Hey folks.. Just a quick question for you all who know about scams. Everytime I try to sell something on Craigslist I get the same type of emails. Its obvious that it is a scam but im just wondering what kinda damage they do to people who fall for it. I guess they can come to your house and steal what your selling with the info but I wonder what else they can do. Here is a example that I copy n pasted:

Hello,
I don't mind getting the Item for the price because it worth the price and I think I am pleased with it. I will like you to know that
Payment would be through a certified european cashier's cheque or bank draft, the payment is also going to be including with the
shippment money so as soon as you have the funds you send the balance to the shipper that will be incharge of the shipment.through
my associate in the U.S.A. Because I do not have cash presently and would not like to loose the purchase item and also avoid delay
because of the urgency in need of it. Kindly give me the
[1] your name that is going to be writting on the check
[2] your address that the check is going to be forwarded to.
[3] your phone number.
[4] your last offer.
Also you will not be in-care of the shipment to my country,because I have a trusted International shipper that I have beenusing for the
past 18 years that will come for the pick-up of the goods in your location after payment has been confirmed by you.Please make sure
you do everything to make the purchase as clean as it was mention.any other interested parties tell them it has been sold.

My Regards to you and your family.

Dr Jim Robinson



I always respond to these emails with a friendly FU heheh!
Post your input and any comments! Andof course i did not fall for it!!!
Chad-

 

looks like a phishing scam because u are giving up very personal info.

if the check never is received, u get nothing. he has ur info.
if the check is received and is a valid, u have a sale. but they still have your info. in order to play along to see if it is a real scammer, u can give a address of a vacant property, and maybe use a friends phone number.

a phone + name + address can be good leverage and is very powerful when talking to a CC clerk (paid minimum wage and trained by a video) over the phone in order to gain more info. often can be used to gain trust.

after giving up that kind of info, all they would need is ur ssn, and they could cause lots of havok.

 

Interesting info trainwreck. Thanks for the input. I wonder if there is a way to find out who this person is or a way to get them in trouble from a legal standpoint. I guess the email is harmless because no crime has been acted out yet though.

 

there is nothing you can do to these people unfortunately because they have done nothing wrong, even if there intent is pure evil. if we could arrest them, it would be like locking up a child molester for giving a kid some candy. additionally, a lot of online scammers operate in different countries.

 

It is a scam. There are two ways to run this con, but the most common one is to send you a check that is forged or otherwise no good. Because it is from a foreign country, it will take you bank at least 2 weeks and up to 10 weeks to confirm that the check is no good. During this time, the check will show as good and clear because the bank is required to post it after 3 days even if they cannot verify it.

Con man comes to take your goods, you are out same said goods, plus bank charges plus whatever you forwarded to the shipper.

Do not deal with anyone overseas unless you have FINAL verification of the money, the buyer will wait up to 10 weeks for the check to clear, and YOU pick the shipper, not them, and you do not accept any money other than the purchase price. If they want a particular shipper, they pay them directly period with no exceptions.

 

They usually send very good looking fake cashier's checks. The money you send to the "shipping company" would be their profit. The cashier's check may even be taken by your bank but would be later found to be a forgery. The key in these scams is usually for you to send some money to them while they send you fake money.

 

Good stuff guys im gonna send him the address and phone # to my local police precinct.

 

and what's the local police is going to do???
go to another country and arrest him???

 

Obviously nothing we established that already.. But I was just messing with him. I suppose I could send him the info to someone I dont like? LOL that would be wrong!

 

here's the thing: they hear "FU" 93284729384239482 times a day. It just rolls off them. The best way to get back at these people is to waste their time. the longer they spend replying to you in the hopes of making $$$$ the less time they have to rip off your unsuspecting grandma. I strung along some chick for about two months because she thought she was going to con me out of around $3000. It took me a few minutes per day, was a guilty pleasure, and possibly allowed her to scam a few less people.

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