NickD
UltraDork
12/4/17 2:53 p.m.
Thanks for the prompt response to text. I will be buying this from you, kindly withdraw the advert and considered it sold. I will overnight the payment asap but i will be paying with a certified check from my Bank and it will deliver to you via United Parcel Service (UPS), so I'll need you to provide me with the following information to facilitate the mailing of the check... And am offering additional $50 with the original price to have this asap.
Name to be on the payment ...........
Address to mail the check to .............
City, state and Zip code .............
Final Asking price...................
Cell phone # to text you on ................
Item name...................................
I will make arrangements for the pick up as soon as you have your check clear, due to my work frame and my Kids, I will not be able to come with the cash and pick it up myself , so i will mail the check and have someone pick up the item after the check clears. Reference to your post am completely satisfied with it."
Should I ignore this? Seems suspect to me
Is this a craigslist scam? I feel like it's a craigslist scam? It's a scam, right? Got a text asking me to e-mail a person back on the $700 Jeep I have for sale. Okay, some people hate texting. Send him an email to let him know it's still available and get this in reply
"
slefain
PowerDork
12/4/17 2:58 p.m.
Reply back but use the address of your local FBI office, should make for a fun time.
NickD
UltraDork
12/4/17 3:03 p.m.
Figured. Man, I hate craigslist. First 2 response both opened with "What's your best price?" before even coming to look at it or even asking if it was still available. Second guy got all indignant that a $700 '97 Jeep that lived in NY winters was not a clean, one-owner. And now a scam.
NickD
UltraDork
12/4/17 3:15 p.m.
RealMiniParker said:
A $700 Jeep is definitely a scam.
It has a great 4.0L/42RE/Selec-Trac driveline, good axles, new-ish rotors, pads and calipers all the way around, new shocks, and 2 fresh snow tires on the rear. Just needs some shoring up underneath with a welder. Or it would make a great parts vehicle.
I wonder what kind of scam this is, it isn't obvious from the first email. Some basic identity theft thing fishing for name, address and phone number? Or maybe something more obvious that would come out in a follow-up email...
If you have to ask.......it is.
Everything about that smells of scam.
In reply to GameboyRMH :
They'll send you a counterfeit check to pay for the vehicle and ask you to send the difference between the cost of the item and the amount the check is made out to to their "shipper", usually by Western Union or other means that can't be revoked.
Six weeks later the check comes back as fake and the bank wants their money back, but you have no way of getting the money that was sent to the shipper back.
In some versions of the scam they also pick up the item, but not always.
Assuredly. Stolen or counterfeit cashier’s check.
I'm really liking the local FBI office idea.
BenB
Reader
12/5/17 7:35 a.m.
I got almost the exact same response from a "buyer" last week when I posted my dad's MG on a British car club's site. The only difference was my "buyer" didn't use punctuation. I wish I'd known of the FBI office trick at the time.
If you have to ask.........
BoxheadCougarTim said:
In reply to GameboyRMH :
They'll send you a counterfeit check to pay for the vehicle and ask you to send the difference between the cost of the item and the amount the check is made out to to their "shipper", usually by Western Union or other means that can't be revoked.
Six weeks later the check comes back as fake and the bank wants their money back, but you have no way of getting the money that was sent to the shipper back.
In some versions of the scam they also pick up the item, but not always.
Huh I thought it probably wasn't that because the message tells you to wait for the check to clear, vs. the classic form where they ask you to send the "change" or item "as soon as possible." But it turns out that the concept of a check "clearing" is practically meaningless on the recipient's end:
https://www.thebalance.com/basics-of-how-checks-clear-315291
https://www.thebalance.com/clearing-checks-risks-and-scams-315292
Just another reason not to use this archaic payment method IMO.
Saw a new one a couple of weeks ago. A guy put a TR4 on Triumph Experience for a very reasonable price that INCLUDED shipping in the price. Easy peasey you know. Sent a PM and got several photos back pretty quickly. Then I started getting pushy about closing the deal. Several other members got the same response. I told him I was no longer interested and he kept on, wanting to know why I wasn't. The irritating thing is he responded to my company email instead of going through PM.
In reply to GameboyRMH :
The check WILL clear, initially, because it is a real check drawing on a real account. The problem is, the bank it was drawn on will eventually discover the fraud/check theft and reverse the draft from your bank. THEN you get stuck with it.
In reply to WildScotsRacingCampbellCougarSeed :
This.
I think there was a thread here within the last couple of months about a guy that had a new Tacoma he was trying to sell. He asked here if it was a scam and learned that it probably was, but he got deep enough into this that he got a check, took it to the bank, had them verify that the funds were legit, and then sat on it for a few weeks until it inevitably bounced. Many apologies from the bank later, and a lesson was learned by all.
Will have to remember the FBI office address idea...
Not everything that initially sounds like a scam ends up being one. When I was selling my dad's Ford AA truck, the first email I got was "This is Yohan, I will buy truck, my agent Vladimir will contact you." It only got scammier sounding before we finally figured out the guy was totally legit. Long story short, we were paid, professional hauler picked up the truck, it ultimately ended up headed to a Russian military museum.
On first contact, I would have said 100% scammer.
I had a guy ask what my best price was on a set of wheels with tires; without tires. I added $50 to the price and he was outraged. I wonder sometimes...
I love that the scammer is scamming so many people at once that he needs you to remind him the "item name".
If anybody asks if the item is still for sale, ignore.
NickD
UltraDork
12/7/17 7:10 a.m.
spitfirebill said:
If anybody asks if the item is still for sale, ignore.
Why? I ask people if the thing they are selling is for sale, because people on craiglist are too lazy to delete the ad after they sell things