bostongarden

I sense that the number of scammers has increased. It is sad.

Rocket-Sauce 

https://dontevenreply.com/
Salty language warning!

motorthings

some are now just putting all the scam verbage as an email signature, so they don't even have to write anything...just harvest all the anonymous emails from craigslist, and automatically send an email that only has the email signature saying they want your item and to contact them. no specifics about the item you are selling, so they don't have to do any work at all...just wait for the suckers to roll in.

snowman40

That's why you put in your CL ad COD and local offers only. If you are willing to ship it, use something else.

duckracer

I had a guy try and sell me MY OWN Ducati race bike on Ebay once. Seem's he went to my web site and lifted the bike pic's and all the spec's and was trying to sell it on Ebay. He didn't think that maybe the owner...Me...would browse Ebay. I exchanged a bunch of email's with him and when he asked me to send him a deposit via Weatern Union I turned it over to the authorities and Ebay.

DropDeadFred

even CODs are scammed...in one of my businesses i got a 1500 dollar cashiers check from chase bank....FAKE! i got seriously ripped on that one. I say local pick up only

unterhausen

I know someone that had a scammer show up in person with a cashiers check. Bogus of course. They wanted to "split it with him," all he had to do was to give them $3500 and they would let him keep $1000. As he became more reluctant, they kept offering to let him "keep" more and more of the money.

danvuquoc

Scams are easy to sniff out, and they're all done via automated script. Its a numbers game, only a fraction of a percent are dumb enough to fall for it -- but when they do, they're usually out $500+. I sell stuff on craigslist locally all the time, the number of scammers hasn't really gone up imho.

If you want a scary story, my friend who is in the NSX community in the Bay Area was selling a car stereo head unit -- buyer met up locally, checked out the head unit, gave the buyer a sealed envelope and walked off quickly. Friend chased after him -- found himself with a handgun pointed at him.

danvuquoc

LOL, thats very ballsy. Most of the nigerian scams etc are actually committed by locals.

abstractform20

if you think thats bad, i just arrived at the hotel i booked on craigslist. im in rwanda and there appears to be a civil wars of sorts.

2ndGen

I tell them I'd be happy to do it that way.
Then, I ask them to contact me at my job:

FBI Headquarters
Internet Fraud Division
935 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, D.C. 20535-0001
(202) 324-3000

(for some reason, I never hear from them again)

2ndGen

Nice!

PhotoJoe 

We just had a local story of a a guy selling a video game system on CL. The seller decided to meet up at a public place, but when the four guys got out of the car, they robbed the guy with the game. Some good Samaritan tried to help out and was shot to death. Very sad. Dirtbags were caught, but that won't help the poor guy who tried to do the right thing.

hhnngg1

As much as Ebay's fees and structure sucks, if you're not selling locally, I find it worth paying that fee to avoid crap like this. Only local in-cash in-person for CL.

zazenzach

my sides....lol cant.... stop..... laughing......

2ndGen

Best thread I've ever read ended like this:

LemondFanForeve

I ALWAYS tell anyone wanting to pay via mo/wu/cc/etc, that they WILL NOT get the item, until payment clears, no exceptions. Usually scares off all the shady ****s. Also, if someone agrees to "meet" to buy/sell something off CL, I always bring something w/me as protection, & always meet in public, usually bring someone w/me too. Also, if someone says"will you take a cashiers check?" I always say " well, id be glad to go to the bank w/you, so that you can get the cash instead", that usually tells me theyre a scammer, if they start giving excuses that is. No reason to pay via cc during the day, you have time to go to the bank, & get the $$$ out. Always on CL, its "local pickup only".

StephenH

"Just curious ... how are these people wanting to scam you this way?"
"Do you still use checks in the USA?
I seem to believe I once saw someone with a check in Belgium ... must have been around 1986 or so.
Anyway ... if you want to buy something of me ... you better pay it cash or in advance by bank transfer.
I never understood the concept of checks ... somebody simply hands you a piece of paper and says: "here ... I promise you this is worth something".
Weird."

The classic scam is that they contact you about the item and arrange a sale. Say your price is $3,000. They send you a cashier's check for $5,000 and ask you to forward the balance on for some other reason. You take the check to your local bank, they say it's good, cash it, you forward the cash on. Then THREE WEEKS LATER, that check gets returned from the issuing bank as being a forged check, your bank pulls their $3000 back out of your account, and you're screwed out of the $2000 plus the merchandise, if any. The merchandise is almost incidental, and you'll hear of this same scam being done with wedding photograhers and the like where it is services to be rendered, rather than goods, that are being sold. The aim is money, not goods.

As to using checks- that may be regional, but is also age-related. I use checks or cash almost exclusively, and have never had a debit card (and I'm 51.) My kids (20's) use debit cards exclusively and seldom if ever use checks. Most other people at local stores are using either debit or credit cards. My kids would never see anyone using checks if not for us. But most local merchants accept checks, and are used to accepting them, so they're not as alien as my kids would imagine.

The value of a piece of paper is basic to the concept of currency. It's all in what you get used to. There are advantanges and disadvantages either way.