Singlespeed & Fixed Gear - Is this is scam?

So i'm trying to sell a wheelset on craigslist(i'm not advertising it here) and I've gotten two responses that seem very strange since I posted the ad and was wondering if anyone has ever had sometihng like this. Both messages(from different people) just seemed shady as hell. here is an example:

Hello I really appreciate your response to my email.I want you
toconsider it sold, pls do withdraw the advert from craigslist toavoid
disturbance.I want you to know that i will be paying via bankcertified
check .I will like you to provide me with the following.information to

facilitate the mailing of the check to you .
1.....Full name to write on the check
2.....Full Physical address to post the check
3.....City, State and Zip Code
4.....Home & Cell Phone to contact you
*** Note that the payment will be shiped to your address via UPS NEXT

DAYSERVICE and I will like you to know that you will not be
responsiblefor shipping i will have my mover come over as soon as you
have cashedthe check** Thanks


It seems like a scam to me, anyone know anytihng?

scam

scam

definitely.

You deserve to be scammed just for questioning if that is legit or not.

you need to give them all that info the your ssn and your card numbers too

paypal or bust

well i've never sold anything on craigslist and as soon as I saw this i wasn't about to give out that info but I was just checking for sure.

http://energizer2.com/pix/failtrain.jpg

man now i feel like a dumbass for posting this. i feel like such a n00b.

actually, in an attempt to redeem myself, does this stuff happen a lot with craigslist for future reference?

I have had those responses to CL ads. Who knows where it comes from but some guy from hiccupstan is not going to send his valet to pick up my Thompson stem.
It might be random crap that hit your ad.
Ignore it for sure.

re)
i will have my mover come over as soon as you
have cashedthe check** Thanks
?

Yeah, I saw the thing about having the mover come over. Nobody answers ads like that anyway.
Just forget about it and delete it.

man now i feel like a dumbass for posting this. i feel like such a n00b.

actually, in an attempt to redeem myself, does this stuff happen a lot with craigslist for future reference?
I'd say 1/2 the responses are scams.

I'd say 1/2 the responses are scams.

For any given item, out of 100 responses expect 20 to be scammers, 20 to be flakers with only a modest intent in buying your crap but "promise to come over immediately or tomorrow, just let me know if it's still available," 15 percent want to trade you some series of worthless junk for the item, and the rest are lowballs.

i actually had a guy respond to a listing today for a lens and he ended up being a local fixie rider... weird coincidence that he does photography and rides a FG...

but yea i get a ton of those spam messages... i think they're generated by what keywords you have in your listing...

half the people i know who ride fixed are photo journalism majors at my school. actually, until this year everyone i knew at my school who rode fixed was.

For any given item, out of 100 responses expect 20 to be scammers, 20 to be flakers with only a modest intent in buying your crap but "promise to come over immediately or tomorrow, just let me know if it's still available," 15 percent want to trade you some series of worthless junk for the item, and the rest are lowballs.

after posting tons of stuff on CL with tons of responses but no follow through, i definitely agree. but... my friend posted his iron horse seven-point last tuesday, some guy called him that night and bought it off him the next day. i was effing amazed.

yea ive actually made $500 this week... still have more stuff up...

typically if they don't say what your product is in the email, then it's not legit. they will say "i am interested in your PRODUCT... etc." instead of your wheelset or whatever. and don't accept anything but cash or paypal.

In giant letters on the top of craigslist it says in bold, any ads dealing with mailing you larger checks are scams. Read this http://www.craigslist.org/about/scams

I have had a few good sales on CL but only with people who talk like they know what they are buying and think it's worth what I am asking.
If the first thing some ones says is, "will you take less" then I don't bother with them.

Same for when I wanna buy something. If they can't describe it on the phone and talk about it like they ride it or have used it then usually I will pass.
Of course there is the rare exception when some one says he has a Pista something and it says Columbus tubing their Uncle left them. But it's gone in 5 minutes.

I sold my truck on craigslist in just a couple days.
I did get the immediate onslaught of email responses promising to buy the truck - turned out to be flakes.
Also got about 10 responses from the same guy in broken english saying 10 different ways that he would buy it.

Also right now trying to sell a wheel set on craigs list - got 2 responses so far. One "promising to buy" who did not respond to my follow up. The other was lowballing telling me every reason why he didnt want to buy them.

I think the legit responses are about 25%.

You deserve to be scammed just for questioning if that is legit or not.

+1 genius, this is a scam.

I say play with the scammer. Act real dumb, ask him dumb questions. Offer to give him your checking account number so he can direct deposit the money. Give him bogus info...That will frustrate the hell out of him.

Def a scam.
They will send u fake cashiers check which their sectary accidentally put $2000 instead of $500. asking you to send back to remainder to him and take $100 out for your troubles. Just deal locally or put up on ebay if you can't get hits.

Always, Always, Always put in bold letters in your ad "LOCAL CASH SALE ONLY!" This has helped so far where I don't get the annoying scam emails anymore when I post a new ad.

Sounds legit to me.send them the moneys.
send me the wheelset.but keep the ad up to avoid disturbances.
Thanks.

Every time I've tried to sell something on CL I get a few responses like that, even after putting "cash only" and "local buyers only."

One time I was selling a lowrider bicycle and the guy asked for dimensions (length, height, weight) and a new picture. I told them that it was something like 10 feet long, 2 feet high weighed in around 800lbs, and included a picture of my VW Beetle.

One time I was selling a lowrider bicycle and the guy asked for dimensions (length, height, weight) and a new picture. I told them that it was something like 10 feet long, 2 feet high weighed in around 800lbs, and included a picture of my VW Beetle.

How was he a scammer? Sounds like he wanted more info on the bike.

It was a response very similar to the OP, one where they ask you to consider it sold, send an extra $100 to hold it until it gets picked up. I guess I should have added that to my original post.

But yeah, they were still interested in buying my 10' long 800lb bicycle that looked like a VW.

Prince stuart
ogoni palace
ogoni kingdom.


I wish to introduce myself to you. I am prince desmond okotiebor etete.
The next heir to the throne of the oil rich kingdom of the ogoni
community. I have a huge amount of money presently in the palace.the funds
were realised from oil royalties that was paid to my late father by the
multinational oil companies that are drilling oil in our kingdom.

Due to social, political economical reasons the present government in
power is persecuting our kingdom because of our religious beliefs,
socio-political fights and our agitation against seizing our lands by
government.

As a result of our kingdoms opposition to the people in power, the
ferderal army was sent to occupy our kingdom. My late father the king
and our community spokes person and environemntalist; author ken saro
wiwa was killed in the course of the army^Òs brutality and occupation.
Consequently the council of elders of the kingdom has agreed and
decided that these funds must be invested abroad in order to safe guard
the future of the ogoni kingdom. The government does not know that this
huge amount of money is in the palace.

I therefore solicit your assistance and cooperation in assisting us in
getting this fund out of the country. Your percentage share of the
funds will be made known to you as soon as you indicate your interest to
assist us.

Your private telephone, fax and mobile phone numbers is required so
that i can contact you in order to advice on how we are going to get this
funds out of the country with your cooperation. Please look at your
assistance as a form of humanitarian service to the kingdom. Please send
your response on the receipt of this mail. Endeavour to keep this business
confidential.

I urgently await your e-mail.

Hope to meet you soon.

Best regards,
prince ~stuart~

this is becoming a very prominent scam focused on craigslist..

Always state local sale only, will not ship and cash sale..

I have seen a scammer operating on a Japanese classified listing.

He says he is selling Mac book Pros. top of the line, 17" models! only $540 (which is wierd being as it is listed on a Japanese site). I emailed him out of scammer curiosity (and to try to annoy the fukcer) saying i want to buy.

He replied back that he has a shop based in London and I just have to wire the money and he will ship to me.

I then reply back! Oh, I am visiting relatives in London next week! what a coincidence! And ask for the address of the shop so I can come and buy in person to make it easier.

He replied back saying he was based in next to Central Park!!!

LOL!!!

That made me laugh! So I told him there is no Central Park in London! (I assume he was thinking of NewYork!) I searched the string of his message and found that he had been posting the smae message on lots of classifieds all over the world!

I guess it only takes one person to bite (greed makes people stupid) to make a lot of cash for feck all work!

HAHA.

it is still online!

look here, it is the last one in the list for $540
http://www.gaijinpot.com/classifieds/index.php?search_category=6&search_area=all&keyword=macbook+pro&submit=+Search+

this is his message.

Apple 17" MacBook Pro 2.33GHz Intel Core 2 Duo with Boot Camp 1.3 and Microsoft Windows XP Home pre-installed MA611LL/A. 2GB DDR2, 160GB SATA/100. Price: $540 Email: shopcellular@gmail.com
Interested? Contact Neil (http://www.gaijinpot.com/classifieds/class_response.php?id=33792&offset=&search_area=&search_category=&keyword=)

http://www.419eater.com/html/hall_of_shame.htm

Is this is scam?

Was that subtle humor or just a mis-type?

No offense meant dayvan, but I thought everyone and their g-ma knew about these type of scams.

As an aside, I was looking for a fork for my Ciocc for ages and found one in Portland, OR and emailed the seller asking him to ship it to me here, in Toronto. I said I would pay him $50 for it (he was only asking $20) and he agreed.

I Paypal'd hm and he shipped it and it was great----was he silly to trust me? Once there are funds in his Paypal account, he must know it is legit, right? Or is there a way to get Paypal funds reimbursed once it is in someone else's account?

I ask because I see tons of great deals on American CLs and now, no one will ship because of these damn Nigerian scammers. It sucks.

Also, here is a story of a woman who sent Nigerian scammers $400 000 over the course of 4 years proving that there is a very good reason these guys keep trying; people are stupid:

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,453125,00.html

man now i feel like a dumbass for posting this. i feel like such a n00b.

actually, in an attempt to redeem myself, does this stuff happen a lot with craigslist for future reference?

A dumbass would have been scammed, and then posted/complained about it. What you did is known as smart.

How was he a scammer? Sounds like he wanted more info on the bike.

Hahah +1

Oncethere are funds in his Paypal account, he must know it is legit, right? Or is there a way to get Paypal funds reimbursed once it is in someone else's account?


Nope.

Paypal operates like a bank bang without the regulatory agency overwatch of a real bank. They can seize your funds, return them to buyers and close your account with no recourse.

Just google paypalsucks. Never, ever link your main bank account to paypal, and only put enough money in it to make a transaction. Paypal is fine when you don't have a problem, but when you do it's hell in a handbasket.

You've been warned.

Hrm, that is interesting. So the best way to use Paypal is by linking it to your credit card?

I sold a fork on ebay last week. Paypal put a hold on the funds until either the delivery was confirmed or the buyer gave me positive feedback. It all worked out but it seems paypal is watching out for buyers and screw the sellers if there is a problem.
Paypal seems to change their policies a lot, just like ebay and unless you read the fine print, often, then there will be surprises.
Good info from operator.

Just tell him to have his mover bring a certified check.

Hrm, that is interesting. So the best way to use Paypal is by linking it to your credit card?

Don't link it to anything! Sandbox it the best you can. You can make a debit/credit transaction towards your paypal from your bank card but don't ever link them. Say you sell a wheelset on ebay... the customer complains to paypal and they just yank whatever amount they want from your account.

totatlly legit..