I think I've managed to get wrapped up in some fraud on Craigslist. My friend who is computer illiterate has a wood stove he wanted to sell. So I've been posting it the past couple weeks with not much luck so I've been lowering the price slowly. This weekend I decided to post it outside my normal area. I get a response within a couple hours, here is what transpired....
The scammer:
Hello,
Is this item still for sale?
Reply asap.
Reply ASAP.
Daniel.
Me:Yes, you were the first one to message me today. Let me know if you have any questions or want to come out to look at it. Thanks, T.K.
The scammer:
Thanks for the response.I am willing to pay your asking price.I will pay by a money order as its the only way i can pay you at the moment.I will make arrangement for the pickup after payment have been received by you.I don't mind adding an extra $30 so you can keep it in my favor.I would have loved to come take a look at it but i am presently out of town,send me some pictures.Reply with your name,phone # and mailing address where payment will be sent.I will let you know how i intend to pick it up.Please take the posting off craigslist today and consider it sold to me.
Expecting to hear from you soon.
Warm Regards.
Me:Any way you want to handle it is ok with me. Sending a money order ahead or I can hang on to the stove and you can bring cash when you come back from out of town, however is most convenient for you is good for me. I'm actually selling this for a friend. He doesn't use a computer at all so I'm helping him and handling all the details. All the pictures I have right now are the ones I posted on craigslist. I can email those to you or if you want a specific picture let me know, I'll see what I can do. It's inside a garage right now so the pictures might not be that good. We try not to move it so much because it's so heavy, I'd have to guess about 350 lbs or so. Here is my info, Thanks, T.K.
Thomas ******
**** ******* Dr
******,NY 1****
***-***-****
The scammer:Hi,
I have given my partner the go ahead to mail payment to the address you gave me.You should receive payment within the week.Once payment is received we can proceed with the pickup.Thanks for your understanding and patience.I would like you to take the posting off CL today.
Warm Regards
Me: Ok sounds good. I'll keep an eye out for it. I took the posting down this morning but it must have taken a while for it to get removed. Thanks, T.K.
The scammer: Hello,
How are you doing,i hope you are fine and alright.I have been busy myself but doing great.There is something i think i must bring to your notice.After a reconciliation of my account,i discovered that somehow my partner must have over paid you.The payment that was meant for another transaction was sent to you and the one meant for you was sent to another,however i want to believe i wont have a problem with you.
Please once you receive your payment,i will like you to deduct your money and send the remaining via western union to the manager of the shipping company that will help me with the pickup.I will provide the info you need to complete the western union transfer once you receive payment.Thanks once again for your understanding.
Warm regards.
The last email was received this morning. The money order thing at first didn't seem too out of line although it did send up a red flag. Of course I've had trouble handling business while on the road so I can understand if someone is out of town and trying to do something back at home. The "partner" thing sent up a flag as well as them making sure I took the posting down. I haven't responded to the last email yet because obviously something is going on. I was going to write back a deal off email but I think I may contact my local police department and see what the Chief says. Maybe we'll play it out and they can catch them. What sucks is this person now has my address. I'm not really worried about someone showing up at my doorstep because if this is a scam , which it probably is, it's probably a through the mail deal. We'll see what happens. What do you guys think?