, I wanted to rent a house and the lady I was emailing told me she was in africa and would send me the key tru fed ex bt I needed to give her a deposit and send it to africa tru money gram then she would send the keys and stuff, then I realized the key was on the house door so I askd her to just gve me the code and if I got it open I’d send her the money, she refused so I thought it was too strange besides the fact that it was a 3 bedroom house for 750 month (too good to be true) I began doing more research on the house to find out the owner wasn’t in africa and he was selling it for more than $380,000 because it was newly remodeled! the neighbors told me they recently had an open house on it last sunday. I called the person I was dealing with and told her I had found out it was a scam, she insisted and began telling me how sad she was for me rejecting the offer! Incredible!! I let go of it and after a while she stoped calling me. This happened today!!

I am selling a tv and have a person in uk that wants to purchase and pay the high shipping. He wants me to send a payment request to him through paypal to pay me. Sounds fishy, but what could I lose by letting him pay me through paypal?

Same here, this AM I received an email from a different email address than where this afternoon’s offer came from. It didn’t ring true. This is what I received this afternoon….

{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 .I will need the
following details to mail the payment as soon as possible.
1.Name to be on the payment _________2.Home address__________
City_________State _________ Zip Code___________3.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 **
Please, send me your physical address for easy and saver delivery
Thanks}

Thanks for yor posts and this site!!!

Warning to others: We just got hit by a scammer trying to sell a Sofa on Craigslist very similar to other emails. There verbiage was the same and we received a check for $2,100 over the asking price wanting us to wire the cash to mover in LA. We are in Chicago, The check mailed from hospital in North Carolina, Check drawn on bank in Lake Charles, LA and mover in LA? I am contacting Craig’s list about this.

Email I received from Louisekelseyx55@sify.com

Hello,

How are you doing today? The check has been delivered via Fedex,Thanks for your honesty towards this transaction so far.Well, the overpayment is meant to cover the cost of shipment for the item alongside my other properties including tax and insurance plus the movers and agent fees.

Please deposit the check today so that it clears tomorrow after the check has cleared,All you have to do is go the bank and have the rest of the money withdrawn in cash and have it sent to the movers via money gram

Here’s the movers information below.

Name : Veronica Ponce
Address : 1172 Isabel Street
City : Los Angeles
state : CA
Post code : 90065

Do let me know your schedule for the week regarding pickup as i have some other properties to be moved alongside the item. Please do act accordingly as agreed after deducting your money for the item, make the rest fund available to the movers via money gram Money Transfer at any of their outlet around you or check on http://www.moneygram.com{click find us} and check for their outlets around and get back to me with the transfer details below (as it appears on the receipt) so i can contact the movers for the pick-up at your location ….Deduct the money gram money transfer charges from my fund also $50 for yourself (meant for any hassle or run around).

1}Sender’s name and address
2}Reference number {which is the 8 digits number on the Money Gram receipt}
3}Actual amount sent after the fee had been deducted

Hope i can trust you with the overpayment? Your Honesty and transparency will be appreciated

I await your response

Your Tracking Information

I just posted some furniture and received inquiries from this exact person – they used three different emails though then it ended up being at this address. They wanted to overpay me by $50 and arrange for movers to come pick everything. Thanks to these posts I just “reported phishing” with google and won’t be responding to this user any more!!

Well, I fell victim to the scams…not once but twice in fhe same week. Now thanks to the wastes if human life, I am homeless. They even webt as far as to quote scripture….

I have a question… is there anything a scam-er can do with a replied emailed?

I have had 2 emails asking for me to call them about the item I listed.
I called and both of them are wrong numbers.
I do not understand. If I reply in an email saying that they gave me the wrong number are they able to get more information on me?
I just do not get it.

Thanks!

i had the same thing happen, i posted two things and had two emails from weird names (one for each item) within a minute of each other. saying to call and the numbers had no area codes, so I ignored them and flagged them. I am not sure what they are trying to do, but it is fishy

I think they use emails to try to fish. I answered a Facebook ad for a trailer and they requested that I send the request via email. I did, then realized the same exact trailer was listed in multiple locations. I tried FB messaging the person back, but it bounced. Soon after that I got all kinds of fishing emails, like “click here to claim your prize” or asking for feedback. I think it’s just a door for them to try to get you to give your personal info on a fake website.

Hi Nate,
I’m think this one could be a scam. Its from henrylopez190@gmail.com. Starts out-
Hello,
I have received your email message. My Sister will be coming from (Hawaii) .She is 36 Years of age. She speaks English fluently. We need you tor elder.o be honest and trustworthy in this Position. And if you dont know hing tow to drive, you will hire a car for her. So kindly provide me with the requested information below so that we can ensure the housing agent get her an apartment which will be closer to your house.Also we will be paying you the first week wages upfront via a certified check.

I did not include the whole email; too long. First off in the craigslist listing it says Caregiver for elder. Since when is someone 36 an elder. Also because I do not know how to send resumes through a computer, I was waiting to get someone to help me and because it was already past 24 hours, I decided to write an email saying I would send the resume later. I included my phone # and said it was from Hawaii. They did not ask for my bank info; just name, address, phone #, age,and marital status. So I was thinking what could they do with that info. Would they have asked me to cash the certified check and send some money back? I would like to post this on craigslist and say its a scam. Is there a way to notify the people at craigslist+

Hi, i encountered the same thing,i just got the check yesterday im guessing its a scam too. from amendomeyer@gmail.com..so have u gotten a check in your mailbox?

How are you doing? I’m sorry for my late response, i got your e-mail
about the Elderly Care position but was unable to reply on time owing
to my busy schedule. My name is David Mayer and my sister (Sherill)
will be coming from (Oregon) and she will be moving before 10th of
next month. she is 59 Years of age, 140lbs and 5.8ft. She speaks
English fluently. We really need someone to take care of her. You must
be honest and trust worthy in this Position.

The work basis/duties are below.-

-You are to be checking on My Sister at least and spend at least 3
hours with her, 3 to 4 times in a week for proper caring and to know
how well about her health and i hope you have little medical
experience? Cos that will be an added advantage.
– You will be earning $400 weekly for handling this job properly.
– You will be driving her to hospital when she is needed for medical
check up which should be at least once in a month and if you don’t
know how to drive, you will hire a car for her but you must go with
her.
— Your working days is flexible.

You will have to prescribe the convenient hours during each of this
days which will not affect your other regular work in case you have
one as this will be a part time work for you and if you want to live
with her in the house for other assistance there will be no problem.
If you are okay with this job conditions, kindly provide me with the
requested information below so that we can ensure that the housing
agent get her an apartment which will be more closer to your house and
I hope about 6 miles will not be too far for you. Also we will be
paying you the first week wages upfront via a Certified Check because
you will help her to get some medical tools like one touch basic
machine, acu-check machine and test trips in any nearest pharmacy
store around.

So I want you to respond back with the following details so that we
can ensure you are ready for the work.

1. Full Name as it will appear on the check payment.
2. Mailing Address, NO P.O BOX PLEASE
3. City
4. State and Zip Code
5. Phone Number
6.Age, Sex and marital status.

I will give you her living address once the rental agent find her a
suitable house. We’ll be awaiting your email soonest so that we can
proceed as you can understand that the date is fast approach.

Kind Regards
David

Thanks so much for responding back with the requested information, i
really appreciate it. I want to inform you that your details will be
forwarded to my sister and the agent who will be getting her the new
APARTMENT somewhere not too far to your area. Also, further details
about her health condition will be forwarded to you as soon as we have
more detail reports from her Doctor but just be aware that she has
diabetis, she walks very slowly and she is pertially impared but could
grap things easily when communicating with her and she is a bit okay
on her own but needed attention often time. Maximum of 2 to 3 hours
each day will be okay for her. So since i can trust you on taking care
of my sister, i believe you can take care of things for her and i
believe she is in good hands. The payment of $2875 will be sent to you
which you will be deducting your first week payment of ($400) that I
already promised and the rest of the fund will be needed for the
purchase of some needed items for her and payment for the Rental Agent
for the new apartment she will be staying in your area. I will be
sending the information of the rental agent to you upon the
confirmation that you have received the check payment, I am entrusting
you on this payment that will be coming to you and I will need your
full trust along this line because I must ensure of your honesty and
full satisfactory of your well being.

Kindly let me know if you are okay with the term and condition for the
job and if i can trust you with this. I would also need you to confirm
the information below if they are correct to avoid mistakes when
sending the check payment to you and ensure that you include your Cell
phone number to reach you…

I recieved the same type of scam email from a “david myer” and “peter Miller” asking for the same typed of contact information. Do not give them your personal info!!!

I have an item currently listed on CL – $350. Received email asking “is it still available” – I replied that it was. Received second email stating he would buy it – He was going out of the country but would have an assistant mail me a Cashiers Check or MO and arrange for it to be picked up once the funds had cleared. He asked for my name, address and phone number. I replied with my phone number only – telling him I’d give him my address once I had spoken to him. Assuming I hear from him – I’m going to tell him to mail the Cashiers Check or MO to whomever he has arranged to pick the item up, have them cash it – and bring me the cash.

I received two suspicious e-mail offers today, one from brucesmith0006@gmail.com and the other from nichojohn001@gmail.com. Both emails contain similar text, something like this:

Hello,
Thanks for your response in business time,i would have love to call you but due to the schedule of my work,i will need your name and address with your phone number for payment,As am only able to make payment by certified check, because i am on business trips and i will be pleased if you can send me more pictures.It will take some days for the payment to get to you.As per pick-up, I will make arrangement for the pick-up after payment has been received and cleared in your account.i would not mind adding 50$ if you retain it for me and Please take the posting off Craigslist today and consider it sold to me. Do reply back with your full name and address in which the payment will be mail to you.
Expecting to hear from you soon.
Regards…..

Nicholas

I was initially duped as I am new to Craiglist and gave them my address and phone number. They went on to talk about the “mover” and wiring them the overpayment, so I became suspicious. After reading websites such as this one, I became convinced this was a scam. I linked them a website showing their operation is a scam and they stopped contacting me. I am a bit concerned I gave them my contact information. Any thoughts?

I just got a message from the same email. So far just asking if the item is still available. It will be interesting to see what is sent next. I think giving your contact info is fine. They are long gone fishing for the next victim. I;m guessing most of what you gave them is available in the phone book anyway.

nichojohn001@gmail.com sent me exactly the same emails so glad i checked these sights before i did what he asked i just wrote him back and told him to send me a prepaid credit card we will see what he says about that lmao ty so much

nichojohn001@gmail.com just replied to my sale items and when he asked for my home address and phone number, I told him that all transactions are done in the parking lot of the local police station. Funny, never heard back from him …. sad.

i recieved the same email from Nicholas John today. It was word for word as the one you recieved! I knew it was a scam due to the bad grammer and spaces and gaps in the sentences as if it was a computer generated message!

This is from the same guy

Hello,

I got 10 Pentium M dell laptops . Below are the things needed to be done one on each laptops.

1 Format Hard Drive
2 Install Win Xp with Service Pack 3
3 Microsoft Office Package
4 AVG Virus Software (Free Lifetime Updates)
5 Adobe Acrobat
6 Laptop Cleaning of the keyboard, screen and other case.
7 Diagnostics of the entire system after to check hard, cdsrom, floppy,
etc. Get back to me with your total cost for the services of 10 Laptops. I will pay you with a certified check .

I await your urgent response so that i can make Moving arrangements and payment as soon as possible….
Thanks

Nicholas
—————————————————————————————————Next email from him
I have all the necessary software needed for the service installations….get back with your price so that i can check with other and know who will handle it for me…OK?????

Thanks
—————————————————————————————————Next email from him
Subject:
Re: Recived your inqury
From:
Nicholas john (Add as Preferred Sender)
Date: Tue, Feb 28, 2012 12:55 am
To: Customer Support
Hello,

I got 10 Pentium M dell laptops . Below are the things needed to be done one on each laptops.

1 Format Hard Drive
2 Install Win Xp with Service Pack 3
3 Microsoft Office Package
4 AVG Virus Software (Free Lifetime Updates)
5 Adobe Acrobat
6 Laptop Cleaning of the keyboard, screen and other case.
7 Diagnostics of the entire system after to check hard, cdsrom, floppy,
etc. Get back to me with your total cost for the services of 10 Laptops. I will pay you with a certified check .

I await your urgent response so that i can make Moving arrangements and payment as soon as possible….
Thanks

Nicholas

—————————————————————————————————Next email from him

Thanks for the reply. I am okay with the price i have all the necessary software needed for the service installations…. I will instruct my secretary to prepare a check for you on your name and address .Do send me your full name and address and your phone number so as to prepare the check and shipping of the laptops to your address. i have a reliable shipper that will pickup the laptops when you are done with it and am giving you extra $50 for your running around. I am looking forward to hear from you,so we can have payment and shipping asap.

Thanks
Nicholas

—————————————————————————————————Next email from him

Hello,
Thank you for your response concerning the Repairs. In order to conclude our arrangement concerning the repairing of the laptops, Like I told you my secretary will have the payment mailed out to you. The payment will be certified Check, More so the shipping fee for the laptops to be delivered back to my place will be added to the payment in which will be certified Check and you will send the rest cash balance to the shipper for the pick up of the computer to your place.You will receive the payment by this week and get back to me immediately you receive the payment and i will keep you on posted……… plz i will like you to confirm the info again…..

name
address
address
*** *** ****

Thanks
Nicholas

—————————————————————————————————Last email from him before i googled his name and email
Yes.. I will add the money to ship the laptops both going and back to your money.

I was looking for a job on Craigslist and answered an add for a mystery shopper. I thought it was legit because I have known people that have done this. I received an email back saying that I was “hired” and my assignment was to choose a local Walmart and a local Western Union to asses. The Western Union aspect made me suspicious so I wrote back saying that I wasn’t going to participate. Then I received an email saying that a fed ex. package would be arriving with money orders and instructions, money orders in the amount of $1800. I found the package on my porch and really just wanted to send it back but that would cost $27.00. I still have the money orders. The local police don’t want anything to do with it saying that unless I was a victim of a crime, no crime has been committed. What would you do with the package?

We are trying to sell a car on CL and it is usually pretty easy to tell if an email is fake, if they don’t mention the item, price, etc…. I have NEVER gotten a text that was a scam before, until now. I’m about 99.9% sure it is a scam/spammer. This is what the text message(s) said;

Hello, is your 1996 Buick Roadmaster, Limited – 3,600 on craigslist still for sale (my husband replied “yes”)
Reply:
“Sound great , I accept your price but i would love to know its present condition and the reason why you wanted to sell it then i need to see more pics since i will not be coming to view it in person and i will arrange for the pick up from your side as soon as the payment clears, so kindly get back to me with your paypal email address and full name with the total cost. So i can proceed with the payment as soon as possible. Thanks and hope to hear back from you soon.”

THEN he got another text saying

“I am a serious buyer here is my information Name:Steve Evans Street Address, 30 Leicester Square. City, London. Country, United Kingdom. Postal/Zip Code WC2H 7LA Phone number: 447023076678 but sorry you can’t reach me because i’m on the ship right now…. i can pay you via paypal as only online safe and secure online payment. So kindly sign up at http://www.paypal.com and get back to me with the paypal full name and email address with the total cost so i can make the payment as soon as possible Thanks hope this is alright for you.”

Obviously, super fishy, but I have never had a text like that. I tried searching online for other examples, but couldn’t find any.

I got the same exact email. The person said she was in the military and was not able to come and see the item I was selling. I didn’t reply back and got another email two days later but she or he had a different email address asking got the item and offering to pay through paypal.

I post alot of items on CL. I think for the most part I can spot a scam but, I am as stumped as the few postings above mine. I get an interested party stating “Hey, im interested”.

What exactly is the scam?? Most of the e-mails are from an earthlink account. Names dont usally match but when I responded, 90% of my e-mails were returned for “address unknown”.

Its hard to believe people are still trying the western union or “my shipping company will pick-up”. That one has been being used for a couple of years now.
Lately, i have a couple of generic statements saved that are fairly rude and sarcastic that I like to send back (hopefully, they aren’t REAL people looking to buy…..otherwise, i just lost a sale) but it seems that almost what every interested/potential buyer is these days are nothing but scammers.

Has anyone found anything fishy happening by responding back to a “hey, i’m interested”? i have never given my number but they do get my e-mail address. Can that pose a threat to any of my personal information to someone that might have some computer skills?

I will continue to use CL as there are still a few good people out there looking for good deals just as I am. I agree with all these post above and encourage people to be cautious of ANYTHING that seems fishy or to good to be true. Stay on top of the most up-to date scaqm teqniques.

PS: I almost had a 2010 Fatboy Harley for $3,000 from a widowed woman who moved to Santa Barbara. The bike was in a Florida shipping lot ready to be shipped ANYWHERE as soon as I sent her the money order. I was a little disapointed when i told her I was at the shipping yard and wanted to see the bike and never got a responce back…… guess she already sold it……. I did forget to mention to her i lived in Minnasota and have yet to ever step foot in Florida

I actually pass a few moments of lazy fun by baiting morons like these guys. I’ll play along, give them the number of the desk sergeant at a nearby town’s police station, address for an open field, make up phony Western Union reference numbers, ask a bunch of questions that sound like a newbie might ask, etc.

My favorite scammer scam is to pretend I don’t understand what they’re asking for. When they ask for a phone number, I’ll post back “Do you mean my phone number or any phone number?” Or I’ll write all in low case letter an act like no write good sorry englihs not my tongue plese excuse question an terible spell, yes?

For email spam that’s for male enhancement products, I’ve got my standard reply with even more outrageous claims than they had, like developing 11 inches in three days, etc. I always use a throw away email and false name. It’s all great fun and for a good cause…

I received an e-mail about the treadmill I am selling. I got the samething everyone else is talking about. I’ve told this guy that I’ve sold the treadmill (which I haven’t) but the jerk doesn’t listen. Now he’s sent me a check for 2100.00. I looked up the address on the chech and it’s a casino in California. Now what would a casino want with my treadmill. He’s going to be surprised when he get nothing back.

Here’s one from nichojohn001@gmail.com:

Thanks for your response in business time,i would have love to call you but due to the schedule of my work,i will need your name and address with your phone number for payment,As am only able to make payment by certified check, because i am on business trips and i will be pleased if you can send me more pictures.It will take some days for the payment to get to you.As per pick-up, I will make arrangement for the pick-up after payment has been received and cleared in your account.i would not mind adding 50$ if you retain it for me and Please take the posting off Craigslist today and consider it sold to me. Do reply back with your full name and address in which the payment will be mail to you.
Expecting to hear from you soon.
Regards…..

Nicholas

BTW Here is my response:

Great! That sounds AWESOME
Here’s my name and address, more pics are on the way!

Iam A. Sucker
100 Stickitupmyass Lane
StupidVille, NH 03054
(603)888-8888

– Iam

This is all great information as I almost fell victim but warning signs when off when the “buyer” said she sent a check for nearly $2000 more than the asking price. I’m curious. None of the postings here actually spell out what the next step in the scam is. Do these nutballs ask for bank routing numbers, or social security numbers? Like I said, just curious as it appears most of us have stopped the scam at the very beginning.

That’s the idea, Dave. Now you’re leveraging all the stupidity they can muster and turning it back on them as a veritable force field of idiocy. May the forceps be with you!

I have two “people” wanting to buy my iPhone and have it shipped to Nigeria??? They are wanting to send money to my paypal but the money us in my paypall account! What should I do?

I recently posted an ad for a blackbery on craigslist. I got an email saying they wanted to buy it as a gift for their grandson and that they were out of town so they would send me money via paypal or money order including payment for shipping and offered $100 over asking price. Knowing money order is guarenteed, I agreed to money order and gave him my address. When he told me the address he wanted me to send it to it was to Nigeria. My brother told me this was a scam and not to do it. I researched craigslist scams and I am 99% sure this is a scam. I haven’t sent the phone but I am worried about the fact that I gave him my name and address. Should I be concerned about giving out this information??

By the way.. this website helped tremondously, so thank you!

Purchased this name gogo tent from the guy on a Craigslist in Seattle WA. When I met him I handled him a 100 bucks and he gave me the tent. I didnt ask his name but he has a green jeep and himself is about 6 ft tall. He said that the tent was in good condition. When I brought the tent home it didnt have a pump. I called the guy and he said that he would bring it once he finds him, however he has never picked up his phone. His number is 425 591 4210. If you will happen to buy anything from this person please make sure you take your time and check what he sold you.

I have been trying to sell a sofa and loveseat on CL and am a little suspicious of some people who are satisfied with the price. The warning bells on two of them were that they were using “English” language such as advert instead of ad and draft instead of check. But also the fact that both had the exact same: Hello,

Thanks for the swift response,as the furniture is still available, I
will send a check to cover the cost of my purchase as am completely
satisfied with the “ad”.I will need the details of whom & where to
mail the Check..It will be delivered by USPS…

1.Name to be on the check
2.Home address
3.Mobile #

Kindly delete the advert on Craig’s List as am totally committed to
buying from you and My mover will be coming over for the pick up after
you must have received and cashed the check, Also I would have love to
call but I’m a deaf, So please send me an email only.

Regards

Both people claimed to be deaf. Mike Stone is the name of this one and the other is Julianna Williams.

My real question is this: I received another email from a “deaf” person and we have been corresponding back and forth via email. She has given a lot of quote personal information. She’s a teacher in Rhode Island and her assistant will send out the check (this has been going on for a month). Says that we can text back and forth but because she’s deaf she can’t call. When questioned why I haven’t received the cashier’s check she said she just found out her assistant was in an accident. Just sounds suspicious. Her name is Jade MacFish.

I find it ironic that with one ad I have had 3 deaf people. I’ve told them that I know how to use TTY but they never seem to want to go that route. I commented to my husband that there must be some kind of contest for deaf people to furnish their homes as inexpensively as possible. As much as I want to sell this set I think at this point I’d rather deal with someone locally and lower the price than to be possibly scammed out our money. I’ve personally received some really good deals through CraigsList and will continue to use it.

Sorry it was Elizabeth Williams that had the exact same email, not Julianna Williams and the spelling for Jade is actually Mcfish.

the spelling for Jade is actually Mcfish.

Like the sandwich? I got one from a guy who insisted on being called Breakfast Jack. Sometimes, I think they’re just toying with our psyche.

This morning I got a text from a local number that read, “Found your Furniture on CL, pls get in touch with me on AMY1BDIAZ@gmail.com if it’s available as am texting of a friends phone”. The only thing I found that was odd is that they texted me at 6:30 am. Who does that?

I didn’t think too much of it and emailed. The response I got sounded odd and a little two good to be true. So after google craigslist scams I found there are more people out there claiming to be deaf and not being able to call. This is the email I got from Amy Diaz.

“Thanks for getting back to me,i am interested in purchasing your furniture but the only way I can is through a Check which I will mail to you through UPS

I am willing to wait for the check to clear before the pickup is done. I will be responsible for the pickup and it will be done by my movers,their payment will be included in the check I mail to you.This is all due to me being deaf and It makes it hard to deal with this,Also it will make this transaction better and quicker.

I know you were not expecting this and I would have loved to come for the viewing but I cant.I really want this and am offering an extra 50 for you to delete the Ad and reserve it for me, Am settling into my new house and looking for good furniture deals to furnish my place with

If you are okay with this please send me extra pictures if you have any and get back to me with

Your Full name
Your Physical address
Final price ”

I replied with a few questions and specifically said I would give out my information until she answered my questions. I haven’t had a reply yet.

I received an almost identical e-mail, from amyumdiaz@gmail.com, on 12-18-15 at 4:17 p.m. It came internally through CL, and asked that I use the gmail account. I repliied, and there was that follow-up e-mail. I did furnish my name and address, but don’t see what they gained by that – it’s available in the phone book. I took my ads down over the weekend in response to that, but they’re up again now, and I’ve had other legitimate responses from people. What a waste of time these scammer are!

Most of these posts are worthless as nobody describes the end of the story. What exactly is the scam not the come on. Could it be that it is a special check that can be voided after you send the shipping fee? In cohorts with a fake bank. Somebody expose this thing. How can one lose if the check clears or do they come after your boat before the check clears and pressures you to complete tranaction as they are in a hurry blah blah.

This is why sending an amount more than the asking price is such a common scam. If you deposit a fraudulent check YOU are responsible for it. The check often posts to your account, but that does not mean that the money is drawn from whichever (frequently foreign) bank printed on the check. In the meantime, you have sent the scammer your real money (usually a few thousand dollars), drawn on a real bank. So then you are out however much money you sent, the item, if you ship it to them *and* responsible for depositing a fraudulent check. Don’t fall for it. If it seems too good to be true, it is.

what i have been getting lately its very frustrating for people who are seeking legitimate work,

Hello

How are you doing today thanks for Getting back to me ..Well am very happy to read from you ..And i Just wanna congratulate you that your application as Been Approved..And am Talking this time to assure you that you have been Fully Applied has my Assistant

I’m sure you’ll understand I tend to have a very busy schedule at this point.
Please note that this position is not office based for now because of my frequent travels and tight schedules, it’s a part-time, work from home basis and the flexibilty means that there will be busier weeks than others, so it’s a little difficult judging the exact number of hours you’ll be doing per week.If you can manage your time properly, this job may even give you some extra while you do something else on the side.

I am glad you are willing to work with me and i promise to be a good BOSS .I am also glad on the commitment in working. I have been checking my files and what i would want you to do for me this week is to do shopping for office equipment/printing materials for my new office,A check will be mail to you from a Client this week , the money is needed to get some Tools need for my new office.

So the payment you are receiving is from my Client and the Money is Needed to furnish my New Office , the Money is needed to get some Equipments and tools into the Office .
So once you received the Check all needed for you to do,.. Is for you to deduct your $500 weekly Pay from it and send the remaining money to the Manager to arrnage those Tools inside the Office ,..Well Before They payment get deliver to you I will email you the Tracking Number of the payment and My Manager’s Informations where the rest Of the funds Goes to .Hope you Understand ?

I want you to email me back soon as you received this message for me to be rest assure you are still with me .

I await your mail

Just received the “check” from Jade Macfish (alias Jade Carpenter) it was made out from The Hill School (real school in PA) and for more than the amount of the listed item. Had my bank check everything out and sure enough it was fraud. The check and bank were both in the same town but the routing number was in New York. My bank told me a lot of times the scammers will do this to get your checking information to “clean out” your account. So beware! The newest scam is involving “deaf” people so that they don’t have to talk to you. This check and information will be passed on to our local constable’s office (he’s a personal friend) so maybe something will be done.

here is another one i have recived since starting my work search!!! thses people are unbelivevable

Hello,
Thanks so much for your interest in taking care of my aunty.I have received your email with resume message,My aunty (aunty victoria)will be coming from (chicago IL) and she will be moving on the 15th of NOV.2011.she is 79 years old now and still healthy.she is of 140lbs and 5.8ft. she speaks English fluently.We really need you to be honest and trustworthy with this work. The work basics are below.
You are to be checking on My aunty at least 4 times in a week for proper caring and to know how well about her health and i think you
have little medical experience.
You will be earning $650 for 1 week of handling this work properly.
You will be driving her to hospital when she need arise for proper medical check up at least once in a month and if you don’t know how to
drive, you will hire a car.
Your working days will be Mon,Wednesday, Friday and Saturday.You will have to prescribe the convenient hrs during each of this days
which will not affect your other regular work as this will be a part time work for you and if you want to live with her in the house for
other assistance there will be no problem.
So kindly provide me your full name and mailing address so that we can ensure the housing agent get him an apartment which will be more
closer to your house and I hope about 10 miles will not be too far for you.
Also we would be paying you the first week wages upfront via a Certified Check because you will help her to get some medical tools
like one touch basic machine,acu-check machine and test trips in any nearest pharmacy store around.
So I want you to feed me back with the following details so that we can ensure you are ready for the work.
1. Full Name
2. Mailing Address,
3. City
4. State and Zip Code
5. Phone Number
6.Age, Sex and marital status.
I will be sending you her living address very soon so that you will know where you will be working.I will give you her living address once
the rental agent find her a suitable house.
I will be awaiting your email soonest and we can proceed as you can understand that the date is getting approach.I look forward to read from you
As soon as possible.

I am selling a fuel tank on cl, got one of those scam looking emails, anyway long story short i received a check today for $1100 more than asking price, whats gonna happen if i deposit the check? Cant i just wait to see if it clears? If it does cool if it dont then oh well! Im asking here guys please email me and give me some advice!

I just a scammer try to con me into sending him money today and he used the same techinique listed above. Here is the email:
Thanks for your swift response, I’m seriously interested in buying it
for my Brother this week for surprise gift, your asking price is quite
reasonable and affordable considering others I’ve seen lately, I’ll
take it. I would have loved to come check it out my self but am
currently in camp as military seer instructor for new recruits. I
won’t be able to leave the base until 23th of December. I however
squeezed out time to check this posting as all personal dealings are
highly restricted here, i really want this as a surprise gift for my
brother so i won’t let him know anything about this until it get
delivered to him and due to the fact that phone calls making are
restricted……i will be paying you with my PayPal account because
it’s attached to my bank account and its safe and very secure way to
make payment. If my mode of payment is accepted just send me your
PayPal email address,(Paypal ID) so i can pay in right away. I have a
private courier agent that will come for the pick up after payments
has been made, so no shipping included. I’ll need your name, the
pickup address or location and please include your PayPal email
address for the payment and send me some recent pictures if available
And if you dont have a paypal account, you can easily go to
http://www.paypal.com and sign up. its very easy. I await your reply asap

Thanks Donald

The scammers email that tried to get me to send them money through Western Union on Craigslist is drich1968@gmail.com

Also beware of the International Shippers, they are working with this guy also or might be the same person. They tried using a phoney PayPal account that notified me that I had funds, but I contacted the REAL PayPal and they said it was a scam.

Military Instructor that is able to email at 10:00 and said that he squeezed out time.
Also Capitalized letters that he didn’t have to. ‘B’rother and such

Got the same one.

Message flagged Sunday, April 22, 2012 10:37 AM Thanks for your swift response to my buying inquiry,your asking price
is quite reasonable and affordable considering others I’ve seen
lately, I’ll take it. I would have loved to come check it out my self
but I’m currently in camp as military seer instructor for new
recruits. I however squeezed out time to check this posting as all
personal dealings are highly restricted here, that’s why I’m arranging
for a pick up. I’m buying the item for my Brother in Law, as I’ve
promised him early this year. I really want it to be a big surprise to
him so I wouldn’t want him to know anything about it until it gets
delivered to him. I’m sure he will be more than glad to receive it . I
don’t have access to my bank account online as I don’t have internet
banking. I’m going to arrange for a pickup with a freight company so
you got nothing to worry about.

However, I’ll like to complete the payment part through PayPal for the
safety of both of us. In addition, I’ll need your name, the pickup
address or location and please include your paypal email address for
the payment. If you don’t have paypal account It’s very easy and
secured…just visit http://www.paypal.com and click on signup, after that
you will need to send me the name and email address you have used to
registered with paypal so I can make the payment ASAP.

Regards.


Do you still have this item available for sale? and what’s the present
condition, please get back to me ASAP Thanks.

I think these scammers have software that scours CL for newly posted items becasue the last few times I posted something for sale I received very short “Item still for sale” inquiries within about 20 minutes of the item hitting CL.

The first time I replied it was followed up by the whole “my brothers in the military, I want to buy him a gift, I’ll send a cashier’s check, blah blah blah” email but the address of the sender was different from the original “item still for sale” email.

Got the same reply today from two scammers when I was trying to sell a sofa (glad I did some homework visiting this link!):
“Hello,

Thanks for the swift response,as the item is still available, I will send a check to cover the cost of my purchase as am completely satisfied with the “ad”.I will need the details of whom & where to mail the draft and It will be delivered by the a courier service within 2-3 days.Please note the courier service do not deliver to P.O.Box addresses.

1.Name to be on the check

2.Home address

3.Mobile #

Kindly delete the advert on Craig’sList as am totally committed in buying from you and My mover will be coming over for the pick up after you must have received and cashed the check,I would have love to call but I’m a deaf,So please i will appreciate email conversation and let me know the present condition of the item.

Regards

The second one was almost identical!

I, too, received an offer on my very first posting…

*******
Thanks for the prompt response, I am quite satisfied with the condition .I am also interested and I will like to make an instant purchase, so kindly end the advert on Craigslist, I do not mind adding an extra $25 for you to close the advert on craigslist so that I can be rest assured that I am the prospective buyer, I would have loved to come take a look but I am a very busy man I am very sure you understand. I will also want you to know that I will be paying via Certified Check, and it will be sent to you via courier service due to the distance. You don’t need to bother about the shipment, as that has been taken care of…… So I will need you to provide me with the following information to facilitate the mailing of the check.

1. Full Name on the check
2. Address where payment will be sent to not p.o.box (because my courier service does not deliver to p.o box)
3. City
4. State
5. Zip Code 
6. Phone Number

                           Once again, I will like to remind you that you will not be responsible for shipping as I will have my mover come over as soon as you have cashed the check .

Have A Nice And Rewarding Day Ahead
*******

When the check arrived, it was $2000.00 more than the asking price. Oh, my secretary made a mistake, please wire the additional amount to my movers.

I think the end of the story is, even if you deposit the check and wait for it to clear before you wire the funds back, you will be out the $2,000. A bank has the right to come back to you for depositing bad funds. The check may be drawn on a legit bank, and out of a legit acct, but when the company it is drawn against reconciles its bank statement and finds a bogus check, it will contest it with its bank, who will in turn take the money back from your bank, who will take the money from your account.

Bingo. They have two grand, you don’t.

My question is, why do they always want you to delete the ad from CL? Jerks, now I have to repost, and have lost a week.

so i was looking for a car on craigslist. it was probly a car that was alone more than the asking price with out the 3 grand of mods. this car was DECKED OUT! no way, near a $2,300 asking price. i didnt look into because it seemed way too good to be true.

then, a couple weeks later…
looking at another car. it was also very flashy. price was a little better, but still. seemed too good to be true. what striked me so odd was that… BOTH of the ads on craiglist, were literally an “add”. it was put together with photoshop or any other photo editing program, to make it look better and more appealing.

the last thing that striked me very odd was that…
after emailing both of them, they said that the car was sent to “AutoTrader” in Texas. and the last person that bought it couldnt finish the payments. so it is sitting at the “AutoTrader” in texas. no shipping fee because the last person payed for it. i know what auto trader is and it might be in texas, but beside the facts… does it look to good to be true?

I cant believe how similar these all are, i thought something was weird about the email address, both the same and domain (poland), and then the response came….really?

johnsmith01 johnsmith01@tlen.pl

1:29 PM (24 minutes ago)

Thanks for your swift response, I’m seriously interested in buying this for my son, your asking price is quite reasonable and affordable considering others I’ve seen lately, I’ll take it. I would have loved to come check it out my self but am currently in camp as military seer instructor for new recruits. I won’t be able to leave the base until 12th of January 2012. I however squeezed out time to check this posting as all personal dealings are highly restricted here, i really want this as a surprise gift for my son so i won’t let him know anything about this until it get delivered to him and due to the fact that phone calls making are restricted……i will be paying you with my PayPal account because it’s attached to my bank account and its safe and very secure way to make payment. If my mode of payment is accepted just send me your paypal email address,(Paypal ID) so i can pay in right away. I have a private courier agent that will come for the pick up after payments has been made, so no shipping included. I’ll need your name, the pickup address or location and please include your PayPal email address for the payment and send me some recent pictures if available And if you dont have a paypal account, you can easily go to http://www.paypal.com and sign up. its very easy. I await your reply asap

I just received email correspondence similar to the primary example posted by Nate. They said “Still available? get back to me and let me know the service historyand the current condition asap Thanks ”

I replied with the info and gave my phone number for them to contact me then received this one: “Thanks for getting back to me, i just wanted to make sure nothing isbeen left out. I will be buying this for the price you have listed it for. Payment will be sent using PayPal and i will handle the PayPalsurcharge as well. I will arrange with a shipping company to have this picked up at your location once i have paid as i am out of town at themoment. Am a marine engineer and due to the nature of my work, phone calls making are restricted,so you can send me your PayPal email account so that i can send the payment at once and its easy to sign upfor one just log on to http://www.paypal.com, i will be responsible for the pick up charges Note: i’ll also include the Shipping company’s fee so kindly Get back to me with your PayPal email account so i can proceed with the payment asap..Thanks”

Very odd that they want to purchase my vehicle sight unseen……….I didn’t even post pics yet of the vehicle!!!

99.9999% sure that this is a scam, right?

right, the marine engineer. that was what the guy said he was that contacted me about buying my bike for his son while out at sea. i thought marine engineers designed boats and systems? asking if “it’s still available” the same day it is posted is kind of weird too. he asked me that as well.

(this was an email we received from jrphillips.

I was selling toddler toys and got a response from a guy whose email handle came through in my inbox as AA and who wanted me to call him immediately. I didn’t, but we traded several emails to set up a time for him to pick up items, and when he said he was on his way, I gave him my address. He still wanted me to call him, at which point I typed, ” Offer is reneged. You ask too many questions.” He replied rudely, so I’m sure it was some sort of attempted scam, but what exactly can someone do with your phone number that they can’t do with your address?

Thankfully I did a Google search and found this article before I gave him any information. I received a few emails from nichojohn001 @ gmail.com, and I wasn’t 100% sure about them, but they were better than the ones posted already. Here is what he sent me:

Hello,
I got 8 Pentium IV dell laptops . Below are the things needed to be done one on each laptops.
1 Format Hard Drive
2 Install Win Xp with Service Pack 3
3 Microsoft Office Package
4 AVG Virus Software (Free Lifetime Updates)
5 Adobe Acrobat
6 Laptop Cleaning of the keyboard, screen and other case.
7 Diagnostics of the entire system after to check hard, cdsrom, floppy,
etc. Get back to me with your total cost for the services of 8 Laptops. I will pay you with a certified check .
I await your urgent response so that i can make Moving arrangements and payment as soon as possible….
Thanks
Nicholas

Then, after my response, I got this email:
I have all the necessary software needed for the service installations….get back with your price so that i can check with other and know who will handle it for me…OK?????
Thanks
Nicholas

It seemed unprofessional, but I didn’t think illegitimate until I responded and got this email just 5 minutes after:
Thanks for the reply. I am very sorry for the late in response and i am okay with the price i have all the necessary software needed for the service installations…. I will instruct my secretary to prepare a check for you on your name and address .Do send me your full name and address and your phone number so as to prepare the check and shipping of the laptops to your address. i have a reliable shipper that will pickup the laptops when you are done with it and am giving you extra $50 for your running around. I am looking forward to hear from you,so we can have payment and shipping asap.
Thanks
Nicholas

DO NOT trust nichojohn001 @ gmail.com

I got the same thing but with 10 laptops!!

Hello,

I got 10 Pentium M dell laptops . Below are the things needed to be done one on each laptops.

1 Format Hard Drive
2 Install Win Xp with Service Pack 3
3 Microsoft Office Package
4 AVG Virus Software (Free Lifetime Updates)
5 Adobe Acrobat
6 Laptop Cleaning of the keyboard, screen and other case.
7 Diagnostics of the entire system after to check hard, cdsrom, floppy,
etc. Get back to me with your total cost for the services of 10 Laptops. I will pay you with a certified check .

I await your urgent response so that i can make Moving arrangements and payment as soon as possible….
Thanks

Nicholas
—————————————————————————————————Next email from him
I have all the necessary software needed for the service installations….get back with your price so that i can check with other and know who will handle it for me…OK?????

Thanks
—————————————————————————————————Next email from him
Subject:
Re: Recived your inqury
From:
Nicholas john (Add as Preferred Sender)
Date: Tue, Feb 28, 2012 12:55 am
To: Customer Support
Hello,

I got 10 Pentium M dell laptops . Below are the things needed to be done one on each laptops.

1 Format Hard Drive
2 Install Win Xp with Service Pack 3
3 Microsoft Office Package
4 AVG Virus Software (Free Lifetime Updates)
5 Adobe Acrobat
6 Laptop Cleaning of the keyboard, screen and other case.
7 Diagnostics of the entire system after to check hard, cdsrom, floppy,
etc. Get back to me with your total cost for the services of 10 Laptops. I will pay you with a certified check .

I await your urgent response so that i can make Moving arrangements and payment as soon as possible….
Thanks

Nicholas

—————————————————————————————————Next email from him

Thanks for the reply. I am okay with the price i have all the necessary software needed for the service installations…. I will instruct my secretary to prepare a check for you on your name and address .Do send me your full name and address and your phone number so as to prepare the check and shipping of the laptops to your address. i have a reliable shipper that will pickup the laptops when you are done with it and am giving you extra $50 for your running around. I am looking forward to hear from you,so we can have payment and shipping asap.

Thanks
Nicholas

—————————————————————————————————Next email from him

Hello,
Thank you for your response concerning the Repairs. In order to conclude our arrangement concerning the repairing of the laptops, Like I told you my secretary will have the payment mailed out to you. The payment will be certified Check, More so the shipping fee for the laptops to be delivered back to my place will be added to the payment in which will be certified Check and you will send the rest cash balance to the shipper for the pick up of the computer to your place.You will receive the payment by this week and get back to me immediately you receive the payment and i will keep you on posted……… plz i will like you to confirm the info again…..

name
address
address
*** *** ****

Thanks
Nicholas

—————————————————————————————————Last email from him before i googled his name and email
Yes.. I will add the money to ship the laptops both going and back to your money.

Typical Scam Letter, this time from markglover00@gmail.com:

Sounds Good,
Am okay with the price & condition, my mode of payment will be via a Bank Certified Check drawn on my Bank(Bank Of America), i will handle the shipment via my private shipping company, they will come for the pickup when the check clears your bank, the check will be mail via USPS in which i will need your full name and address to mail out the check to you,if this is okay by you,you can proceed to delete the advert on craigslist because i don’t want any other interruption by another buyer.
Thanks
Mack

Funny that “Mark” misspelled his OWN name. Also funny that he uses the same stupid form letter used by the same stupid scammers time and time again…

My response:

Excellent. Please send the check to:
FBI Washington Field Office
601 4th Street NW
Washington, DC 20535
Phone: (202) 278-2000
Use tracking for the mail, and make sure to pay for the mailing with your valid credit card. When you have noted that the check has arrived, let me know right away. I’ll go straight there and your shipper can meet me immediately. How’s that sound?

For some reason, I’m not expecting a non-profane response. *smirk*

This looks VERY FAMILIAR.!:

Something i realized that may help others is that the scammer i encountered yesterday and today used the same name with each message but a different email and the only way to realize this is to scroll over his name(which is uncommon to do) in each diff. email. You can also see this because instead of the email getting longer and longer with each reply, it starts over each time.

Mark Lawrence<— This is the name used & as for the 3 emails; here they are:

leopatrick00@gmail.com
rreric026@gmail.com
lford8983@gmail.com

Here are the three messages i received from him:

1) "Did you still got it for sale?I'm interested."

-2) " Hi,

Thanks for the swift response to my mail,I am highly elated with your
advert,Hence it is still available. I will send a bank check Check via UPS
next day delivery.

I'll be responsible for the pick-up and the pick up money will
be included in your payment to avoid delay and to enable pick up
company to schedule an appropriate time for he pick-up at your
location after check has been cashed,as i have other properties to be
moved alongside with yours.

I would have really love to come for the viewing but due to my
work frame that might not be possible,but if you have the pics,might
want to have a good look. Please do get back to me with your full name
and address including your cell and land number so i can make out
payment.

I'm waiting for reply….


Mark Lawrence.."

-3) "Am still interested like i have said Ill send you certified check is easy to cash in any bank at all and around you I'll be responsible for the pick-up and the pick up money will be included in your payment to avoid delay and to enable pick up company to schedule an appropriate time for the pick-up at your location after check has been cashed,as i have other properties to be moved alongside with yours.lets get on, on this ,kindly avail me your details as am totally committed to having them"

I sent him my info AND THEN read this post.! I'm so glad i did read it though. I wrote him a followup message stating i received another offer cash and that i feel more comfortable with that transaction. Also, that anything sent to me will be mailed back immediately.

My son and husband have been listing items on CList and I can not convince them that I believe the following is a scam….especially since the bank check arrived today….please help me convince them.

Hello,

How are you doing today?As promised, the check finally left origin yesterday and should get to you today unfailingly by USPS Express Mail Delivery with the shipping funds included.Here is the tracking numbers i got at the USPS Office ( Label #: EO 906 958 700 US ) you can track online using the link below so you can make yourself available at time of delivery. https://www.usps.com

Once you have the check, deposit it and when it clears (which shouldn’t take more than a day or two according to my bank), you will be sending the shipping agent the shipping money I added up to enable them make necessary delivery arrangement.

Please you are to deduct your money for the item purchased and send the balance to the movers through Western Union money transfer who will later come for the pickup immediately they confirm the cash payment via Western Union,However, I’m sorry for the inconveniences this might cause you but i’d want to assure you that you can also take out $50 for the run-around to the Western Union.

Also remember that Western Union money transfer charges should be deducted from my money.

Mover’s Details To Send Western Union:

Receiver’s Name: Constance Jones
Receiver’s Address: 47 Country Club Pl
Receiver’s City: Bloomington
Receiver’s State: IL
Receiver’s Zip Code: 61701

So get back to me with the following information on the Western Union receipt.
Senders Name……..
Senders Address….
10 Digit(MTCN)……
Amount sent………

Thanks.

The part that has me concerned is James Morrison (emailer)…check is from Kents Hill School in Maine and address on USPS envelope is Angela Bonaccorsy from Jefferson Hills PA

I was able to at least convince them to have check sent to different address then our home and item is stored elsewhere.

Thanks for any and all help.

I received a similar offer and a check for $2100. Only $1985 more than my asking price. I had the check sent to my office. I asked the sender to call me at my office….no calls, ever. I looked up the school (my school is in NY) online and sent a copy of the check to the school to see if they had issued it. It’s a scam. Don’t cash the check.

CASH IS KING? Maybe not…

Most scams have to do with sending “extra” money somewhere far, far away and then finding out that your certified check was drawn on the First Bank of Etherville. But don’t get too comfy with a local person and good old cash. A nearby city had counterfeit 20s showing up at stores. If you have one, even innocently, and you’re found out, you can look forward to a lot of explaining and losing your “20” and any others like it. Turns out they were some reports of passing some on Craigslist, not huge ticket items like cars but electronics etc. in the $300-$400 range. They would meet in person, give you cash and of course, no ID was needed for it.

Some guy who sells on CL a lot had a great idea that he posted. He said he meets the buyer in a favorite neighborhood bar and gets his bartender friend to check the bills. Just telling buyers to expect this has actually lost him two deals.

If anything sounds funny to you, it might pay to have someone who handles money a lot check the bills, or get the pen and read up on the security items embedded in bills. Even “cash” in person can’t be trusted these days.

ive got a truck for sale and received an email asking condition etc i replied and the next email said her dad was going to buy it for her but needed an idea what the insurance would run she included a link to a web site to for me to get her the info and she and her dad would come after work and buy it. the site is insuremycar365.com something smells funny but i cant see the hitch–just know i dont wan put any in fo on this site–is nthis familiar to anyone

Here is something I feel is suspicious and worth tell you about. I advertised an old Korg analogue synth and an obsolete 4-track cassette. The 4-track might be OK for spares and the Korg for musicians wanting an 80s retro sound. I got two replies from the same person who asked about both things. He replied to each ad with the following:

Hello Dear Seller,

I saw your advert for sale which am i really interested in buying it, Please i don’t mind if i can get further information from you about the
product

such as:
1} Your last asking Price:
2) Why are you selling it:
3) The really owner of it:
4} Its Present Condition:

Your kind gesture will be so much appreciated.
My Regard
—-
What struck me immediately was the mangled English (‘Hello Dear Seller’ / ‘…advert for sale which I am really interested in buying it…’ ) Then there is the fact that it is unlikely that anyone would be interested in both pieces of equipment. The message lacked any interest in precise details of either device. Looked very fishy to me.

i don’t know why i bother using craigslist anymore. i listed a commercial mixer and was contacted right away by adewale damilar… wanting to know if item was still available. adewale??? they should use a phone book to get names.

Hello,

I got 10 Pentium M dell laptops . Below are the things needed to be done one on each laptops.

1 Format Hard Drive
2 Install Win Xp with Service Pack 3
3 Microsoft Office Package
4 AVG Virus Software (Free Lifetime Updates)
5 Adobe Acrobat
6 Laptop Cleaning of the keyboard, screen and other case.
7 Diagnostics of the entire system after to check hard, cdsrom, floppy,
etc. Get back to me with your total cost for the services of 10 Laptops. I will pay you with a certified check .

I await your urgent response so that i can make Moving arrangements and payment as soon as possible….
Thanks

Nicholas
—————————————————————————————————Next email from him
I have all the necessary software needed for the service installations….get back with your price so that i can check with other and know who will handle it for me…OK?????

Thanks
—————————————————————————————————Next email from him
Subject:
Re: Recived your inqury
From:
Nicholas john (Add as Preferred Sender)
Date: Tue, Feb 28, 2012 12:55 am
To: Customer Support
Hello,

I got 10 Pentium M dell laptops . Below are the things needed to be done one on each laptops.

1 Format Hard Drive
2 Install Win Xp with Service Pack 3
3 Microsoft Office Package
4 AVG Virus Software (Free Lifetime Updates)
5 Adobe Acrobat
6 Laptop Cleaning of the keyboard, screen and other case.
7 Diagnostics of the entire system after to check hard, cdsrom, floppy,
etc. Get back to me with your total cost for the services of 10 Laptops. I will pay you with a certified check .

I await your urgent response so that i can make Moving arrangements and payment as soon as possible….
Thanks

Nicholas

—————————————————————————————————Next email from him

Thanks for the reply. I am okay with the price i have all the necessary software needed for the service installations…. I will instruct my secretary to prepare a check for you on your name and address .Do send me your full name and address and your phone number so as to prepare the check and shipping of the laptops to your address. i have a reliable shipper that will pickup the laptops when you are done with it and am giving you extra $50 for your running around. I am looking forward to hear from you,so we can have payment and shipping asap.

Thanks
Nicholas

—————————————————————————————————Next email from him

Hello,
Thank you for your response concerning the Repairs. In order to conclude our arrangement concerning the repairing of the laptops, Like I told you my secretary will have the payment mailed out to you. The payment will be certified Check, More so the shipping fee for the laptops to be delivered back to my place will be added to the payment in which will be certified Check and you will send the rest cash balance to the shipper for the pick up of the computer to your place.You will receive the payment by this week and get back to me immediately you receive the payment and i will keep you on posted……… plz i will like you to confirm the info again…..

name
address
address
*** *** ****

Thanks
Nicholas

—————————————————————————————————Last email from him before i googled his name and email
Yes.. I will add the money to ship the laptops both going and back to your money.

I notice that these scammers are after expensive items. I felt a funny feeling inside when I received their upbeat email. I typed in craigslist scams to see if there were any like it, and there were dozens with the same wording as mine. I didn’t bother to respond. Watch out and try to sell locally.

I have used both CL and Ebay to sell things with some success. I know the CL has a lot of scammers and I have helped friends when they sell on CL to identify them. I just don’t get how people really do this and get away with it. Luckily, I have not been a victim of them. I typically ignore the ones I think are scammers. However, this morning I received an email, and then I replied to it, and then got another email from someone else. But, in the email the “flags” are there for a scam. I looked up scams on CL and found this site. Really great to see that others are trying to help one another identify the scammers. I now feel like writing back that I know he is scamming and I will report him. LOL! Can’t stand these people! Argh!

Here’s the emails:

From: Kevin Grierson
Subject: 7 pieces of Crystal – $80 (CT)
Date: March 14, 2012 3:43:33 AM EDT

DO YOU STILL AVAILABLE 4 SALE?
____________________________________
Me:
Yes, they are. Let me know if you would like to see them. Thanks.
____________________________________
From: john william
Subject: Re: 7 pieces of Crystal – $80 (CT)
Date: March 14, 2012 8:48:53 AM EDT

Hello
My assistant told me that you still have the item 4 sale,I will pay
your asking price. I will likely make payment by check or money order
as its the only way I can pay you at the moment (I am actually out of
the States on a business trip). I will make arrangement for pick-up
after payment has been received by you. I dont mind adding a little
extra thirty ($30) dollars so you can keep it in my favor.you should
get your payment in 4-6 working days, Please keep it in my favor.
Kindly reply with your full name,cell phone number,and address where
payment should be sent,i will appreciate if you can get the ad off
craigslist so i can be sure you are keeping it in my favor .Awaiting
your reply. Best regards

WOW.. I just read every single one of these letters… nice to know I am not the only target.
As I am trying to sell off my jewels for medical payments… my posts seem to have attracted every crook in the book.
Comment to question about “What can they do with phone number-address information.. I checked it out for myself after one of those replies. I was able to cross check phone-address and see a picture of your house, then with “shipping schedule”, I would know when you are home…. HELLO… are you really going to tell someone when your not going to be at home after you have given them your address?

I did learn something new and just in the nick of time… please repeat the post about CASH…
never thought about cash being an issue..Now I know to meet buyers at the bank. Thank you, thank you very much for your energy to keep us informed.
God Luck everyone with your sales… and trust your gut on each response.
I did successfully sell a diamond recently for $xx,xxx. cash. using CL.
Peace,
PnT

So I posted a job resume on cl yesterday. The post was about looking for horse related jobs. I have received over 10 responses and NONE of then are for horse jobs! One guy wants to offer me 530 dollars for 3 days of driving his “wife” around for 2 hours. The guys name is carton roger, he also gave me him professsion, name, age, and where he lived. The other one is for house is for house cleaning, I told him I had a friend who happens to clean houses and he asked if she was staying with and if she was my best friend. Also wanted to play 400 for 3 days aweek for 3 hours a day. His name is Richard Thomas. I really think theses are too good to be true, if someone has heard of these before or has any advice plz help. I am a single mother with 2 kids And I am needing work badly. Thanks!

Scam artist emailed me this after i told him his offer sounded a vit dubious:

All the following indications spoken of above also took place.

You sound skeptic from your email and that’s very wrong,if you are
thinking that I just want to take your money for nothing then that’s
very wrong and sounds so absurd When I know how people work hard to
earn their money.I will never think of taking some kinda advantage
over you and please take that out of your mind that is an awful thing
to think about. Please understand me better.It seems you don’t even
trust your self,because you have to trust yourself to trust another
person.I was not trying to lure you into this, everything about me and
this transaction are 100% real and  OK, i will like you to know one
thing i am a Man of God and i so much believe in him and his words and
i wouldn’t do such a thing when i have blood running through my vein

I currently have an item on CL, and I notice that when i replied to an inquiry it was sent to a different email address. The initial inquiring email seemed legit, hence the reason why I replied. When I did not hear back from the person I check to see if the email was sent, and notice it was sent to a different address. Has anyone had this problem, is it normal, or is this a sure sign of a scam. Thanks.

Hahaha i was suspicious before i read this article…. Now I just wanna shoot a thief.

Thanks for your prompt response and i have decided and concluded
to buy the item from you. I am OK with the cost.And I would be very
glad to inform you that, My Office will be mailing overnight certified
check from my salary to cover the cost of the item as you
requested,I’ll want you to remove the advert from web and consider
this item is sold to me..So i want to be the best offer by offering
you extra $50 to your money as the best offer and i hope you will
keep this item for me.I will be needing the following information to
issue out the payment ..
Name:
Address:
City:
State:
Postal Code:
Country:
Phone Number:
Not P o Box Address:
Total amount for the item :
Also you should be aware that you won’t be responsible for shipping as
i will have my mover come over and pick it up as soon as you received
the check and. I also have some other goods i already bought in other
location which my mover will pick up all together. i will get back to
you once my secretary made the payment out to you.

thanks and warm regards

could i be getting scammed?

i got this email from a “robert felix”

“i will buy both of the item…Hello,
Good day i just got your mail right now and i am okay with the
condition and i will like to
come to see the item but i am not around,so i will pay you via
Certified Check”as soon as you receiving the payment cleared into your
bank account.then my mover will come to your location for the pickup
schedule of the item at your location once the funds cleared.

Please send me all this information to issue Certified Check to you
Full Name to Issue the check,
Street address,City,State,zip-code,Phone number
Please note that not Po.box……I need (Physical address)

Please note that the payment will be delivered to your address and I
will also wait for the funds to cleared in your bank account before my
mover come for the pickup of the item and i
am still waiting for your response now.!

My best to you Regards.


I want know condition of this item.! ”

the thing is, i gave him my info

then he replied

“Hi,
Thanks so much for your mail with your information you sent to me to
issue your payment and as soon as you receive the payment let me know
so that i will contact my shipper for the pickup of the item at your
door step.Asap.

My best to you Regards.”

after reading this article and all the comments, i emailed him saying to cancel the offer.
but now i’m worried what he will do with my info. if i get a check from him, i will just shred it/light it on fire.

I got a similar string of emails and did the same thing you did; I gave him/her my info. Luckily I am moving, but am curious, did he ever do anything with the info you gave him?

Hello everybody i have received about 3 emails now and need some help determining if it is indeed a scam or not. The fist email simply asked if the item was still for sale “Still for sale?” I responded “Sure is i appologize for the delayed response. I have one other person asking about it if he doesnt want it or you give a better offer its all yours.” I then received this

“thanks for the prompt response and i will love to make an instant
purchase,i hope it is in good condition like it stated, i have taken a
close look at the advert,and am completely satisfied so please do
withdraw the advert from Craigslist.I don,t mind adding an extra $50
dollars for you to take the advert down from criagslist, so that i can
be rest assured that am in hand of the item.I will also like you to
know that i will be paying via Money Order or Certified check and you
will get it via Ups/Fdedx courier service it will be an over night
payment…………. You don,t need to bother your self with the
shipment ok,I will take care of that myself…. So I will need you to
provide me with the following information to
facilitate the mailing of the payment….Not p.o.box1.Your full name………….
2.Your physical mailing address………….
3.Your phone number……………
4.and the state ZIP code……………

**Once again ,I will like you to know that you will not be responsible
for shipping of this item . my shipper will move down to your place
for the pick up…as soon as the money order clear. hope you assure
me in hand of the item…

Have a nice day..”
I then replied….. “ied be more than happy to take it down for you as soon as we talk over the phone please contact me at 4408235*** my name is Jon and yes it is in great condition its never been used i opend the box witch had the gas tank in it but the system itself is still in the box.”

I never got that phone call i asked for and then recived another email asking again for my info.

“your address and your phone number so that i can send you the check in time..”

So at this point i begin to think it is a scam but going against my better judgement i sent him my address and full name then looked up this website and then emailed him again saying this… “Since your having a moving company or your friend pick it up i would prefer if you would write the check out to them and then they can pay me the $600 please call me asap so we can figure this out the most legit way possible.” I am now waiting for a response. Can anyone determine if this is a scam or not based on the information i have provided and what is the worst thing that can happend if this does turn out to be a scam and this person now has my name and address?

Here is one..note the scammer cannot even keep his name right. And the idiot does not even know computers have not been around for 50 yrs-must be young.

Shall I send it to this address?

Can I give you an address in Arizona to mail it too? I will send an extra $5 even though it shouldn’t be more due to the flat rates these days. So I can send $30.00 and I will send it as a living expense so that there is no fee taken! and you get the full amount? Hows that sound? I volunteer for needy people and the people in AZ are a family that just got a computer in 50 years! Can you imagine? So this is a gift and then I also donated $72,000 to animals last year from reindeer being tortured over Christmas to Pitbulls that I rescue and Rehabilitate 🙂

Jesse

In a message dated 5/6/2012 8:56:47 A.M. Eastern Daylight Time, aol.com writes:
It looks new. Paypal is fine. Please send me the money and your address and I will mail immediately.

Donna

In a message dated 5/6/2012 12:46:36 A.M. Eastern Daylight Time, WorldNetSources@aol.com writes:
Donna

I can do PayPal does that work? Cosmetically is it like new condition? Or just mechanically?

Thanks!

In a message dated 5/5/2012 11:22:36 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time, ol.com writes:
$25.00 is fine. Do you want to send me a check?

Donna

In a message dated 5/5/2012 2:42:10 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time, WorldNetSources@aol.com writes:
I just sold my tanning salons in Manhasset and Port washington I live in Westchester. Hows $25.00 shipped?

In a message dated 5/5/2012 1:51:33 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time,@aol.com writes:
sure . I gather you are not local.

In a message dated 5/5/2012 1:21:48 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time, WorldNetSources@aol.com writes:
It would cost about $15 would you mail it

In a message dated 5/5/2012 9:23:48 A.M. Eastern Daylight Time, aol.com writes:
Hello

Works well. Not used much-has ink, cables and all paperwork. I was given another multi machine by work (I have a home office). I kept it for a while and we almost never use it. So it is now on Craigslist.

In a message dated 5/5/2012 2:28:30 A.M. Eastern Daylight Time, WorldNetSources@aol.com writes:
** CRAIGSLIST ADVISORY — AVOID SCAMS BY DEALING LOCALLY
** Avoid: wiring money, cross-border deals, work-at-home
** Beware: cashier checks, money orders, escrow, shipping
** More Info: http://www.craigslist.org/about/scams

http://newyork.craigslist.org/lgi/sys/2994909137.html

Printer works fine? Do you have both cables?

Thanks
Sean

——————————————————————————–
This message was remailed to you via: pb872-2994909137@sale.craigslist.org
If this email is a scam or spam please flag it now:
http://www.craigslist.org/flag/20120505062829vv-Sh3uW4RGfABsz4dczrg

New scam I came across at 12;34 pm yesterday. I have dozens of items posted and received 7 emails automatically from 7 different display names with all of them ending in “somerandomstuf.info” offering to trade items posted on Amazon for my item. I received more emails today rom different display names, same ending, offering to trade some of the same items. Thanks, Gafu!

Hello, this is whats going on all the time, I’m frustrated that people like this are ruining online selling and purchasing. Any way I take the time to post this so at least this stupid scammer needs to make another fake email.
Best Regards
——-
Suposed name: Dave Jose
Emails: josdavey0@gmail.com and cliffreal007@gmail.com

first contact:
Hello Seller

Do you still have this item for sell, what is the precent condition, let me know if you are the right owner and i will be happy to see more picture if you got them.

Get back

Thanks

Jose Dave

——————-
My response:

Hello, I don’t deal with no body thats not in my area, CASH ONLY! sorry, no
> scammers.

———————
Second contact:

Am ok with the price and the condition, am buying it for my holiday
because i’ll be coming home soon from our rig as am a petroleum
project engineer and presently on the rig offshore. i won’t be able to
come for the inspection due to the nature of my work, i would have
love to call in person but we have call restriction here due to bad
weather condition and our satellite server has been down. i will be
paying you through PayPal, pls get back to me with your PayPal details
so i can proceed with the payment and once payment has been made i
have a pickup agent who will come to pick it up and deliver it to my
place. kindly end auction on site

Get back with this.

Your Full Name:
Your Paypal Email Address
Phone Number

Cheers

———————————

Ok their it is for what it worth, I hope that any body that is attempting to buy over craigslist or any other free website should first google the email and name of the “buyer”, because I discovered that they are so lazy or stupid that they often use the same emails and names, lets see who tires first!…

Best Regards to all.
Serg.

IF SOMEBODY WAS RIPDOFF BY PAULA STARK AND LEN WAWCZAK, PLEASE LET US KNOW ASAP. WE HAVE COURT DAY ON JULY 2 . THE NAME OF THE FRAUD AUTOBODY SHOP IS PAULA STARK DDA SUOERIOR AUTOMOTIVE ON 4 GRAHAM DR IN ROCKDALE ON THE PAPER/, BUT NOT IN REALITY. IT’S A FRAUD !! WE BEEN THERE, NO SHUCH A BUSNESS ON THE EARTH…. NOW THEY WANT TO SELL OUR CAR ON AUCTION, THEY HIDE IT 1 MONTH/ THEY TOOK IT FOR FIX AFTER CAR ACCEDENT FOR 3-4 DAYS/ . PLEASE CALL US IMMEDIATLY IF YOU GOT SOME PROBLEM WITH THEM. OUR GOLL STOP THIS SCRIME AND GET CAR BACK… 630-488-1490 OR 815-762-1874 KEITH, VERONIKA

Not sure if this is a scam
can someone help
Joe

Thanks for the prompt response..I am ready to buy it now as a
birthday gift for my Dad.Also,am OK with the condition of the
furniture
and the price given.i am at sea at the moment as i am a marine engineer
and due to the nature of my work, phone calls making and visiting of
website are restricted but i squeezed out time to check this advert
and send you an email regarding it. I really want the furniture to be
a surprise for my Dad so i won’t let him know anything about the
furniture until it gets delivered to him, i am sure he will be more
than happy with the furniture. I chose paypal because i don’t have
access to my bank account online as i don’t have internet banking,
but i can pay from my paypal account, as i have my bank a/c
attached to it, i will need you to give me your paypal email address
so i can make the payment asap for the furniture and please if you
don’t have paypal account yet, it is very easy to set up, go to
http://www.paypal.com and get it set up, after you have set it up i will
only need the e-mail address you use for registration with paypal so
as to put the money through. I have a pick up agent that will come
and pick the furniture up after i have make the payment.I would be
glad if my request is favorably considered. Get back to me asap.Thanks

Now they ask for paypal friends and family as a payment. You have NO buyers protection. BEWARE!!!

I’ve been buying and selling on CL for years and haven’t been scammed yet. Started off with using my personal email account, but after so many BS attempts from spammers, scammers and email address collectors. I decided to turn the tables on them and opened up several gmail and yahoo accounts that are dedicated to my CL posts only. I don’t even respond to these replies as I can spot them as soon as I open the replies to my posts. What I have done though, is created a folder for them and instead of deleting them I just move them to the folder – which I have named A**HOLES ON CL. I have copied and pasted only a few of their email addresses below

leopatrick00@gmail.com
miketyl10@gmail.com
arjun645@roadrunner.com
andr5100@att.net
jonathanwolf987567@gmail.com
arnoldbruce78@gmail.com
deena.talano@gmail.com
glenview45x@yahoo.fr
lealjoseph@rocketmail.com
chkrishna0@gmail.com
fcare9876@gmail.com
6548forever@gmail.com
alhunts1980@yahoo.com
chantayauk63@gmail.com
omobolami101@gmail.com
drjohnhoneycutt014@gmail.com
drbnjmnwng@gmail.com
carlonvnhjh@gmail.com
lottiepop1963@yahoo.com
strowland09@gmail.com
josmith032@gmail.com
rosiemaria@sbcglobal.net

I have accumulated THOUSANDS over the last few years and the list grows daily, but I continue to have success and will accept the fact that there will ALWAYS be A**HOLES out to scam you…but only if YOU let them. “Clancy Post”

* Anybody out there besides me even wonder if this site is legit enough to use your real email address..?

One other thing… The use of Google to track down these scammers has worked for me on a number of occasions. I had entered the posters email address into google and was directed to a high school PTA minutes log and found out that the scamster-ette had used both of her email accounts in the log. I proceeded to email back my response to her query of my post to her main email account and asked her by name “Maureen” if she was seriously interested in purchasing, or was she just spamming CL ads. I received a response back about 5 minutes later saying “Sorry, it was a mistake.” I would have loved to have seen the look on her face…

Got contacted by text via yahoo.it from some clown using michaelparker750. Said he would have his shipping agent pick it up. Why do so many scammers use Michael Parker as an alias?

Sadly it is the free thing that makes it such a big target, that and its so easy to post on craigslist. It seems like I see a scam every time I go through their classifieds now a days. I’ve never had issues with scams on sites which cost money to post. People trying to scam others out of money just aren’t likely to part with their own money or the credit or account number they would need to pay for something online.

Its sad that such free services are taken advantage of like that. However dealing with scams is likely going to continue to be the price we pay to be able to post and use craigslist for free.

Can someone tell me why scammers, who respond to YOUR ad, give a real local phone number for you to call? Do they somehow get into your phone system and use it for overseas calls? Thanks.

I got a reply on a furniture ad this evening… I AM INTERESTED

…ok?

Googled the email, and it brought me straight to the “ASSHOLES OF CL”

That’s the most productive my googling has been in a while lol

My husband has a Harley for sale. The day after posting the ad; we got a similar e-mail from an Anthony Crooks. His name was a dead giveaway that it was a scam. Poor grammar, and wanted to quickly pay for the motorcycle sight unseen through Google. The following day, we received a short e-mail from Steven, asking if we still had the item for sale, the day after that, another e-mail from a “merchant marine” that wanted to purchase the Harley for his dad as a surprise birthday gift. If we didn’t have a PayPal account, we should get one (link was attached) and he would pay right away, and his movers to get the Harley. He wanted my PP ID, home address, and phone number. I responded, and said I do not do business electronically, only locally. Explained that there were documents to be signed to transfer a vehicle. He said the mover would take care of that. LOL! Sure! I have not received another scam e-mail since I changed my ad to read, “No PayPal or other forms of electronic transactions, local sale, only.”

I’ve been reading all these but I see nothing similar to our situation. We are selling a boat on CL in PA. We have been conversating with a woman from NY. Hasn’t offered more than asking price, spoke with her on the phone (she called us) suppose to be looking at it Saturday and purchasing it if it’s everything we say it is. BUT is having a hard time understanding why we don’t want to accept her “bank checks”! Also wanted for us to sign the titles without notary. I told my husband we wouldn’t be signing anything without a notary reguardless of what the laws were in NY, our titles states that they need a seal from notary to be transferred. She claims they don’t want to travel with that amount of cash, when my husband asked what kind of check she simply gave us her last name, her husbands last name, their occupations which he is a retired NY police officer. Also stated if we wanted to talk about scams we to think that she is buying something from CL. We said yes but you can see the boat with your own eyes and have the choice to take it or not just as we have the choice to accept the check. She is yet to reply!! I hate to think we lost a honest buyer but I don’t understand why cash is a problem if she is honest! I believe more people get scammed than pulled over on a highway to get robbed when no one knows you have that cash!?! Is this a new approach for scammers?

I was recently duped out of $4,340. This was the result of me responding to a job posting ad for a driver’s position on Craigslist. I received a response from an individual using the name Michael Cosmos. He/She claimed to be out of state and would need a driver to transport his ailing mother around the city where I reside. I was given the break down on what the job duties would involve in the first email. It was explained that he would provide a rental car for me to use for his mothers transportation. We communicated further and I soon received a check of $2,300. which $1,850. would be sent by me to the “mover” of the car via wire transfer. A second check for the same amount was sent to me when it was explained that the moving company for the car was asking for an additional fee. I was told to wire transfer $1,900 and keep the remaining balance. These checks, which I deposited into my bank account both cleared and it wasn’t until a week after depositing the first check that I found out that it was rejected as a result of counterfeit. Today I am struggling to recover as I have been unemployed for 5 months now and have no way to accommodate these funds back into my account. Although this scam had all the signs listed on this site, I was unaware of this sort of crime prior to experiencing it first hand. The worst part is that I have consulted with the local police department, a lawyer and even contacted the postal service to share and obtain as much information as possible to battle this issue but there seems to be no progress, and I have been insulted and treaty as though I deserved what has happened to me. I’m doing my best to maintain my composure.

Yep same thing… The level or depravity to rip someone off who is selling something is one thing but to victimize a person needing a job is is evil on a whole new level… I luckily smelled a scam when he said he was in Clyde Texas on Oil Rig as an Engineer

“Hello,
Thanks for the email and interest in the driving job. I do hope you are a serious applicant regarding this position, I am looking forward to having a good working reference with you at the end. My name is JAMES. I am an engineer and I am presently working on an oil rig in CLYDE TEXAS. I am seeking a driver for my mother she is a Dialysis patient and also DEAF. She lives in (Edited), and she really needs a driver that would be driving her around the city to get various items, Doctor Appointments and other appointments. I have been busy with work. I will like to let you know that this is a permanent job, it could also be temporal depending on your schedule. You will be driving her around for only 3 days in a week within the city ( Mon, Wed & Fri ). You are required to be dependable, dedicated, honest, loyal and trustworthy. I am willing to provide a 2011 Toyota Camry car if you do not have your personal car. You will be offered $25.00/hr and you will be working for 3 times a week to her schedule for 5 hours ( 9am-2pm ) each day. I would be sending you extra funds, that would cover a week’s salary and the balance would go to the Mover’s Agency that would bring the car (2011 Toyota Camry) over to you. It will be greatly appreciated if you accept this offer. I will look forward to having a better service from you. Kindly get back with the information below:
Full Name:
Residential Address in full:
Apt #:
City:
State:
Zip Code :
Phone number:
Driver’s License #
Age:
Sex:

Regards,”

Sorry it happened to you … This scam needs to get heard more i see.

There seems to be some scam, don’t know exaxtly what, but met someone on line, and “she” was setting up a CL account, but having the code sent to my phone, and wanted me to forward it to “her” I cut off communication, don’t know whats up, but something was wrong here!!

I recently posted ad on CL for a table, very same day I get email from dude saying he likes the table and he wants to buy it. Only I needed was to setp Pay Pal Account and send him my Pay Pal Email which I did. He sent me this Bogus Email according to him was coming from Pay Pal. with a link which took me to a Bogus Pay Pal site showing that there is $3,400 including a moving agent fees. I started doubting when I tried to replay the Email failed. I told myself just for fun I am going to play along. He sent me another Email saying that I need to send move agent $ 800 via Western Union and Submit the 10 digits confirmation to “Pay Pal”site and $3,400.00 will be released to my Account. I told him Sure I will send the money first thing in the morning. He mail me again that he was getting fed up that I have not send the money yet and his money was sitting in Pay Pal Account.. I responded you are fed up because you are nothing but fraud, you really thought I was going to send money? Never seen other email from him, but few more tried I did have time to play I just tell them right away that they are fraud and most people can detect yopur BS from Miles away..they also stop emailing.. LESSON is if a deal is too good to be true look the other way…

We recently posted a car for sale on Craiglist — and knew right off when the scam texts started coming — who the heck buys a car in WY when they live on the East Coast !! — The emails were almost identical in wording to the emails mentioned on this website — we have been trying to figure out a way to scam the scammers !!!!!!!! We received texts messages from 516-350-8341 (be sure to Google this number and read about this person) — also from 406-646-6304

I just sold a dirt bike to as guy who came out and paid cash. He did not take the bike yet, but has the title. He said he is shipping the bike to Russia. I am knda freaked out but the deal is in cash

Any thoughts

I haven’t found too much online about this guy yet. But be on the lookout for:
S.J Young
S.J Young

Email is valid and he is out there offering cashiers checks for your merchandise. Here is the email I got from him. We are talking about a $100 item here.

Hello,
Thanks for the response.I am willing to pay your asking price.I will pay by money order as its the only way i can pay you at the moment.I will make arrangement for the pick-up immediately after payment have been received by you. I don’t mind adding an extra thirty dollars so you can keep it in my favor.Please reply with your full names,cell phone number,and address where payment should be sent.Please take the posting off craigslist today and consider it sold to me. Expecting to hear from you soon.
Regards
S.J Young

I got 3 others, that of course offered to pay via PayPal which we have all seen time and time again.

Dang, I wish we could stop this crap. Frustrating… S.J Young, was a new one for me so I’m trying to get it posted out there so someone else doesn’t get scammed!

hi this guy did the same thing with my husband he was selling a sofa on Craig for 350 dollars
and sh young sent him a money gram money orfer for 895 dollars, but i dindt believe in that so
i checked online about money orders scam and i knew it

Craigslist has suffered from quite a lot of scams in the recent days which is not a good thing at all. Such incidents make people skeptical.

Why email saying how much is the product? Is that just to see if you will respond so that they know who they can get their foot in the door with to scam? I don’t reply to single sentence replies on craigslist, because I figure it is a scam. However, I didn’t see why a scam would be to inquire about a price. As opposed to saying I want it, send it to me.

From: stephen terry
Date: January 14, 2013, 1:29:12 AM CST
Subject: Re: 2007 F150 (NRH)

HERE’S Another one from my neice.

Hi there, Thank you for getting back to me.Can you assure me that the
vehicle is in good state and that i will not be disappointed with
it.I’m ready to pay your asking price and to be honest, i wanted to
buy this for my Dad and he is a mechanic, but the issue is I’m a
marine biologist and i do have a contract to go for which starts
tomorrow and am leaving any moment from now.The contract is strictly
no call due to the lack of reception on the sea area. But I’m able to
access email anytime as we will make use of laptop so my only quickest
payment option is PayPal as i can send money via PayPal anytime.Since
I’m requesting this transaction to be done via PayPal, i will be
responsible for all the pay pal fee/charges on this transaction and if
you don’t have an account with paypal,its pretty easy, safe and
secured to open one. Just log on to http://www.paypal.com. I hope we can make
the purchase as fast as possible? I have a mover that will come for it
once payment clears and they will be handling the title for me. So i
look forward to hear from you.

Your PayPal e-Mail Address :
Full name:
Firm Price:

Many Thanks

I just received the exact same text from a guy says ” in good state, will not be disappointed , ready to pay your asking price “. Well practically the whole message is identical. It is a scam all the way and I would like to get ahold of those people.

Oof. I’ve been dealing with craigslist for a while and sold a handful of stuff so I was not ready for this! Someone under the name JAMES LEWIS did the same routine.. “this item”, “your full info, name, address”, “im a busy person on a business trip” then BOOM another e-mail “is this still available?” apparently THAT person is his assistant.
again, offering more money and i demanded cash. my last reply to him was ” You are sending me messages from 4 different e-mails. if you really want “the item” you would’ve made arrangements to have someone physically take care of it here. Also, learn to spell, so you can adequately scam people. ”

like i said, i do love craigslist and ive had great success with it. always meeting the buyer in a public place and never any creepers! so what the hell craigslist??!!

Just found a scam in my inbox today. I got this same email, but with the names changed last year, and sadly I fell for it and now owe the back a little over 2000$$! I will not fall for this one again! I know it is a scam as it is coming from the same exact email it did last year. I am a single mother with almost no money at all and now I am stuck paying the bank back bc of this jerk!

Hello,

Are you willing to work for my family as nanny, housekeeper or maid ? ?

My name is Joseph Mccarthy and my wife name is Anna, we are in the process of relocating to your city and we need someone who can help my wife with some of the house hold chores, running some errands when necessary and in taking care of our daughters (Maggie and Clara )as if they were yours (Mondays through Fridays). You would only be needed for few hours per week at your convenience and will like you to get back to me with your available hours although we are willing to pay $400 weekly.

Let me intimate you more about our precious daughters .Sarah and Cindy are ages 5 & 3 years old respectively and behaves more matured than their age. Our daughters have no allergies and they like playing around with puppies and cats, loves interacting with other kids as well as watching cartoons and i think you would love to have them around as they are very playful and fun loving.

However, i believe Kids should read books and limited TV and electronic entertainment, perhaps you could help out in ensuring a very conducive atmosphere for learning. Myself and my wife are journalists by profession but we both work on shifts. Since you will be spending time with them i’m sure either of us will be around while you watch them sometimes . They are not allergic to any food but dusty, Sarah loves taking snacks a lot while Cindy loves ice cream (vanilla flavor). Well that is all i can tell you about them for now.If you accept our offer, my financier would be needing your address to mail out the check. Kindly get back to me asap with the information below required for confirmation and further proceedings to take place:

Full name:
Contact Address: (No P.O. Box)
Apt #:
Zip Code:
Home & Cell numbers:

We would be arriving on the 28th of Feb but you will be paid upfront, as i will have several small assignments for you to complete prior to our arrival, such as checking our new apartment for necessary supplies, purchasing what may be needed before our arrival, Necessary toiletries and cleaning supplies etc which i will provide you with a list. All we ask from you is honesty and sincerity and am sure you will enjoy the time you will spend with my Daughters.

Kindly get in touch on time so that we can start making arrangements while i await your swift response regards this employment offer and the requested details.

Sincerely,
Mr Joseph Mccarthy
207-200-8549

Yes, do not respond to the e-mails that look fishy. The e-mails that are general in response and just say: “I am interested.” I responded to one and my bisness credit card had fraudulent charges posted the next day. I do not know how they got my account information through my e-mail. luckily I was able to see it and stop it before it got worse. Also, you will get hundreds of spam e-mails per day. Block all you suspect are fishy and look like spam or scam. Do not reply and do not provide any of your personal information. I wish Craigslist made everyone regiter and kept track of the users.

The same guy is contacting me now about a ad I just put on CL today. Almost word for word! Thx for the warning.

Hello,

Thanks for your email and respond toward the Cleaner/housekeeping position , I’m Ina with 6 months pregnancy and this is my first ever child.I am relocating to the area from Hawaii.I’m coming there to do some contract basis with United States Environmental Protection Agency(USEPA) on a private research work in your area,So i need someone who could help me take care of the house by doing some house work while am off to work. Someone that will also help in running some errands.

I will be offering you $350 weekly, i will be needing your services for three hours per week at any suitable time of yours,Mondays through Fridays. I believe you will be fit for this position in as much you will prove yourself to be a reliable and good person.I have a financier that is based in the states and he will be handling the payment and some other expenses, so he will be the one that will be taking care of your the payment, I will instruct him to pay for the first week before our arrival so as to secure your service, actually i should have paid for more weeks but i will extend the payment if am satisfied with your service after the first week.

My financier will be making out a check to you before my arrival,you will be receiving a check of $2150.60 out which you will deducting your pay for the first week of $350 and you will be using the remaining to buy foodstuffs and other things needed in the house ,you will getting this foodstuff on the day of our arrival which is June 30th,2013. Actually all flights from the City from hawaii arrives at nights so you will be getting the foodstuff in the morning and making all other preparations. I will also instruct my estate agent to mail the keys of the apartment to you so that you can do all other necessary preparations before we arrive,I will also email you the shopping list.

You have to get all this shopping before my arrival so that i don’t have to start running around when we arrive, So my financier would be needing the following Information to make out the check to you:

FULL NAME:
MAILING ADDRESS (no P.O.Box please):
CITY:
STATE:
ZIP CODE:
CELL PHONE:
HOME PHONE:
BEST TIME TO CALL:
EMAIL:

All i need from you is total honesty and sincerity. I know you will be committed to the work, You will also have a nice period of working with me.I will be waiting to hear from you.
Thanks for your concern.

Yours.

Ina.

I had a person attempt of scamming me today. Recently I created an ad selling my console with accessories and games. I finally got an offer or at least someone who attempted to contact me today. Like most of you the grammar was absolutely horrible in a funny way. It was similar to the posts you see online by foreign people trying to write in the English language. I have since blocked and deleted the messages so I don’t remember what exactly it said.

Problem One. The phone number was not from my local area. I searched the phone area code and found out it was from somewhere in Ohio. While at it I googled his whole phone number. In one of the results someone anonymous left a post stating “SCAMMER” which made me laugh. After this I replied that it was still available. It took them about four hours to give me a reply. The summary of the reply was the buyer explaining that he wanted to purchase this console for his “cousin.” The buyer continued to ask if I was the original purchaser, how long I’ve used it and why I was selling it.

I answered all his questions. Then the buyer asked what my final price was, and if I had a paypal. Naturally I got tired of acting like I was falling for the buyer’s scam. I told him my final price and also told him that I knew he was a scammer. I actually found this incident amusing instead of becoming angry.

The scammer’s phone number is 567-343-2573

Here’s the scammer who contacted me this morning….asked me for more pictures when I already posted 8 or 9 of them…asking price is in the listing yet asking for it again

Hello! sorry for getting back to you so late. I do really interested to
buy it from you, Actually now I’m not in town for now, I came to visit my
family so i wont be able to meet with you to see the item but am ok
with the price listed on the advert. I don’t mind to pay you additional
$50 to withdraw the advert for you to see how serious i am in the
transaction, and i don’t mind if you can send to me more
picture for me to view. i will contact my secretary to issue a Check
out for you and when you received the check I will make arrangement
for pick up. So get back to me with below details to be on the check
asap.

Full Name:
Address:
City:
State:
Postal Code:
Phone Number:
Your Asking price

And as soon as this is provided, the payment will be overnight to you
and i will let you know when its mailed out. I need you to be honest
with the sale as I am a God fearing person. Note you don’t need to
worry about shipping the items to me as soon as you have the check
and have the check cash my shipper will come over to pick the item up
for me thanks for your understanding hope to hear back from you soon

Thanks

I am selling a dresser and this is the exact same scam I was hit with. Kelsey Barlow. Fosterwbx4@gmail.com. She said she was deaf, pay $50 over asking to send by fed ex and never mentioned the actual item. Glad I read this I will NOT cash the check if I receive it!

Hello fantastic website! Does running a blog similar to this require
a lot of work? I have absolutely no knowledge of computer programming however I had been hoping to start my own blog
in the near future. Anyhow, should you have any suggestions or techniques for new blog owners please share.
I know this is off topic but I simply needed to ask. Thanks
a lot!

I seriously considered falling for this scam. twice! But i remembered the old saying “cash is king”. Thank you so much for starting this posting. You did a good thing.

I got two people trying to scam me for one laptop I had posted. Both texted almost immediately and stated the exact product I was selling (in fact, they sent the post’s title I had made) then one wanted my PayPal info but they money was being held until I email the tracking information to some weird email, the other offered to pay via money order and I received emails supposedly from American Express and then when I refused to ship overseas to Nigeria, he said he was going to report me to the FBI. After that I received a text from “Agent” Tim Brooks from the FBI and he was demanding I ship the package and send him the tracking info or I would be arrested at my residence. The first scammer’s supposed name was Miller Morgan whose address showed the middle of a street in Michigan, and the second was a “Mark Jones” who wanted it shipped to “ROMEO JAZZ 23 ISUOCHI STREET UWANI CITY: ENUGU STATE: ENUGU POSTAL CODE:400001 COUNTRY: NIGERIA” the phone number for the second including the “FBI Agent” were as follows: Mark Jones – (323) 985-1662 and Tim Brooks – (616) 528-8198. I researched and the “FBI” number is a land line for Brooks Fiber Communications in Michigan and the other was a T-mobile number with no name. These are definitely scams and I’m glad I researched before shipping my valuable electronics without payment.

Thanks to research on the internet and these posts, I have avoided a similar scam. I listed my horse for sale on craigslist and received a text from someone say they wanted “it” and they were interested and willing to pay full price. They said they were out to sea working as an oceanographer and wanted to buy for wife. The grammar and spelling in the texts were horrible. All of the texts were also out of order. I had to scroll around and piece them together so they would make sense. They also said that they would be sending me a cashier’s check and when I got the check and confirmed with them then they would send mover’s to my preferred location for pick up.

*help*
I put up a pair of shoes I wanted to sell and what I assume now is a scammer answered. With talks of checks and “moving goods” company. Who sent me a shady “we know you have the money email.” Coupled with bad grammar and preaching about faith in the transaction. Anyway I still have the shoes and it’s been two weeks, now reading this how should I terminate the transaction and should I be worried about the information I gave him? (Name, address, email?) please and thank you.

I had scammers send me there bogus cashiers check 3-4 times, I told them the dog ate it or it flew out the window of the car, on the way to deposit it. they would Fedex me a new one the next day. at one time I had 5 bogus checks on display.

Somebody tell me, please, how can scam take advantage of having my paypal ID e-mail? I bought this today and am worried what passwords or what else do I need to change?

These are the scam emails that I received after putting a post in Craigslist:

+1 669-888-1915
“Hello this is Mary, please in regard to your AD on CL please I actually do have a friend who is need of a room/apt please kindly shoot her an email on lavetaz8q7@gmail.com if the room/apt is still available for rent or shared. Thanks”

+1 914-598-9455
“Rent needed asap? Email me more details abt the rent at chestercoq (gmail)”

+1 334-239-4167
“What’s your rentage charge for your room or sublet. Reply me on sxxphred (gmail) and pls mail contacts required”

“Hello,
I’m so glad to hear its still available for rent. My Name is
Lawrence Clark. Here is little about myself, I’m a Female young lady,
I speak both English and German, am single, and respectful of others,
don’t do drugs. My Mother is from Germany and my Father is from US
California, I’m 24 yrs old. I was born inUSA and i attended Humboldt
University of Berlin Germany. I graduated last year.

I’m coming for a long term stay and i’m ready to sign 6 month
to a year lease as soon as i get there but am presently on research
work at Guam and will be coming for my master’s degree. In June l but
I’ll like to move in anytime because i have to do so many things
before we resume fully for school. I’ll like to pay for the deposit
and a month rent. I would have loved to call you but here is a remote
area, Calls are very hard to go through that was why i ask my friend
to help me out, so please try and understand and also I would have
loved to come and check out the room but i won’t be able due to the
distance, i’ll appreciate some Pics though.

Please I’ll love to know a little about yourself and if you
have garage or parking space cos i will have my own car coming over,
please let me know the total amount for the first month rent and
payment will be done by US Cashier’s & Certified Check. Please i’ll
want you to get back to me with the Pics and the following information
to facilitate the payment.

Full name to write on the check
Full Physical address to post the check
City, State and Zip Code
Cell number:
First Month Rent & Deposit:
Your E-mail Address

Waiting for your e-mail with the information requested so that
i can forward it to my Dad to issue out the check for the deposit and
month rent with that you can hold on the place for me till i come
soon…
Thanks.”

“Thanks so much for the details provided, i’ll forward it to my
Dad right now to issue out payment to you today and get back to you
with the tracking number. I really appreciate that you are ready to
accept in, pls have little patience for the check to be delivered to
your address and also pls secure the room prior my arrival. I’ll
e-mail by giving you an update about the status in regards to the
payment and also provide the tracking number from the courier service,
further more i need you to take the ad down CL, that will give me a
strong prove that the room has been hold prior my arrival so that
other interested people will not make any inquiry.

Regarding my Car. I’m planning on having it delivered to you
before my arrival so that you can come and pick me up at the airport
and settle in comfortably, so i am making arrangement with the car
dealer to deliver the car before my arrival. Once the rent and
security deposit has been received, I’ll ask you for a favor here, can
i rely on you to take delivery of the car for me when it’s delivered ?
I’ll like to know the convenient time for you to receive the car. As
you’ll be handling the delivery of the car along with the rent and
deposit, the car money will be included on the check coming to you.
I’ll really appreciate if you can do this for me and promise to
compensate you adequately for your time and efforts on my arrival into
your place.

Please kindly Let me know if i can trust you to have the car
Dealer’s fund to the car dealership agent once you get the check, i
will be expecting your e-mail as soon as you receive my e-mail.
Thanks so much for your understanding.

My regards,”

AND WHAT ABOUT A CRISTIAN GIRL???…
“Hi Good morning

I am seeking a room that has an attached bathroom and is furnished. my preference for convenience due to work. I work and go to school. so I may be in and out some evenings. I am a professional Female who does not smoke or drink and is seeking a like environment. I am a runner and mountain biker who is respectful and quiet and am seek the same. I am a Christian and my relationship with God is important to me so if that’s an issue I would not be the tenant for you. I look forward to hearing from you at damianstt2773@gmail.com.

Damian”

Just to add to the awesome list that we have going here, anyone named Mark Blareley with the email address of rrsmitty66@gmail is a scammer. They’re getting better, which is not all that encouraging. His initial email to me was harmless and fairly legit in my eyes, telling me he was at CVS near me and would be done somewhere between 20-40 minutes,, then would like to come see the car and if he liked it, was prepared to pay cash. I guess the first red flag should have been the time in CVS. I mean, who spends that much time in CVS? For real? Anyway, I ended up seeing his email about an hour after he sent it so I emailed back with an apology for not getting to it in time. Then he replied with this:

Thanks for the response!

So sorry i won’t make it down to your place as said, i’m reporting back to Camp immediately, due the sickness of the officer in Charge. I’m in
the military and currently heading to Army Garrison Camp Williams popularly known as Camp Williams in Utah, so therefore i won’t be able to come
around for inspection or test driving.

I’m buying the vehicle as a new year gift for my son. I went through your ad and would love to buy the vehicle but meanwhile i’d love to know any
addition info regards the vehicle. Since i’m buying it as i gift i’ll love to know every bit of info regards the vehicle and reply with your
firm price so as to initiate the payment process.

Respond with the vehicle’s present condition and your firm price if you still have it for sale and i’ll respond as soon as i can. This is my number (801) 980-6513.
You could respond via text if you like but Email works best for me since it’s mostly busy here.

Email or text only!! Thanks for understanding and your business.

I was super iffy after that and did a Google search of the name, email, and phone number. Nothing. So I emailed him back, basically telling him everything that was in my ad and asking him how, if he wasn’t in state, he planned on paying for the car and picking it up. Can you guess his answer? I bet you can! PayPal and a moving company!

I was so excited to finally sell my car. Alas, this is one email I will not be replying to.

OMG I just got a similar one from “Mark Blareley but the e-mail he used was: jyymac188@gmail.com

“Thanks for the response!

So sorry i won’t make it down to your place as said, had to Camp report to camp, due the sickness of the officer in Charge. I’m in the military and currently heading to Army Garrison Camp Williams popularly known as Camp Williams in Utah, so therefore i won’t be able to come around for inspection or test driving.

I’m buying the vehicle as a gift for my son. I went through your ad and would love to buy the Vehicle but meanwhile i’d love to know any addition info regards the vehicle. Since i’m buying it as i gift i’ll love to know every bit of info regards the vehicle and reply with your firm price.

Respond with the vehicle’s present condition and your firm price if you still have it for sale and i’ll respond as soon as i can.Email works best for me since it’s mostly busy here.

Thanks for understanding and your business.”

First off he mentions not being able to make it down to my place as was said…I have NO CLUE WHAT HE IS TALKING ABOUT! Lol I almost want to respond to his email with a link to this website. I googled his name and found this!! So thank you for posting!!

I just received the same story from “Mark” (no last name) trying to buy my car, email jyymac188@gmail.com. Google is a powerful research tool! I hope this guy gets caught and thrown in jail! See the message below.

Mark:

“Thanks for the response!

So sorry i won’t make it down to your place as said, i’m reporting back to Camp immediately, due the sickness of the officer in Charge. I’m in
the military and currently heading to Army Garrison Camp Williams popularly known as Camp Williams in Utah, so therefore i won’t be able to come
around for inspection or test driving.

I’m buying the vehicle as a gift for my son. I went through your ad and would love to buy the vehicle but meanwhile i’d love to know any
addition info regards the vehicle. Since i’m buying it as i gift i’ll love to know every bit of info regards the vehicle and reply with your
firm price.

Respond with the vehicle’s present condition and your firm price if you still have it for sale and i’ll respond as soon as i can.
Email works best for me since it’s mostly busy here.

Thanks for understanding and your business.”

My reply: I replied with a lengthy response about the vehicle history

Marks reply: Thanks that works for me, since i’m not local and due to many unreliable ways of making payments online, i’ve decided to use PayPal Payment protection Scheme which protections both the buyer and seller and assures smooth transaction,Kindly get back to me with your paypal email address for payment asap and if you dont have one kindly create it at http://www.paypal. com, it’s easy fast and reliable and pickup would be done by a moving company as soon as payment clears.

My reply:I appreciate your concerns about payment and would like to arrange the safe sale of my vehicle to you. Please contact me on my cell phone XXX-XXX-XXXX at your nearest convenience so we can discuss the arrangements of this sale. I would also like to know your last name and address so I know where to send the bill of sale and title once payment is received. There is a period of time this afternoon that I will not be available 2:30-4:30 due to a meeting, any time other than that is acceptable.

Marks reply: thanks paul all that will be done after payment and before the pick up of the vehicle by the movers, Thanks and get back to me with your paypal email address.

SCAM!!!!

He’s still trying to scam people –

——– Original Message ——–
Subject: Re: (ITEM FOR SALE)
From: Mark Blareley
Date: Thu, March 17, 2016 8:57 am
To: (REDACTED)
Thanks for the response!
So sorry i won’t make it down to your place as said, i’m reporting back to Camp immediately, due the sickness of the officer in Charge. I’m in
the military and currently heading to Army Garrison Camp Williams popularly known as Camp Williams in Utah, so therefore i won’t be able to come
around for inspection or test driving.
I’m buying the vehicle as a gift for my son. I went through your ad and would love to buy the vehicle but meanwhile i’d love to know any
addition info regards the vehicle. Since i’m buying it as i gift i’ll love to know every bit of info regards the vehicle and reply with your
firm price.
Respond with the vehicle’s present condition and your firm price if you still have it for sale and i’ll respond as soon as i can.
Email works best for me since it’s mostly busy here.
Thanks for understanding and your business

This was a scam I just received after posting an item. Initially they texted to ask if we still had the china cabinet, and they listed the price. I replied “Yes” and that was all:

“Thanks for your reply, I am quite comfortable with the condition. I will add $50 to the purchase price for you to hold it for me, It will take 2 days for the payment (CHECK) to get to you, as for delivery, I will make arrangements for the pick-up after you have received payment and it has cleared your account, If this meets your approval, Please provide your Full Name and Address so I can have my assistant get the Check ready.”

Nothing was listed in our add concerning the condition, they never asked about it, and I never mentioned it.

We’ve been posting quite a lot recently (moving) and this is the second text we’ve received from someone saying they wanted to send us a check for the item and they’d arrange delivery after we received the check.

What I’m not certain about is what they can get with just our name and address.

Thanks for this information. I just posted a vehicle on Craigslist yesterday and the scams are already coming. I received a email missing the information mentioned in this article from a gmail account that was actually mentioned in the comments.

Wow I am glad I looked this up.

Just got the same exact reply here for a car I listed:

Mark
“Thanks for the response!

So sorry i won’t make it down to your place as said, i’m reporting back to Camp immediately, due the sickness of the officer in Charge. I’m in
the military and currently heading to Army Garrison Camp Williams popularly known as Camp Williams in Utah, so therefore i won’t be able to come
around for inspection or test driving.

I’m buying the vehicle as a gift for my son. I went through your ad and would love to buy the vehicle but meanwhile i’d love to know any
addition info regards the vehicle. Since i’m buying it as i gift i’ll love to know every bit of info regards the vehicle and reply with your
firm price.

Respond with the vehicle’s present condition and your firm price if you still have it for sale and i’ll respond as soon as i can.
Email works best for me since it’s mostly busy here.

Thanks for understanding and your business.”

another one – today 03/15/2016 – from mark blareley

Thanks for the response!

So sorry i won’t make it down to your place as said, i’m reporting back to Camp immediately, due the sickness of the officer in Charge. I’m in
the military and currently heading to Army Garrison Camp Williams popularly known as Camp Williams in Utah, so therefore i won’t be able to come
around for inspection or test driving.

I’m buying the vehicle as a gift for my son. I went through your ad and would love to buy the vehicle but meanwhile i’d love to know any
addition info regards the vehicle. Since i’m buying it as i gift i’ll love to know every bit of info regards the vehicle and reply with your
firm price.

Respond with the vehicle’s present condition and your firm price if you still have it for sale and i’ll respond as soon as i can.
Email works best for me since it’s mostly busy here.

Thanks for understanding and your business.

He did use the same exact name again :Mark Blareley
On Mon, Mar 14, 2016 at 8:33 AM, Mark wrote:
Thanks for the response!

So sorry i won’t make it down to your place as said, i’m reporting back to Camp immediately, due the sickness of the officer in Charge. I’m in the military and currently heading to Army Garrison Camp Williams popularly known as Camp Williams in Utah, so therefore i won’t be able to come around for inspection or test driving.

I’m buying the vehicle as a gift for my son. I went through your ad and would love to buy the Vehicle but meanwhile i’d love to know any addition info regards the vehicle. Since i’m buying it as i gift i’ll love to know every bit of info regards the vehicle and reply with your firm price.

Respond with the vehicle’s present condition and your firm price if you still have it for sale and i’ll respond as soon as i can.Email works best for me since it’s mostly busy here.

Thanks for understanding and your business.

thank you x1000. I almost got duped twice. Both “ladies” were going to send me extra money on the transaction for shipping one via my paypal account and one via a check to my address.. Then I would have to send the extra money to the person coming to pick up the furniture through moneygram. Why can’t people just be normal and not swindle innocent people trying to get by in life?

Hi there, all is going perfectly here and ofcourse every one is sharing
information, that’s truly excellent, keep up writing.

On Jun 4, 2016, at 4:46 PM, Heather Price wrote:

Hello,

I was just drafting this.Thank you for getting in touch with me,i’m fine with your price as listed and looking to buy your furniture but the only way I can is through a Check which I will mail to you through UPS

I am willing to wait for the check to clear before the pickup is done. I will be responsible for the pickup and it will be done by my movers,their payment will be included in the check I mail to you.This is all due to me being deaf and It makes it hard to deal with this,Also it will make this transaction better and quicker.

I know you were not expecting this and I would have also loved to come for the viewing but I cant as I’m away for surgery.I really want this and am offering an extra 50 for you to delete the Ad and reserve it for me, Am settling into my new house and looking for good furniture deals to furnish my place with

If you are okay with this please send me extra pictures if you have any and get back to me with

1)Your Full name_____
2)Your Physical address _______
3)Final price__________

Add this telephone number 512-333-6108 to email miketyl10@gmail.com to the list of A**HOLES ON CL

“Hello, thx for getting back to me, i’m Mike Taylor, i work as a naval reactors engineer and currently in the base…so i won’t be able to come for the inspection due to the nature of my work.i’d appreciate if you email me with more closeup pics for a better look since i wouldn’t be be able to see this in person, but i have a mover who is gonna be coming to your location only after payment has been made and cleared, so i’ve chosen to have this done via paypal as it’s the easiest and safest way to pay online, i have a couple of questions for you below and i want you to be honest with me

has the engine been replaced? is the vessel and its engine under warranty? has the boat ever been in salt water? are u the original owner? when was it last used? how was it stored in the winter? what’s your firm price? and where are you currently located? and lastly hope you got a paypal acct??

pls get back to me asap.”

An attention-grabbing discussion is worth comment. I believe that you should write more on this topic, it won’t be a taboo topic but generally individuals are not enough to talk on such topics. To the next. Cheers

Wow its been years since this happen to me but for the sake of good memories i will just go ahead and say what i want to say. I was just browsing through the internet and i saw a couple of comments made by a United state woman called Deborah and other people about Wema S Sundars and how she helped them solve their financial problems by granting them loans to be financially free from debts and to pay there bills. All i could i couldn’t not believe it, i mean i felt happy to know she still does her good work for different people around the world by granting them loans to get there bills and debts cleared with just her 3% loan interest rate. There is no reliable loan lender as real as Wema loans. This is just a short note of my testimony, The full story about the reliability of this loan firm i am talking about is on other website that accept long detailed testimony. Do you want to be sure that you are not involved with a fake loan lender online, Kindly send your emails to /// mrswemaloans @rocketmail .com . Also i will be using my identity card to post this testimony to let you all know that i am serious about all i have said. All out there that need a real loan lender that will not rip you off your hard earned money, Contact Mrs Wema and get your loan. This loan firm have the aids of FBI to help them out do so many investigations.

I am currently looking for a cheap motorcycle. The first ad I answered was really cheap. They answered me back that they are currently at work and will contact me later. When they do, they say if the price is okay they will send me more pics of the bike, which they do. I ask for a meeting and get a long story about how her husband just died and she is selling it so cheap because it reminds her of him. Then she tells me she move to Iowa, and the bike is in a shipping container that’s already paid for because the last guy who tried to buy the bike got turned down last minute on a loan. She says that she has an account with Google wallet and the bike will be sent to me when I pay Google wallet, and I get a five day grace period. What a crock. Funny thing is second ad I answered was almost the same, except he was a Sgt with USAF who’s wife just died and he got transferred to Ft Hood, and everything else is identical to what the first person said. Theresa Mason was the first person and Sgt Wiles was the second. Please beware.

“Is it still available”

Roy Cryan
to nhr8q-6185622948
2 days agoDetails

I work with the Military and am presently located at San Luis Obispo County California Military Bases, United States, so i wont be able to come. As soon as the payment clears i have a mover that would come over to pick it up..

One thing you have to look for and it is very simple most of these foreigners use the this statement “KIndly get back to me” the word kindly sticks out because most Americans don’t use the word “Kindly” I don’t know if they think people are desperate they will offer salary and whatever it take to hook you, I have my own business and they ask me to devote all my time to becoming their something caregiver is a big one. I can spot them a mile away and I will tell them so

Here’s a newone. I am advertising a junk car on Craigslist and received an email from someone interested in it, a female no less.
She wanted to talk to me about the car, so i gave her my phone number. A few days later I received a call from a woman about auto insurance and she began asking questions about my address, email account, type of insurance, etc. The back ground noise was reminiscent of a telemarketing room.
After about the 5th question I hung up. The number on my caller ID was 301-555-1219. For me 301 is my area code. This is something recent for crooks to use local area codes and exchanges to fool you into thinking its a local call. If I get another one of these, I will ask for their number.

Thanks Doug. I’ve had that happen as well where a company calls from my area code and then the speak very broken english. Often I’ll ask where their office is located. When they can’t reply quickly I tell them to put me on their do not call list or I’ll report their number to the Feds. Not sure how I’d even do that but it’s fun to hear the silence 🙂

What should a simple carpenter do, Craigslist seems to have lost its way and we get no business form it any more.
Resorting to using flyers door to door.

Hi i just talked w/ a Gentleman over the phone for a job as a Pharmacy courier. He said payment would be thru paypal because they don’t feel the need to have someones bank information (seems like they are being shady here). The guy then said all i need is your drivers license and paypal info (email address) and you will receive payment bi weekly from us via Paypal. Alright he gave me the company name (First Class Transport), his cell phone is a New Jersey area code. I have looked up the company name and nothing comes up thru Google or any search engines relating to a pharmacy delivery courier. The guy says he will text me the pharmacy address and i will pick up the prescription drugs for the customer and then he will give me a drop off point where the customer is located. I will get paid 15$ a delivery then 1$ a mile after the first delivery. I mean this seems like a fraud and im wondering if anyone has dealt w/ this company or guy before. He doesnt even give me a legitimate address for the company and nothing comes up w/ the name he gave me. Hmmm…. any suggestions. Thanks in advance.

I think since it’s a job you can be specific as possible because any legitimate job listing will be very upfront with all the info their job does. Maybe you can ask to speak to a local manager of the company or other employees that do the same.

I am Mrs. Sweeney a private loan lender, and we give a loan at 3% per month, I offer loans to individuals and companies or groups of people who are bankrupt. This Financial Opportunity at your door step up today and get a quick look there credit. capacity,Service is provided to individuals, companies and business men and women. Amount of credit available in the range of $ 1,000.00 is $ 500,000,000.00 or your choice. Here are some questions: Do you need a loan does not make sense, you want to pay the bill, you are in financial trouble, you need financial solution? . Here’s the solution to all your financial problems. I give out loans for project, business, taxes, bills, and many other reasons, our loan easily and * censored * For more info contact us at danielsilva59491@gmail.com

I’m suspicious of oddly stated email addresses, those with, maybe, a semi-colon where a dot should be, or special characters that make the address- or phone number- hard to read.
Should I be?

received this reply from my ad on CL for a rattan wall unit for sale;
I saw your ad. I want to buy it. Are you the first owner of it ? I don’t check cl mail , so email me mike.schultebisping.31@gmail.com

Yea ok! I’ve seen this before. I’m going to reply via the CL address not mine. Testing it.

Just googled this exact thing, different email address. Big thing that got me questioning was the fact that craigslist relay’s the email to them, so there is no such thing as “I don’t check cl mail” unless they purposely used a throw away email they don’t check for craigslist.

But what is the actual scam in these cases? What do they end up getting if they succeed? I’m confused. Are they just trying to sabotage your sale for fun?

It is a scam. Got the same word for word but of course different email address. I emailed the address and they replied with a second different email address asking for it sight unseen and requesting to mail me a check with an extra $50 for holding it for them since they’re working so much they can’t come see the phone I’m selling. Of course this is a scam. I don’t recall why it I think it has to do with their check clearing your bank at first so you mail them the item for sale (electronics are popular targets) , and then days later your bank tells you they’re pulling the funds because there’s no fund available in the bank account provided (if it even was legit to begin with$. Then you’re left with no money, and insufficient funds charge if you spent the money, and now no item that they can now turn around and sell themselves.

Got almost the same kind of email on 2/19/21:
are you the original owner of it ? I’m interested in taking it . I don’t check cl mail , my email address is wantinghisreturncarpenter.23@gmail.com

I’m just selling some electronics. But I’m selling two of something, and they’re using the term “it” which was confusing.

Confused, Facebook marketplace that is now spilling over into Ebay motors. Answered an ad for a Kabota Tractor with a very low price of $1,400. After answering ad got a response supposedly from a dealership that said he was posting this for his sister and to contact her with an email.
Next went back to original post and it was also posted on at least 6 -8 other cities in California in 100 mile radius of me. Next she said through email that her husband died and she wanted to sell quickly because she did not want to be reminded of her husband. Her name is Debra Thomas. We responded we were still interested but wanted to know where to look it over. Next she emailed that she was in the military, and in Virginia and getting ready to ship out. She had put all the neccessary stuff into Ebay Motors to ship it out for a 5 day trial of the Kabota, and no payment until the end of the 5 day trial. This is not something I am familiar with and could not see the same ad on EBay. Is this a scam

Yep, it’s a scam. I just went through a similar thing with a concession trailer. The next step was to send them pictures of eBay cards I purchased with the pin scratched off. For eBay to hold as a third party while I checked it out during the 5 day trial. Obviously as soon as I saw the form of payment I realized it was a scam. I really want to screw with them but I’m worried they might be able to retaliate in some way. So for now I just keep telling them I haven’t got the invoice. I have time to waste and I don’t mind wasting theirs.

Hi my name is eeyore.. I almost got scammed by something I would later find out is called escrow fraud.. they basically claim that there is this company that will hold onto the item, and hold onto your money, so it’s certain that you get the item, and the seller is certain that the money is safe.. and the third party is to protect both of you.. they even have a website, and then it was number 2 result on google, right below a real company that they were trying to steal the names creditably from.. ( just checked google, the websites been removed, only the actual company rand logistics remains, and the fake one rand logistics direct is gone) well I got all the way up to the making payment part, and when I got to that page, I saw that they only adcepted bit coin for payment .. that’s when it clicked that this was a scam.. I did some research and confirmed it.. so the deal was for a fairly new iPhone, of course the price was unbelievable.. same story about being out of town, but the addition of this professional service kinda throws suspicions a bit.. and the website looks really legit.. so to review there is no service that’s going to keep your money, while you make sure your product is adceptable, and pay the seller only after you approve.. according to my research what happens instead is they take your money, then later claim that there’s been some sort of disaster at the company like bankruptcy and blah blah blah no ones answering the phone no one can get ahold of them and everyone’s stuff is gone.. anyways.. be careful y’all

The next big scam which unfortunately I was a victim of was sending money via paypals friends and family. Paypal offers absolutely no buyers protection. I feel like an absolute idiot. Don’t let this happen to you

I recieved a message from a posting I have on craigslist saying: Hi, I am interested for your “Noble House Set of 2 Counter Stools ” I’ll send you a google voice code. If your post is real, replay the code then i’ll call you. Can i send it ? Is this a scam?

The code along with your cel number will let them use your cel number to scam others through google voice. I believe they hijack your cel number allowing them to set up a google voice with your number

I think they are taking your email address and trying to hack into your account. The “code” is actually a code google or whoever is your email provider sends you to make sure your you. So the scammer wants you to think the code is coming from him but it is a real code sent by google. So when you text it to them “so they know you are real”, you are texting them the code to enter into your own account. Then they stole your email account because the change the password so you can’t get into your account.

I’ve noticed different scams. I’ve been sent checks where I’ve deposited money in my account and they ask me to send them money (blah blah blah).
The reason I’m on here right now is because last night I sent my computer to get fixed and a few years ago I met a guy that fixed computers and he would sell computer apps for $5 a piece. I asked my latest guy who is fixing my computer and he said he doesn’t do that. So last night I was looking where to buy apps for a cheap price and I saw this one ad that looks really good. He listed a bunch of specific programs be can install for you remotely. Which sounds good to me but it still seems dubious. I would like to trust this guy but in afraid it’s too good to be true. Plus it is a little scary to think I can let someone inside my computer that I’ve never met before so he can “remotely install apps” like windows for Mac or Photoshop, etc. I’m trying to get a sense of this guy is for real or not. Thoughts?

Do not do it, he will install a key logger and steal your bank and credit card info. Never let anyone remotely access your computer.

My scammer said this luckily I never responded:

Thanks for returning my husband (@Tom) message regarding the item and we are ready to purchase it immediately but i won’t be able to meet with you due to my work frame, we are in the process of moving and also preparing for my daughter’s wedding ,But we are satisfied with the price & all the conditions posted on the CL so everything is good, We are not in town now but my husband will proceed to overnight a Cashier/Certified Check to you through FedEX and we will arrange for someone to pick up the item from you after the Check fully clear your bank. However, an additional $50 will be added to the asking price so that you can reserve it for us. Kindly Email me the following information needed to overnight the check ASAP..

Full Name to issue the check..
Address to overnight the check…
Cell # & the final asking price…..

Acknowledge the receipt of this email if selling to us and email me back with information needed to mail out the payment tomorrow morning

Thanks

I just got this exact same response word for word but with different names and email addresses! Thanks for posting! Any idea how they scam you based on this?

Good Morning, Thank for the quick response to my husband (@Steven) message regarding your CL item, We are ready to purchase this but we won’t be able to meet up with cash due our work schedule and we are also in the process of moving as well after our daughter’s wedding , But everything sounds good with the price & all the conditions posted on the CL, My husband will proceed to overnight a Cashier/Certified Check to you through FedEx and we will arrange for someone to pick up the item from you after the Check fully clear your bank And an additional $50 will be added to the asking price so that you can reserve it for us. Kindly Email me the following information needed to overnight the check ASAP..

Full Name to issue the check to …..
Address to overnight the check…..
Final asking price and your cell# to get a hold of you……

Confirm the receipt of this email if selling to us and email me back with information needed to issue out the payment tomorrow morning
Thanks

A woman named Kathy Long is doing a scam on craigslist. She is now selling campers. She sashe is in the military, but its a scam beware!

I expressed interest in an apartment listed and got this back…..concerned about the “ Must use a given link because it is connected with our listing and it is provided by the Company” part. Would it be scam to steal the info I enter like SS#/credit?

“Hello,

Thanks For Showing Your Interest!!! It’s still available for rent!

You Can View Any Day Between 9:00 AM to 6:00 PM. All Utilities, No Deposit, Bills, Security Deposit & Car Parking Included In Rent. Totally pets friendly.

But First, We want to check your Criminal History and Credit Background. Please check your identity IQ score, apply here simply fill out and check your credit.
After completing that, Give me a screenshot

They take just $1. That is Refundable. Must use a given link because it is connected with our listing and it is provided by the Company.

This will help you meet me completely and safely.“

I got the exact same email! I signed up for the credit score thing but that company is legit and I called up to cancel the recurring charge. Did you ever hear anything else from your situation?

“ Dear, sorry for late response
Thanks For Showing Your Interest!!! It’s still available for rent!

You Can View Any Day Between 9:00 AM to 6:00 PM. All Utilities, No Deposit, Bills, Security Deposit & Car Parking Included In Rent. Totally pets friendly.

But First, We want to check your Criminal History and Credit Background. Please check your Credit report, click here simply fill out and check your credit.

After completing that, Give me a screenshot

They take just $1. Must use a given link because it is connected with our listing and it is provided by the Company.”.

I got this exact same email. Exact wording. Did anyone ever hear bag from the person that sent this email? I this a scam?? I really need a n apartment but don’t want to get involved with any scams. I can’t even find the post on Facebook anymore about the rental. But the person is messaging me telling me they need my credit score to move on further with the process of me getting the apartment. 🤔😓

I was selling a pesticide tank and pump system. The buyer was going to send a mover over. I said “a mover?” This is an industrial tank. Not a couch or even a car. You need to unbolt this from the inside of a truck, undo all the wires and plumbing and take it out with a fork lift!” He just said OK. I didn’t even open his envelope and sent it right back. He thought I did and was ready to call the CIA and the FBI if I didn’t pay for the overage. I told him that I knew who he was and am not doing business with him. I blocked his e mail and phone number.

I do not want to buy any thing they had people on there that you can chat with not to date just to get together married women looking men looking for men women looking to give blow job hope you can help they are local to me thank u that why I like craiglist so that means you can not help

What is the scam, though, when people try to tell you they are out of town, can’t come to see the item and want to send a certified check and just send someone else to pick up the merchandise? What are they trying to accomplish?

They give you a fake check and then take the car and when you go to the bank to cash it most of the time its not caught until after its been cashed and the bank holds you responsible and you have to pay the money back and jailtime happens a lot too..it dont matter where the check came from YOU cashed it and will be held responsible and be charged with fraud and your also out of the item you just sold for a fraud charge

Usually the certified check is fake and your bank doesn’t always catch it right away. It clears on your end they take the item you are selling, then the bank from the other end does not approve the check. You are stuck with not only losing your item but also extra bank fees!

I’ve been giving away items away for free on Craigslist. Occasionally I get an offer to receive money to ship the item. I always refuse. I recently started adding that i do in person transactions only but still two people wanted the item sent.

One I responded with it’s in the description that i do in person transactions only. The second person I reported the email as a scam. What happens when I report this type of email as a scam?

I am curious why a prospective buyer continues to communicate through craigslist email even after I have supplied them with a phone to text or call for directions to buy an item

I had a post on Craigslists motorcycle for sale and got an email mentioning there interested and called it “Item” so I played along and they sent me a check twice the amount saying to the remaining money was going to a moving company to pick up my bike and to send thru fedx and once I send thru fedx to gave him the tracking number . I took all my info that I got to my local police station and I ask the police let’s put a tracker on this package and get these guys , the officer said that it happens a lot and most likely there over seas, and to much to investigate and wasn’t interested . I still have the fedx package that the check was sent in and including the uncashed check… I also called the company name on the check and talk with the owner and she said OMG another one… so long story short. No one that I talk too would pursue it. They should have a task force for this reason , billions of dollars is stolen and these SOB are laughing at us…

Another they use (similar to above) is they say something like: “It’s cool and i am interested. are you the 1st owner of it ? i don’t check cl mail, my email address is abc@xyz.com“. The “I don’t check cl mail is my first red flag (why not)? Second flag on this one was I was selling multiple items and they referred only to “…it…”. Finally, not necessary for certain, but when the name on the craigslist email vs the email address they ask me to use have completely different names. ie, CL email comes in from John Smith and the email address is bob.jones@gmail.com. I am guessing they have hacked John Smith’s CL account.

The next big scam which unfortunately I was a victim of was sending money via paypals friends and family. Paypal offers absolutely no buyers protection. I feel like an absolute idiot. Don’t let this happen to you

Thank you for this. It confirmed what I was sure was a scam via Craigslist. I am selling an Armoire (and several other pieces of furnature) and this guy emailed me. He asked me contact him via a different email address because he doesn’t reply to CL emails. There were several other Red Flags that flew into my head when I read his reply so I cc’d my husband on my response to him. My husband said “NO WAY”.
He didn’t use the word “Armoire, cabinet, furniture or anything to describe what he was asking about”, just said this item however I knew it was the Armoire ad because it had my ad title in the subject line.  His original email now will not pull up, it’s as if it disappeared and all I can find is my 1st response and those emails afterward (from a different email addr). He offered to pay More than the asking price if we hold it for him. His supposed place of business is out of state and he used the excuse he can’t come see it because he’s working too many hours. He is willing to buy it site unseen?????? At least his grammar was good so English must be his first language, usually these scams do have really bad grammer! (People have tried to scam us before)
His first addr was kenny.canhandymanfl439@gmail.com his second addr was Kenny Carter
linville13wukham@gmail.com
Should I report this to Craigslist?

I saw this twice on 2 different Mercedes vans, I think this messaging system is messed up because I already sent you an email and there’s no reply. Please send your email adress and I will send you more pics

Got this too from :emilysbpoole34@gmail.com and :samanthabaiwrights@gmail.com with the exact same message:

I’d like to buy it.
Can I pick it up today?
Or can I pick it up tomorrow morning? You need to set a time.
How about meeting tomorrow around 11:30-12pm ?
I have no problem paying in cash. Or venmo is better if you have.
Please Let me know by email which time will work better for you.
Thanks.

What about employment scams? Iam unsur e about a company that recently contacted me via text message for an interview, on telegram app, and then requested information on id.me but never returned after the id.me but then I get a message about someone trying to access my EDD from California but yet the company claims to be cj_ logistics out of new Orleans , Louisiana looking for a remote content writer for 30/hr.

I looked on craiglist 2different times for a Yorkie. I contacted them through email. This person said, he has 2 Yorkies for sale at 350 each . Also he said I had to answer a few questions, just to make sure the dogs were going to a good home. Then his story, The dogs were his brothers ,and his brother passed away. Also that him and his family were moving to main he gave an address. He said he was a police officer for 20 years. He wanted to ship the dogs on an airplane. It was a sad story at first . So I called a rental management let the guy know the story. I gave him the address to the place where officer Dave and his family were to over to, he looked up the address and he said he just rented that place out, and the people all ready moved in. There was no name that matched officer Dave. This happen 6 or 7 months apart. It was the same mo. Sad but true.

Thank you so much for this information. I recently posted my very first item on Craigslist and already have had two scammers (within first days)… first one wanted a Google Voice code that was sent to my phone and the most recent said what you referenced above — wanted to pay $50 more for my item, didn’t name actual item, used incorrect grammar in very basic ways (“is the item still selling?”), and was wanting details to send a cashiers check. Thanks again for confirming my suspicions!

I put an ad on Craigslist, and am receiving replies asking for a verification process to prove I am not a scammer. I am not familiar with how this works. Please educate me. I want to comply with their wishes. Thank you.

Same issue here. I created an employment ad and got and email from robot@craigslist.org explaining that they put my post on hold for review, and they wanted my payment information again through a link. When i went back to craigslist i noticed my post was still up and active… new scam?

Ran into same situation on Facebook marketplace with someone who requested Google verification. After researching, found out it was Phishing scheme and refused to do it. Buyer then got petty and started to play with me via text when I called him out on it. Don’t respond. You can look it up on Google verification code scam. Good luck!

This is a scam. Usually they are trying to get you to accept a Google Voice security code, and then pass it on to them. This allows them to receive a Google Voice account which they then sell to someone who cannot get one. There is no long-term harm to you, except the hassle and the frustration knowing you are helping someone else scam the Google Voice product for their profit.

Do you have any advise on the countless scammers on CL however on the employment section? I’m looking for work and feel they are phishing there also. These bastards have no moral concept.

Here’s one I’m in question of:
Get involved in real-estate with a firm that has been in the business for over 10 years. Our main focuses are sales and rentals, although we also provide consultation for construction services. In relation to recent growth in the sector, we’re opening a vacancy for the position of Independent Consultant.
The firm is client-oriented, meaning that we cater to the individual desires of each client. Everything begins and ends with the client’s seal of approval. All aspects must be taken into account to ensure client satisfaction and improve turnover. Field experience is welcomed, although we’ll teach you our specific approach through the course of our training program. If you consider yourself to be a ‘people-person’ and have the ability to think on your feet, then this position would suit you.

COMPENSATION

Independent Consultant(s) are compensated with a monthly salary of $3500, in addition to 3% commission. Commission is paid in real-time and is based off of the value of a closed contract. The salary itself, medical benefits and bonuses are made available after the successful completion of the training program.

JOB DUTIES

Your responsibilities will include but may not be limited to; reviews and active oversight of contracts, composition of invoices, provision of status reports and the establishment of positive client relations, as well as their maintenance.

SKILLS/REQUIREMENTS

The factors that will contribute to your approval and to your success are well-developed communication skills, intermediate computer knowledge, client focus and the ability to make informed decisions based on factors at-hand.
During the first month of work (paid training), you’ll work hand-in-hand with our team of professionals to ensure that you are up to par. This position is for those who are ready to hone their skills, eager to optimize customer service operations and contribute to the future success of the firm. We would be ecstatic to welcome a positive and highly motivated individual to our team.

Send us your résumé and a cover letter highlighting your attributes, work experience and why you be a good fit for this position
promocsb678@gmail.com

There is woman who will buy dogs and resell them to go homes for money this warning to everyone do not sell her any more dogs she is not keeping them

Another new trend if you’re reaching out to a seller (you are the buyer) and send an email through Craigslist’s’ email forwarding services with a question if the product is still available, they reply back like this:

I’m sorry did you receive my 5 replies? Please mail me
hatcher2012bradly48@outlook.com and I’ll be certain we’ll connect

and another:

I don’t think you’ve received any of my 4 replies. Mail me at
laverneellis-200127@outlook.com so I can reach you

I had someone offer me a cashier check for moped on Craigslist the money has came through and everything looks legit but they do not want to tell me anything about the shipping company still. I need an invoice or some hard evidence that it’s going where it’s intended too. Any advice on what step I should take.

I got one asking me if I wanted to buy jewelry from Nigeria at 5% of the normal retail price. I think it sounds legit; what do you guys think?

I have been targeted in a scam similar to the one described above. I have actaully receieved a check from a so called Escrow Company for a ridiculous amount of money. I am thinking I should turn it over to the local authorities along with the contact I have had with the person. Does anyone know what I should do here?
Thanks in advance.

One time, instead of texting them as they asked, I just called them up. As soon I they found out who I was, they turned on the vacuum and started yelling that they couldn’t hear me and hung up.

i have so many where they actually do mention the product im selling but ask me not to reply on craigslist but to their “personal” email. I got 5 of these within minutes of posting. How does that scam eventually work?

Hi, I posted on Craig’s List selling an outboard. Within 20 minutes I received 5 texts all saying almost exactly the same thing. Hi I.m interested in your….Running 7.5
Wanted email replays. Sent from LA, Phoenix, OKC, Seattle,
San Bernardino..
I am Ignoring.

I wanted to warn people who have seen responses like this;
“I’ve seen your ad. are you the first owner? Does it work perfectly? I don’t check the email for Craig’s List , So text me at kristinademarco.72@gmail.com.”
I believe these people are fishing for your email address for various “lists”. After I mistakenly replied to one of these, I started getting a lot of spam in my inbox. They didn’t scam me, but you will pay for it with a whole bunch of spam in your inbox. Delete these ads, do not reply to their email given.

Anonymous credit repairer is truly the best in hacking! Everyone runs into businesses that file negative reports that are often incorrect or not up to date. He was very thorough in correcting issues that have irritated me for years and gave me back a glowing credit report. I recommend a n o n y m o u s c r e d i t r e p a i r e r a)(tGm.ail d()tCom to anyone seeking credit repair or challenging errors on their reports that continue to affect everything they do in business.

I have received similar emails on a couple of CL postings recently, and after my initial excitement to the interest in my items, I quickly figured out they were bogus. I’m wondering…how does this benefit the scammer? They don’t ask for any sensitive info like SSNs or credit card numbers.

Caught one Email thirdmbo@gmail.com check what she wrote this was from my post on Poshmark responded with in 4 mins of posting
Thank you for your swift response. I’ll proceed in issuing a check to you and i will be adding extra $50 to the original price for you to hold the item safe and clean for me due to my work frame, and i will arrange for the shipping as soon as you deposit the check and it clears your bank.Please kindly get back to me with below information to mail the check if you accept my offer
Full Name:
Home mailing address:
Cell Phone Number
Final asking price
Immediately this is provided, payment will be mailed out to you thanks
Show quoted text

I got this one.
Craigslist ad response I hope you are real…
if u real Message me my personal inbox with an email link to click on. Don’t click on the link. And it’s a chat bot. I’m female but I wanted to see what ” Olgaporter” was. Sadly my online link is legit, and I am a female so my ads get flagged for being Spam thank you for your assistance.

I recently posted an ad on craigslist to promote my cleaning business. I had a lady send me a cashier’s check in a very big amount saying $400 is for me and the rest goes to the moving company. They can’t be present and want me to pay the moving company. So pushy rude and called the number…it was a text now number …who do I turn the check over to to report the scam/fraudulent check?

I’ve had three offers now with good grammar, not wanting to overpay, but all three also wanted to meet me on a downtown street. Not sure if there is a scam here?

Okay am interested in buying it for my nieces has a gift for her birthday will offer you $500including the shipping fees to her address, i will send the payment to your Pay’Pal account now i’m sure you are honest with the condition…
Do you still have the charger and box
Okay can you send me money request to my pay’pal email address tommynick112@gmail.com so I can process with the payment immediately

New message from: joslo_5014 (0)
Hi, I really appreciate your consideration over my offer, I’m getting this item for my Uncle as a Valentine gift, I will proceed with the payment now, but before i proceed i would be glad to have your number for a fast communication, cause I have some questions to ask you about this item or you can text or email me at 8382314513 ( carthanjaycee@yahoo.com ) before I proceed with the payment
Hello seller, go and ship the item with USPS 1 DAY SHIPPING, Payment has been made via PayPal. Check your PayPal email address inbox to see the payment confirmation email from PayPal. I want it sent to my Uncle. I would have asked you to post the item to my home address listed on eBay but i’m currently out of the state right now so kindly obey my instructions., I have added the sum of $100 for the shipping cost…please when you get to the POST OFFICE ship the item through USPS 1 DAY SHIPPING NOTE: Please wrap the item carefully with bubble wrap. Please don’t use any other postage service except USPS 1 DAY SHIPPING. I’m very sorry for the inconvenience i may cause you. Nice doing business with you…This is the shipping address below.

SHIPPING ADDRESS.

Name: Sodiq Tobi
Address: 182-21 150th Avenue LOS 55580
City: Springfield Gardens
State: New York
Zip Code: 11413
Number: +19292321803
Country: United States.

Thank

Very helpful article. I received the note below in response to my selling a $200 item. I Googled the sender’s email address and that led directly to this article even though her address is nowhere in the piece. As you’ll see, her message ticked a lot of the boxes to identify it as a scam. I’m posting it here to help anyone else who Googles her address or some of the boilerplate text in her letter.
———————————-
Elizabeth Scott
4:12 PM (2 hours ago)

to me

Thanks for returning my message. I’m currently not in town for now, so I won’t be able to meet with you due to my work frame and also we are very busy at this time preparing for our daughter’s wedding but I’m okay with the price and condition as shown on the advert. I’ll proceed in issuing a cashier’s check to you and when you receive the payment and it clears your bank, I will make arrangements for the pick up. I will also add an additional $50 to hold it down for me. So get back to me with the details below to mail the check out to you asap..

Name to be on the payment ………..
Address to mail the check to ……..
City, state and Zip code …………NOT P.O BOX
Final Asking price……………….
Phone number to text you on ..

Just got the same request.

Elizabeth Scott
2:32 PM (16 minutes ago)
to me

Thanks for returning my message. I’m currently not in town for now, so I won’t be able to meet with you due to my work frame and also we are very busy at this time preparing for our daughter’s wedding but I’m okay with the price and condition as shown on the advert. I’ll proceed in issuing a cashier’s check to you and when you receive the payment and it clears your bank, I will make arrangements for the pick up. I will also add an additional $50 to hold it down for me. So get back to me with the details below to mail the check out to you asap..

Name to be on the payment ………..
Address to mail the check to ……..
City, state and Zip code …………NOT P.O BOX
Final Asking price……………….
Phone number to text you on

Appliances for sale that look new, low price, will deliver but for a small fee. They ask for half now though Cash App, Venmo, or Coinbase. I think they take photos of an installation of new Appliances at a customers home and then scam buyers on Craigslist.

Ive learned, the first few rapid responses, are always fraudsters. Today 4 different ones used virtually the same off phrases & misspellings. It seams like peeps often just want my REAL email, so they can flood my inbox, perhaps Im naive

On May 13, 2022, I got a similar scam reply to a craiglist posting:
Hello Thanks for your quick response, We are very interested and OK with the price but sorry I wouldn’t be able to come down to your location. My partner and I are getting married in few weeks, Planning on starting our new life close to his new job. We’ve been very busy with all the preparations, I am so excited. We have a personal delivery service that will pick up the item right after you receive your payment, they have been helping us with our moving and other deliveries as well. We will mail Out Certified Cashier Check payment right away & right after payment has been cleared with you, We schedule the date and time for the pickup . I will make arrangements for the pick up as soon as the check clears. Hope I can trust you with the check payment?

I will make arrangements for pick-up . So get back to me with the details below as we proceed asap.

Name:
Address:
City:
State:
Postal Code:
Phone Number:
Last Asking price..

I will make arrangements for pick up as soon as you have your money, I will add an additional $70 for holding it for me.Please consider it sold.

Thanks and God bless , I will be waiting to read back from you asap.

Best Regards

Yeah, but how do they “scam” the seller? I’f they send me a good cashier’s check and it clears, what’s next?

I hate it when they ask you questions that are listed on the ad., makes you wonder if they even read it. Also people that say they are going to send a code to see if you’re legit, how stupid. Gotten a lot with checks. I use a burner phone. I lost 700.00 from a guy from NY sold me a bad pool heater, completely shot. It’s not something you can just plug in you need power, water.

This one has all the hallmarks, “Re:
>
>
> Thanks for returning our message regarding your item, We are satisfied
> with the condition as observed on the advert on Craigslist just as the
> value expressed. But i wont be able to come tomorrow for inspection again
> due to my health restrictions and warnings because i just had my second
> surgery, i won’t be able to come and see it myself but I’m satisfied with
> it, can you please Kindly withdraw or mark the advert sold on Craigslist
> and consider it sold to me . I will add an extra $100 for the hold down fee
> to the asking price while you remove the ad and consider it sold. My Son
> will overnight a cashier’s check
>
> drawn from a local bank tomorrow and arrive Next day shipping via UPS.
> I’ll arrange for a local pick up or make an arrangement for shipping as
> soon as you receive the check cashed/cleared and have your money at hand.
> I’ll need you to provide me with the following information to overnight the
> Payment.
>
>
>
> (1)Full mailing address(NO PO Box)
>
> (2)Name to be on the check
>
> (3)Phone number
>
> (4)Final price
>
> The check will be overnight to you Immediately and delivered to your
> residence Next day via UPS courier service .
>
> I will be waiting to hear from you. Thanks and God Bless
>”

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