Craigslist buyer scam

This email was forwarded to me from one of my blog readers. She had a vehicle listed on craigslist and received an email inquiring about the vehicle and when she responded that it was still available she got this in return. Thank you for sharing your story Katie!

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Hello,
Thanks for your prompt responds, However, i will need your name and
address for payment,As am only able to make payment by Cashier check,
at this time b/c i am away on assignment. It will be nice if you can
send me more pictures.It will take some days for the payment to get to
you.As per pick-up,And the rest funds on the check will be send over
to the movers inorder for them to come over for the pick up.So i will
send the payment which will include the pick up charges, in which you
will make payable to the mover via money gramm/Western union
immediately after you have receive the payment and you will be
compensated with $50 extra for your running around to the
money gram/Western union outlet to avoid the delay..Please take the
posting off Craigslist today and consider it sold to me, Include your
phone number.
Expecting to hear from you soon.
Regards.......

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This is a classic Craigslist scam directed at sellers who have high priced items listed. She was very smart to notice the scam before contacting this person further. He has told her that he will send a money order for the truck and must take a portion of that money and send it via money order to the movers that will pick up the vehicle for her. If she was to continue with this transaction she would have been sent a very legitimate looking money order that she would have taken to the bank and possibly purchased another money order to give to the "movers". The movers in this case do not exist but she would have unknowingly sent a money order back to the person that sent her this mail giving him a few hundred dollars of her own money. In the meantime the bank would have contacted her to let her know the money order was a fake and she would have been out a few hundred dollars.

Spotting the fake: Even if you cant tell if the buyer is legit or not. Take a few things into consideration. 1. He never once specifies about what he is buying, this is a copy/pasted email he probably sends to numerous sellers with high price items on Craigslist. 2. Never ever deal with anyone on craigslist that wants an item shipped or wants to deal in money orders. Cash transactions face to face in a safe location are always the way to go. 3. He specified there was a rush to "avoid delay" basically hoping she would get the money order to him before the bank noticed the one he sent to her was a fake.

Here is a section from craigslist FAQ section regarding scams:

You can sidestep would-be scammers by following these common-sense rules:

* DEAL LOCALLY WITH FOLKS YOU CAN MEET IN PERSON - follow this one simple rule and you will avoid 99% of the scam attempts on craigslist.
* NEVER WIRE FUNDS VIA WESTERN UNION, MONEYGRAM or any other wire service - anyone who asks you to do so is a scammer.
* FAKE CASHIER CHECKS & MONEY ORDERS ARE COMMON, and BANKS WILL CASH THEM AND THEN HOLD YOU RESPONSIBLE when the fake is discovered weeks later.
* CRAIGSLIST IS NOT INVOLVED IN ANY TRANSACTION, and does not handle payments, guarantee transactions, provide escrow services, or offer "buyer protection" or "seller certification"
* NEVER GIVE OUT FINANCIAL INFORMATION (bank account number, social security number, eBay/PayPal info, etc.)
* AVOID DEALS INVOLVING SHIPPING OR ESCROW SERVICES and know that ONLY A SCAMMER WILL "GUARANTEE" YOUR TRANSACTION.


As always, thanks for reading, comments are always welcome! I will now be allowing comments to be posted by anonymous users so you will not have to have a google account to voice your opinion.