So I've been listing some furniture on Craigslist. A lot. We're remodeling a few rooms in our house in preparation for the baby & we need to get rid of a lot of stuff.

And Craigslist has been great; we even sold our front door (right off the bat)!

But there are scammers out there and I just thought you all should know and I didn't see anything on the forum about this so I thought I'd share with you my recent experiences.

After posting our ads, we quickly get emails from all sorts of gmail accounts (or even yahoo accounts that are actually gmail accounts - not sure how that happens) asking if the item or items are still for sale.

Hello? I JUST posted the ad....of course it's for sale.

But that's how they get 'ya and your actual personal email address. The first email from them comes to you via craigslist so they don't actually have your personal addy off the bat.

But that's not really the problem, but if you're desperate enough (watch it), you might just fall for the scam. I have a buddy who did and it wasn't fun and he was out a chunk of change.

This is an example of the email I get in response to the ad (with Craigslist's automatic warning at the top):

Now I'm not sure exactly what this guy is asking......but I think he's asking me if it's still for sale.

And the email address that shows up is: Grant Seth [tolozolo4@yahoo.com]

But then when I reply, it switches to mloveth@gmail.com. TRICKY!

This is the response I get to my personal address after I responded saying, yes, of course, it's still for sale:

Here's the scam: they send you a fake check. You cash it. For the first week or two, all seems good & the 'mover' comes and picks up the item. Later on, you get a nifty little call from your bank telling you that the funds actually weren't available even though the funds were initially deposited into your account. So you don't get your money and you've already given away yer goods.

So far, I've received about 30 of these scam emails so far. So I've started having some fun with it. So I invite you too to send all sorts of spam to these addresses and call that number. It'll be fun.

Here's my response to the above email:

Here's another email I got from chrismarcus024@gmail.com

This was my response:

How nice of him, though, to offer an extra $20! Seriously, who would do that if it wasn't an obvious scam?

Here's another from christjomo@googlemail.com (which definitely isn't gmail):

This was my response:

Here's another one of my responses:

Here's another from donaldwell1@gmail.com:

After I said 'yes'...

My response:

A favorite of mine....from Mike Greg (mikegreg01@gmail.com):
After I said yes...

And my response:


Gotta love the internet!!! Just be careful fellas and ladies!
[Reply]

Piece of advice from someone who investigates this stuff. If you receive a check/cheque, always have the bank clear it right then and there. If possible, use a draft/certified check.

In response to your use of a personal email account, PLEASE go register a GMail account that will let you stay anonymous. Beat them at their own game my friend.
[Reply]

Thanks for the heads up...not a big "craigs list" guy myself.
[Reply]

Thanks Donnie! By the way, is your email addy donaldwell1@gmail.com?

:-):-)

Also, I've heard that these checks actually ARE certified cashier's checks...they're no longer safe either.

And hey, how do I register my gmail addy as anonymous?

And Michael, it really is a great website...we've sold stuff, even rented out a home using craigslist! Three times!

Just be careful of the scammers...and most of them, I've heard, are (obviously) out of the country, in Africa somewhere (so I've heard).
[Reply]

This post is worth RG just for the laughs it gave me. I am a pretty cynical person, so not readily trapped by scams. Not sure what that says about me that I don't trust people, but my money and goods stay safe. Thanks for the post.
[Reply]

Hahahaha, thanks Mike. I'm the same way. That's why when a guy says right off the bat...I'll pay you full price, hell, I'll throw in an extra $20....it looks like a freakin' duck to me!

If it's too good to be true....well, hell....
[Reply]

When I say "anonymous", anyone you converse with will not be able to trace your email back to you (save and except LE and organizations like mine). Register a dozen gmail accts and mix them up. Would be difficult for anyone to gather substance on you.
[Reply]

As for certified checks not being safe, well that is true to a degree. But in that case, its the banks problem if they don't check it right away. I see hundreds of fake certified checks being passed everyday on our news ticker, that is basically hundreds of bank tellers that are slacking off (no offence).

EDIT: Here is a sample notice we get...

CNB Bank, Inc., Berkeley Springs, West Virginia, has contacted the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) to report that counterfeit cashier's checks bearing the institution's name are in circulation.

The counterfeit items display the routing number 052204359, which is assigned to CNB Bank, Inc. The items also display a security feature statement embedded in the top border and along the bottom border between two padlocks. The words "CASHIER'S CHECK" along with a notice to customers appears in the top-left corner. The name Citizens National Bank with a "C" logo is displayed in the top center.

Authentic cashier's checks display the bank's name and location in the top-center area of the check. The words "Cashier's Check" are shown in the top-right area of the check.
[Reply]

Anyone dumb enough to fall for such shenanigans deserves exactly what they get. Hang on... I'm running low on cynicism, but if your :-) detector doesn't start making noise, you should probably move back to your parents basement and have all electronic devices restricted from use.

Not you, David, but PUUUUHLEEEAAASSSE.... I have had dozens of these come at me, and if they aren't specifically referring to your item, 99% of the time they are the cousins of the Nigerian Lottery official, I think. :-)
[Reply]

Totally agree with you Pete. One of my replies that I didn't post here went sorta like this, including the Craigslist warning at the top: "Do you think I'm stupid? I'm reporting you." And that buddy of mine who actually fell for it, well, he ain't too smart....
[Reply]

I had a moron friend who got scammed over craiglist when posting an ad for a roommate.

I never paid much attention to it till he started talking about 'extra' money he was getting out of the deal. I immediately asked him to fill me in. Turns out the girl was from 'far away' and 'moving here soon' and 'here's a check for $XXXX.00 to go towards rent for the first few months... be sure to take what you need plus a little extra and mail me back the rest...

Typical scam... he had no idea. He cashed the check. I stopped him the night he was writing a check back. He still wasn't believing me..... then 2 days later his accounts were frozen by the bank. :-)

Bout
[Reply]

I'll bet it wasn't a girl either! Yikes!
[Reply]

Totally forgot to highlight another of my faves:

If I were doing this....

"I based in USA but I can't speak or write proper English but I'm definitely not in Africa heading the Nigerian Lotto Scam in addition to Craigslist scams because I'm in Iowa which really is like another country and you should trust me because I is Amerinicain just like you & will offer you full price and then some because I want what are best for both as long as you give me your name & address but no P.O. Box and oh yeah, make sure you remove the listing from Craigslist"
[Reply]

I once tried to sell a motorcycle through an online ad service (not CL) and had a similar experience. The guy offered me $1000 dollars over what I asked for the bike, and an additional $2500 to have it shipped. I wound up getting a huge check that the bank wouldn't clear because it was fake (had major suspicions long before I got the check in my hands). The guy called up, through an operator he was typing to, and threatened to find me and do me harm in order to get his money back. He didn't like it too much when I told him I didn't have the check anymore because the local police had taken the check and passed it on to the FBI. He hung up after that.
[Reply]

Nice! Jeez, sorry about that Joe. That sucks. Hope they caught the f'er.
[Reply]

Anytime you post something in Craigslist you are open to this kind of Scam. Here's the usual modus operandi:

You are the seler

1. Response to your advertisement.
2. Email back and forth. They say their representative/secretary/relative in the USA will send you payments.
3. They send you a check for more than what was originally agreed upon. They say take xxx amount for your trouble but refund (via wire transfer) them the remaining money.

Ex Cost of what you are selling is 1000 dollars
They send you 3500 dollars
They will ask you to cash the check, take 300 dollars for your troubles but send them/advance them 1200.
4. Your bank will make the 3500 available to you. You wire them 1200.
5. A few days later your bank calls you and informs you the check is no good. You are now out of 1200.

You are the buyer - This is easy to spot since most of the time, the same advertisement is plastered in different craigslist cities.
1. You email them about the item they are selling.
2. They said it's available. However, he is out of country right now but, lo and behold, he has a solution for this problem.
3. They will suggest to use a shipper company; in one of my bait, they suggested TNT.
4. Same deal with above, take xxx amount for your trouble, but wire them the rest.
[Reply]

At least they're polite. :-):-)
[Reply]

:-)
[Reply]

The whole thing smelled kinda funky. The guy was supposedly based out of South Africa, the shipping company was based in Ghana, and the Cashier's Check was from a bank in the UK. Requested that they clear funds before I left the bank and it came back as being fraudulent. The routing number was correct, but the account number didn't exist. Crazy deal, but I didn't lose anything other than a little time. The entertainment I got was well worth that much.
[Reply]

That is a good one.

I lived in Iowa for a few years, it did feel like I was in a different country.
[Reply]