Who falls for this?? I posted my Pottery Barn rug on craigslist today. Here's what I've gotten. Normally, I get these in my Gmail account and I click "Report As Spam" for them. But maybe going public with whatever contact information will have more effect. Keep in mind, I list my price in the ad.
From curtis_wright001@yahoo.com:
My name is Curtis located in Las Vegas, NV.
I saw your advert on your item at craigslist.com and Its exactly what I have been willing to purchase for long now. And I am extremely Interested in it.
Please let me know the final asking price and also If you are willing to sell for, I am giving you $100 extra for deleting the advert from craigslist before anything else.
Regards.
Curtis Wright.
8687 W Sahara Ste #108
Las Vegas, NV 89117
775-418-9488
Does Curtis seriously think I am going to A. Delete a posting EVER until it is out of my hands and cash has replaced it and B. Will he seriously pay for shipping from NY to NV? For an 8'x10' rug? No. And I love how he is "willing" to purchase something. Like I'm twisting his arm.
From t_miller01t@yahoo.ca:
Hello Seller
I am a legitimate business-man and I base in Canada ,i came across your advert on www.craigslist.org and i am highly,interested in buying the (Pottery Barn Rug ) which you offer for sale.Due to the fact that it's been a long that have been searching for it ,Kindly get back to me as soon as possible with the necessary answers to these questions that have in mind ,Are you the real owner? The present condition? And your final asking pric?,Furthermore I will like you to know that my form of payment is through a Money Order..
I await your urgent response so that we can proceed further....
Best Regards
Mr.Tony Miller...
My favorite part is how he is a "serious business-man." And maybe he taken a note from Steve Martin's Pure Drivel by refusing to use periods? At least I think that's how the sketch went...sooo funny.
Here is one of my favorite craigslist scams from when I was selling my little Nokia phone:
From smithwess_43@yahoo.com:
Scammer:
Hello Sir/Ma'am,
I want to know if this item is still avaliable for sale.contact me Asap with your firm price.
Me:
It is still available, and $50 is the price.
Scammer:
Hello FashionMista, Thanks for your prompt response to my inquiry for your item.I will get back to you later with my payment option. Thank you Smith.
Me:
Hi Smith, If by "option" you mean type of payment, I only accept cash at the time of the exchange of the item. Best,
Scammer:
hello fashionmista, Am not confortable with that,i have been robbed before in this type of exchange.I'm in wisconsin right now but I'll be leaving for london for a soccer coaching job in a week time.The ITEM is for my son's BIRTHDAY gift who travelled to spend sometime with his mum where she works in the US consulate in west africa.I'll have to add some extra for you to send it to him as soon as possible.I'll be paying you through Stormpay money order as soon as you make your decision i will pay you $95 for the item and shipment fee; it's secure and protects two parties in a transaction.Let me hear from You ASAP. Smith, Phone (915)-808-3485
Me:
Hi,
No offence, but this is a classic scam attempt. Please don't do it in Craig's List. It litters the site, which is filled with either honest people, or people connected to Africa in some way. Oddly, it is also filled with men looking to buy their sons electronic equipment. If you are truly in Wisconsin, and if your story is actually true, then you can pay online, like any other customer with an ecommerce transaction in an online store, and the item will be sent to you. I run a store online, and this is the way it works. If you are genuine, you may pay via paypal, the invoice of which I can send you. With payment, which would include shipping to wherever you need it, I can send the phone. If you are not interested, or if you are going to suggest some other means of payment for your own attempts, then do not reply to this email. If you do, I will report this email address as spam for your inconvenience.
That is all.
Of course, Smith never wrote back. He is also the second person I got seeking to buy their son a piece of electronic equipment. The first time it happened was when I was selling a little digital camera. Although I fell for that one, and thought it would be a "perfect gift." No more!
So, now you know. Don't click on links from emails, and don't do money orders ever to anyone.
8 comments:
Money orders can be forged easily, especially Western Union ones.
Mine's kind of a mesh of all yours. Enjoy.
"Thanks so much for repling my mail...However, i have just relocated to Las Vegas,NV.So i will be responsible for the shipping of this item.Just to let you know am sending this to my son in the college has his birthday gift next week,i have a shipping account with FedEx Express in which i will be using for the shipping of the item,i will be sending you a shipping LABEL and INVOICE which you will print out and have it pasted on the box of the item once the payment has been approved and cleared.Okay Am impress with the condition of the item, so am offering $170 inorder to be the bid winner. Hope you consider my offer.Please do note, i don't use paypal or whatever it's been called. Because i have been scammed using it and you can as well vist this site on paypal ( www.paypalsucks.com) and you will see what am talking about.So to proceed with this transaction,My main method of payment is through MoneyGram.i will need your full name and address as it will be written on the Payment..Note this thing: NO SCAM..Thanks for the understanding..here is
my address Below:
7744 Arden Grove St,
Las Vegas, NV 89113
Hear from you soonest."
Oh my. I'm not even going to point out what in that email screamed scam, for fear of teaching them where to improve their methods. The paypalsucks is a new one.
I just got one too and it's the exact same leter chase received. The NERVE of these people!
i got e-mailed from this same guy but his name is now mark john at 8687 w. sahara #108 las vegas nv 89117 775-418-9488 markjohnneeed@yahoo.com
so this guy is still scamming people. I have noticed that all these scam artist have a few tell tell clues they use the word "advert" and of course the "final price" and "lovely". Then the payment thing and shipping etc... another clue is to look at the e-mail and see the "reply to" and "sent to" lines the sent to is always someone different than me or a group of sellers at craigslist and the reply line is missing or is to a different address or missing and most are gmail.com or yahoo.fr or yahoo.uk or hotmail.(anything) the .fr is french and comes from canada or africa. the uk is england.
I cannot believe how many of them use the same exact wording.
my suggestion if you really need to reply which i do sometimes because it just makes me so madis that i tell them "you have been reported to the F.B.I. and they are using the new tracking software to locate criminals. so keep responding to the ads and they will find you."
i get about 10 of these a day along with the usual nigerian scam letters. how many people in africa have 10 million dollars to give away from their dead relatives. there has to be a way to stop all this especialy modern time of computers
i just received this one sounded to good to be true enjoy:
Thanks so much for repling my mail...However, i have just relocated to Las Vegas,NV.So i will be responsible for the shipping of this item.Just to let you know am sending this to my son in the college has his birthday gift next week,i have a shipping account with FedEx Express in which i will be useing for the shipping of the item,i will be sending you a shipping LABEL and INVOICE which you will print out and have it pasted on the box of the item once the payment has been approved and cleared.Okay Am impress with the condition of the item,so am offering $1000 inorder to be the bid winner. Hope you consider my offer.Please do note, i don't use paypal or whatever it's been called.Because i have been scammed using it and you can as well vist this site on paypal ( paypalsucks.com) and you will see what am talking about.So to proceed with this transaction,My main method of payment is through MoneyGram.i will need your full name and address as it w ill be written on the Payment..No one thing NO SCAM..Thanks for the understanding..Here is
my address Below:
7744 Arden Grove St,
Las Vegas, NV 89113
Hear from you soonest
Hi All,
My story is similar but different.
I posted an item on Cragslist, I wrote $190 and I got one of those emails.
They ask me for my address so they can send me the money, they mentioned $250 I have no idea why. So I sent them my address and full name and after 10 days I got a Fedex envelop to my mail and guess what... inside was another envelop with a check of $2300, I have to mention there was no letter or note attached so I had no idea where this was from also because the name of the check holder was different than the lady that emailed me.
I went to my bank and ask them what they think, and they say that I shoul deposit and wait at least 2 weeks to make sure the check doesn't return.
It's been 3 days since then, seems like the money is already in my account but I'll wait as the bank said.
Is this story familiar to you?
Could this be a scam?
Should I ship the item after 2 weeks?
Thanks
I've gotten the paypalsucks.com mention too! Toatally bogus. I've been using paypal for years, as a buyer and a seller, and have so far had no problems.
As for depositing the check, I did hear something about that, and was not good. I can't remember what it was, but, if that check bounces, you may have to pay the bounce fee. to your bank I would do nothing until your bank officially tells you that the money has cleared. Legally, I don't know what you could be liable for, if you kept the extra cash.
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