Commuting - i got ripped off

i was selling my MTB for $120 on the craiglist, and this one son of a ***** wanted to buy my bike for $140. But he lives in South Carolina, so only way to sell my bike is for him to send me the money and he picks up the bike later.
This S.O.B. sent me $875 money order by mistake. So i cashed it out and deducted $140 and sent him back the rest of the money. I found out that later on, it was a bad money order, so it returned back to me. minusing my god damn account. But i still have the bike. So i guess if i sell my bike for $100, then in total i threw away $775.

HEY GUYS, who rip off people, **** you :)

hm... that's a classic craigslist scam.

Troll?

I have some swampland in Florida and several bridges that I'm trying to sell. PM me if you're interested.

I have some swampland in Florida and several bridges that I'm trying to sell. PM me if you're interested.

I call dibs!

welcome to the internet.

if the vultures and hyenas haven't picked you clean already, then you need to understand the concept of scams.

Hey OP, I am certainly sorry about your loss. However, it was an avoidable scam. There's been lots of press about money order scams on craigslist in the past years and the site itself posts nearly on every page to never accept any money orders because its a scam. It's an expensive lesson to learn. Perhaps be grateful you didn't get arrested for cashing a counterfeit money order, because I know someone who was just doing the same thing you did.

Isn't Craigslist festooned with warnings about money orders?

Here we go: http://www.craigslist.org/about/scams

If you think that's bad, you should see the email rubbish you get when trying to sell a $6,500 motorcycle.

Sorry to read that you got scammed, but it could have been a lot worse.

The news stations have warned about them as well. It's an old trick and I am still amazed when people still fall for it.

HEY GUYS, who rip off people, **** you :)

HEY GUYS, who believe scammer people, SILLY you :)

CLASSIC!

That scam is as old as the internets. Never accept a money order or even a check. Cash is king, baby.

My bull**** meter is pegged. I'm sorry. I sincerely don't believe you.

OP, I'll make up your loss to you, just as soon as my Nigerian friend wires a few million into my account. :D

Seriously, if the OP was genuinely taken, I feel badly for him/her. I have my doubts, though, and in any event it's wise to read just a bit about scams to avoid being taken - the overpayment scam is one of the most common and least sophisticated, but still manages to find marks for the scammers.

My co-worker lost around 2000-2500$ in a scam. Anyone could've seen it from 100 miles.

I have some swampland in Florida and several bridges that I'm trying to sell. PM me if you're interested.

I'm interested in your bridge, but unfortunately am travelling abroad and cannot take receipt of the item at the time. My buyer agent can bring you a certified bank cheque for $500 over the asking amount to accomodate you for your time.

Here's a not-so-common scam...

My friend (seriously my friend - not me!:D) is selling his bike and some dude checks it out & wants to test drive it. Ok no problem, right?

The guy rode off & never came back!! My buddy actually found it funny. :lol:


Lesson for anyone who is selling their bike on Craigslist:
1. Put a long leash on the guy's neck as he rides off & pull back if necessary :D Jk!
2. Hang on to their ID or wallet as they test drive (works best)

Sorry for being dense, but, could someone please explain the scam? You're sent a money-order in an amount far larger than you'd expected, then you mail the excess back? What if you never mail back the excess...?

if someone is dumb enough to fall for that your kinda asking for it. No sympathy from me.

Sorry for being dense, but, could someone please explain the scam? You're sent a money-order in an amount far larger than you'd expected, then you mail the excess back? What if you never mail back the excess...?

It is a fake money order, so they don't lose anything.

Sorry for being dense, but, could someone please explain the scam? You're sent a money-order in an amount far larger than you'd expected, then you mail the excess back? What if you never mail back the excess...?

If you dont mail back anything, you just lose nothing. The money order is a fake so the bank just catches it. Much like a bad check.

2. Hang on to their ID or wallet as they test drive (works best)

No, not just the wallet.

Guy doing a test ride is asked for I.D., says "just hold onto my entire wallet" and rides off. Bye bye.

Wallet contains a few blank pieces of paper and a half of a $5 bill sticking out the side...

Pre-dates teh internetz.

No, not just the wallet.

Guy doing a test ride is asked for I.D., says "just hold onto my entire wallet" and rides off. Bye bye.

Wallet contains a few blank pieces of paper and a half of a $5 bill sticking out the side...

Pre-dates teh internetz.

I ride along with them problem solved.

Here's a not-so-common scam...

My friend (seriously my friend - not me!:D) is selling his bike and some dude checks it out & wants to test drive it. Ok no problem, right?

The guy rode off & never came back!! My buddy actually found it funny. :lol:

Actually, this is a fairly common scam. The best defense against it is to refuse the test ride; instead, offer them a one-hour buyback option. They buy the bike at the agreed-upon price. If, within one hour, they decide it's not right for them, they return the bike and get their money back. No risk for the seller, little risk for the buyer, problem solved.

http://cracklecdn.zoovy.lg1.simplecdn.net/img/designed2bsweet/W300-H300-Bffffff/2/suckerassortment.jpg

i was selling my MTB for $120 on the craiglist, and this one son of a ***** wanted to buy my bike for $140. But he lives in South Carolina, so only way to sell my bike is for him to send me the money and he picks up the bike later.
This S.O.B. sent me $875 money order by mistake. So i cashed it out and deducted $140 and sent him back the rest of the money. I found out that later on, it was a bad money order, so it returned back to me. minusing my god damn account. But i still have the bike. So i guess if i sell my bike for $100, then in total i threw away $775.

HEY GUYS, who rip off people, **** you :)

You still have the bike? awesome! just what I've been looking for.... who do I make out the cheque to?

:D

Never accept a money order or even a check. Cash is king, baby.

Checks are fine. Just wait a week or two till it clears. Once it clears, you're golden.

Checks are fine. Just wait a week or two till it clears. Once it clears, you're golden.

Actually it can take longer than that for a bank to return it. Best not to take one. Cash talks :)

Too bad. Lesson learned. Sorry to hear it happen to a fellow BFer. Be careful out there huh.

Wow, I didn't think anyone actually fell for that one.
Pretty much every single time i post something on craigslist I get that same offer from someone out of state, they don't need to see the item, they are ready to purchase and will even pay extra for me to remove the listing now and send them my info. Yeah RIGHT! LOL!

I mean seriously.... WHY or HOW could you mistakenly send someone a money order for that wrong of an amount, or wrong at all even. It takes a little bit of effort to get a money order. And why wouldn't you just send the original money order back and tell him to send a new one?

HEY GUYS, who rip off people, **** you :)


Shout out to all the idiots that keep these scammers in business. :thumb:

fake

this never happened. there's no way anyone in this day and age would fall for that.

I ride along with them problem solved.

Up until the point you find out they're alot fitter than they look, as they give you the lance lookback and drop you like a sack of potatoes.

I've had a number of attempted money order and/or bank cheque scams via CL. I always end the email exchange the same way:

them - "I can have my bank cut a cheque for my purchasing agent blah blah blah..."
me - "If your bank can write them a cheque, then they can also get cash. Have your agent show up with cash and I'll even drop the price by 10%."

I've never gotten a response after demanding cash, even when I offer to drop the price for a cash transaction.

This is the oldest scam in the books. It's the number one scam you would have read about if you'd ever done any research on internet scams.

fake

this never happened. there's no way anyone in this day and age would fall for that.

You'd be surprised how many people still fall for this. For some reason they get mind blocked by the whole thing. Moneybookers is another one going around. People selling things on craigslist for cheap, but they are abroad. You send them money to their moneybookers account and pick up the item with a full 30 day return period form the moneybookers warehouse. Moneybookers has a website, seems to be legit, like paypal (or as legit as paypal can be). Problem is there is no moneybookers warehouse (In the US) and you have no recourse to get your money back.

There is an entirely "new" class of criminal and one has to be smart when shopping online. And selling online. If anything seems even the least bit fishy ... walk away. Don't ship unless you have been paid via paypal or cash

You'd be surprised how many people still fall for this. For some reason they get mind blocked by the whole thing.

Heck, just in the last couple of years around here the treasurer of a county was found to have embezzled several hundred thousand dollars to fund her payments to a Nigerian 419'er.

I mean, really? Falling for a 419 scam? For pity's sake, Nigerian 419s are part of popular culture, how ignorant to you have to be?

Just goes to show you, greed conquers intelligence.

Lots of good scam avoidance info.
BTW, I have not had any issues with Paypal and/or Ebay. I have been playing on Ebay about 6 years now.

Sorry for being dense, but, could someone please explain the scam? You're sent a money-order in an amount far larger than you'd expected, then you mail the excess back? What if you never mail back the excess...?

If you never mail back the excess, nobody is out anything. But these kind of transactions usually follow a series of email contacts, sometimes even telephone conversations, all designed to gain the "CON"fidence of the victim. The OP claims the excess money was called a "mistake." There are a multitude of other lies and stories, really a limitless number, that always end in the victim having to send back their own money. Sometimes they think they are getting to keep some of the "excess" for their troubles (using the victim's greed as the hook), but with auction sale scams they really need only prey on the victim's honesty. The victim's own valid funds clear the banking system and are gone in a few days, the bogus funds the victim received take a few weeks to be returned to the victims bank, and the scam is complete. The victim sees the money in their bank account after a few days, and has no idea that the money order or check can be cancelled days to weeks later when it is discovered to be bogus.

I don't know if the OP is victim or troll, but I do know that the scam is more successful than you would think. Victims are embarrassed by their naivete, and frequently do not report the crime.

You think that's bad, you don't want to hear what happened to me when I flashed my bike light at a car that "forgot" to turn their headlights on.

Is there anyway to cash the money order without them finding you later when it bounces?
Like one of those check cashing places or something?
I'm just wondering if there is some way to reverse the scam and scam the scammer.

I call dibs!


Damn! you beat me to it.
I need a bridge, wanna swap for some land I own on the moon?

You think that's bad, you don't want to hear what happened to me when I flashed my bike light at a car that "forgot" to turn their headlights on.

gang initiation?

If you never mail back the excess, nobody is out anything.

Actually, you are. You're out the returned item fee from your bank. And I got nailed on an eBay/Paypal deal that was quite well done although I understand the current rules are different (but may still allow what happened to me)

-Roger

gang initiation?

Sure why not? There was also a bloody hook hanging from their door handle, so they had their own set of problems to deal with.

Is there anyway to cash the money order without them finding you later when it bounces?
Like one of those check cashing places or something?
I'm just wondering if there is some way to reverse the scam and scam the scammer.

It is a fake money order, they still are out nothing. Those check cashing places would track you down and get their money back. The scammers put nothing into the money order, they simply forge one. No different than me writing one on a piece of paper in crayola, they are both fake.

Actually, you are. You're out the returned item fee from your bank. And I got nailed on an eBay/Paypal deal that was quite well done although I understand the current rules are different (but may still allow what happened to me)

-Roger

I suppose. I don't have those on my account, so it didn't come to mind.

No, not just the wallet.

Guy doing a test ride is asked for I.D., says "just hold onto my entire wallet" and rides off. Bye bye.

Wallet contains a few blank pieces of paper and a half of a $5 bill sticking out the side...

Pre-dates teh internetz.

Or he leaves you his key ring with his car keys on it, and you find out the car he drove up in is stolen. Or he took the bus.

I was looking at a used bike. Once I felt I might want it I gave the person the cash while I test rode it. Came back with bike got cash and did not buy bike.

Oh man the OP smells like a cattle ranch with a lot of male cattle.

If you never mail back the excess, nobody is out anything.

This is actually untrue. If you deposit a bad check into your account most Banks will charge you a fee for "uncollected funds" once they attempt to actually process the check.