cehowardGS

This is second time this has happened when I am selling a bike on Craigslist, and I decline both times.

I get an email asking about the bike. I reply that is just like I state in the ad. Then a couple days later I get another email stating that they want the bike. Then finally they send an email telling me they are out of town but will send me a money order for payment. Now, I know I am not cutting loose any bike without the cash..Also, I am not shipping any bike. I am trying to see how they are working this.

They tell me that somebody will come and pick the bike up. Okay, if I did agree, I would not give the bike up unless the money order has cleared. However, my old sub-culture smells a rat in these offers.. This second one really tries to hook me. Tells me in the email that they will not only pay my asking price, but will give me 50 dollars more to hold the bike for them untill they come off assignment(never tells me what kind of assignment).. I promptly told this last prospective buyer, NO THANKS.

Here is latest I got from this person..

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Thanks for your mail,i will have it picked up as soon as you received the payment..the payment will arrived to you within 3-5working days..i will like you to send me your full name and address where the money order can be mailed to.

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The information they are asking for, name and address is the same information I would have to give to anybody that wants to buy the bike. Trying to see how they are working a scam.. Or is this LEGIT, and I am one out to lunch??

wrk101

Typical scam.

gmt13

It's a common scam. They give you a counterfeit check or MO for more than your price and then ask you to send the excess back to them (with your legit check or MO). Some of the checks are darn real and so are cashed by the bank; however in a few days when they discover the fraud, they pull the money back out of your account.

This scam is so old, yet it must still work quite well.

-gmt

sonatageek

Scam.

SteveSGP

It's a scam but if you want to play with them, Tell them you don't give out your home address and that you'll meet them somewhere like a mall parking lot and that they'll need to bring cash.

Shimagnolo

Tell them they pick up the bike and pay cash, and not to waste your time.

Michael Angelo 

I had the same email when I tried to sell my 87 Super Sport. Told me his agent would come by and pick up the bike. Also was going to bring a check, then changed his mind and pay with pay pal. He also was out of town on buisness.
I insisted it was a cash deal, and no agents.....never heard from him again.

Pars 

Tell them USPS money order, and take it to the post office to cash before you release the bike.

BigPolishJimmy

Don't bother to tell them anything. Ignore and spend your time on legitimate buyers

Cipher

I actually received a USPS money order, took it to the Post Office to cash and the postal clerk was going to do it! I told him to take a closer look at the check which he did and again was going to cash it for me. I them told him it was fake (I Googled the address on the USPS issued check and it was bogus) and explained what I had found. He brought up the postal inspector who examined it, asked me some questions, took my name, address, and # thanked me for the check and said they would look in to the matter... For a while I was responding/playing with these guys and getting them to mail me checks for the heck of it. I even had one guy call me (on my work cell) from a phone booth asking me if I had received the check, cashed it and wire the excess money back to him. This being a family forum and all, I CAN'T post what I thought of him...

Chris_in_Miami

This is the best course of action.

As for how the scam works, once the bogus check is dispatched "accidentally" in excess of your price, the scammers get pushy and start demanding the refund. They don't have any intention of picking up the item they're "buying," they work on the principle that they can bully a small percentage of sellers into sending them a partial refund.

Chris_in_Miami

I had a new (to me) scam attempt last week when I listed an iPhone on craigslist. I got an email (first red flag) from a buyer who just lost their phone and wanted a replacement ASAP, and was willing to pay an extra $10 for mine (2nd red flag.) I googled the California phone number she provided and found several Facebook messages to the effect of "I just lost my phone, can you send me all your contacts?"

The messages were from different people, but identically worded, and over the course of the last year. The phone number was associated with various friends of the "victim."

Not entirely sure how this one works, but it's some type of scam... Either that, or this person and her friends lose lots of phones.

I sold the phone locally two days later.

Cipher

This was another recent attempt by these dirt bags trying to scam me:

https://www.cyclingforums.com/forum/t...new-in-the-box

If you 'click on the guy that responded to my ad for the pedals, check his post, you will see he tried to scam a few others listing items with the same M.O. as he tried on me...

BluesDaddy

Think of craigslist as an electronic yard sale. If a person can't show up and pay cash it's likely to lead to too much trouble on your end.

Epicus07 

I also got a scam email when selling a bike on CL earlier this week.

First email was from "Don Duke" email DrEricThomas@---.com
Second email was from "Donald Duke" (seriously? how obvious is that ) email Donaldduke@---.com

Thanks for the prompt response.. I am ready to buy it now as a gift
for my brother,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 it to be a surprise
for my brother so i wont let him know anything about it until
it gets delivered to him, i am sure he will be more than happy with
it. I insisted on 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 and the price so i can make the
payments asap for it and pls if you don't have paypal account yet, it
is very easy to set up, go to 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 it up after i have made the payments.

LOL you are going to have to try much harder than that. Idiot.

Amesja

Phone calls only to set up meetings. I will respond to legitimate questions written in complete English by literate people but still will insist on a phone call to set up a meeting.

I've got a city parking lot just outside my home in Chicago that serves a major bus stop/station and El train station where I meet people. I tell them to bring cash and be prepared to take the bike immediately (all the bikes I sell are roadworthy and safe.)

I need to get one of those counterfeit-testing magic markers someday but I just use my head when I look at the bills. If they fool me then they will spend just as easily. Most of the cash I make goes right into the coffee can for buying my next project bikes and parts from the LBS to fix them up for the next sale.

I'm not out to scam anyone and it is hard to scam an honest man. When a deal is too good to be true it usually is...

Amesja

-oh, and I forgot to add: I don't do PayPay either. Cash, or sometimes PMO's for ordering stuff over over the internet like folks from here on BikeForums or spokes from Lee. I know PMO's can be faked but if you don't deal with people who can't be verified and have at least some reputation it isn't a problem.

Does BikeForums have any sort of user-feedback system to rate other member's as far as having dealt with them as a "good guy?" I've had nothing but good experiences with other members so it isn't a problem but it would be nice to give some sort of "kudos" to people officially here as being a positive seller/buyer. I've seen this done on other internet forums for non-bike things.

rookgirl

Scam. There are various iterations of this for different things. I have heard of a similar one for music lessons (want to pay for a semester up front, but easier to transfer living expenses too - could you just put the difference into another account, please) and also for share housing (v similar to the music lesson one).

rookgirl

It would be easy to set up. I am on another forum (thebabywearer.com) which clearly uses the same template/software or whatever. Many, many transactions take place and you're able to leave feedback on the person. It appears under your post count (number of feedbacks and % of positive). It's very nice becuase you feel you really can trust that person.

frantik

if you are even left wondering if it's a scam or not, don't even waste your time

the only money i would accept is the green kind with dead white dudes on the front

Flying Merkel

Counterfeiting a USPS money order is a federal crime. A postal inspector has authority that matches or exceeds an FBI agents. And they are armed. Not a good agency to mess with.

badger_biker 

I got a similar one the other day and it stated that the sender's sister worked for the USPS and they would pay with a USPS money order...bla bla bla. I knew it was a scam but when I got to the part where it said she would send the money order via UPS expidited services I had a good laugh. I also work for the USPS and don't think I'd find too many coworkers using UPS!

Good job contacting the PO Cipher.

Amesja

Wouldn't sending a fake USPS Money Order through USPS just compound the crime by a factor of 10? I see why a scammer would want to use UPS

Little Darwin

Actually if any portion of a fraudulent transaction uses the US Mail, it is a federal crime. I am not sure if the penalty is worse than counterfeiting a Postal money order.

Amesja

That's what I am thinking. 2 felony Federal offenses are worse than one!