Craigslist scam question

I see a lot of ads on craigslist that get flagged for removal and the similarities I've noticed are: sound too good to be true, tend to be around $3,000 and most importantly the only contact info is a personal email account. There is no phone number to contact or craigslist email.

How does someone scam you if all they get is an email from you in response to an ad on craigslist?

Caveat emptor, I've always believed that 'if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is,' but now I'm wondering how the scam works.

Probably the ad is just the first point of contact. Once they have a likely mark on the line, they reel them in.

Consider this: every 'Nigerian 419' scam is initiated via email and they manage to take people for thousands.

Wait.. there are people dumb enough to fall for the Nigerian deal? No. It can't be.

You are all missing out, the Nigerian deal worked for me. I'm a millionaire ten times over, but just choose to live below my means.

Yep. There sure are. Not all of them are as transparent as the all bold, misspelled word, terrible back story scams. Some of the perpetrators are really convincing and find just the right person to sucker in.

Some very intelligent people have been suckered by this and other confidence games.

A guy at work posted a stove for sale. Someone responded and said they will buy sight unseen. They wanted to send him a check for $300.00 and asked for his address. Then the buyer sent an email saying he was given a check from the bank for $3,000 by accident. If my co worker would cash the check and send him back $2,000 they would both profit. Just a scam based on ones greed. The check would be bogus but probaly clear the first week.

kornkob said:

Probably the ad is just the first point of contact. Once they have a likely mark on the line, they reel them in.

Consider this: every 'Nigerian 419' scam is initiated via email and they manage to take people for thousands.

Click to expand...

So it's not a computer trick that gets you with the first email, it's just meant to get you on the hook--got it.

For the record, I'm too paranoid to reveal information on the 'net unless I'm fairly certain it's secure.

Milhouse said:

A guy at work posted a stove for sale. Someone responded and said they will buy sight unseen. They wanted to send him a check for $300.00 and asked for his address. Then the buyer sent an email saying he was given a check from the bank for $3,000 by accident. If my co worker would cash the check and send him back $2,000 they would both profit. Just a scam based on ones greed. The check would be bogus but probaly clear the first week.

Click to expand...

That is a very common type of scam that uses the current bank 'lag' to the advantage of the scammer as once the check is discovered to be bogus, the person who cashed it will be out the money.

I responded to one, once when looking for a used car (price was low enough to wonder but not so low as to be way off) Anyway I sent the email, and the person claimed to be from out of state and the car was also a couple of states over and wanted a western union / cashers check / money order sent and then they'd ship the car, completely ignoring that I said I'd drive the 300 miles to inspect and drive it back.

My guess is they were waiting on someone to send the money and then never ship the vehicle.

BigNick73 said:

I responded to one, once when looking for a used car (price was low enough to wonder but not so low as to be way off) Anyway I sent the email, and the person claimed to be from out of state and the car was also a couple of states over and wanted a western union / cashers check / money order sent and then they'd ship the car, completely ignoring that I said I'd drive the 300 miles to inspect and drive it back.

My guess is they were waiting on someone to send the money and then never ship the vehicle.

Click to expand...

This speaks to one of the core aspects of Craigslist, it's intentional focus on local transactions (to the point of actively discouraging those who try and create tools to post or search across different regions). If you're dealing with someone on Craigslist, it should be someone local - if someone's claiming that they'll ship you something, they *should* be selling it though eBay.

Saw this one today and noticed another similarity: Goofy paragraphs after the discription (in yellow after the email address):

email this posting to a friendrichmond craigslist > cars & trucks - by dealer











Avoid scams and fraud by dealing locally! Beware any deal involving Western Union, Moneygram, wire transfer, cashier check, money order, shipping, escrow, or any promise of transaction protection/certification/guarantee. More info

1967 Volkswagen 21 window Bus - $3500


Reply to: see below
Date: 2009-03-02, 5:43PM EST


1967 Volkswagen 21 window Bus
PLEASE ASK ANY QUESTIONS YOU MAY HAVE ABOUT THIS GREAT CAR:[email protected]
1967 Volkswagen 21 window bus. Sliding sunroof with roof rack and surf board. Running gear redone. Last year of multi windows, First 12 volt system. Fun in the sun. FOR MORE PICTURES PLEASE CONTACT ME AT :[email protected]o Articles with unsourced statements since April 2008 Acjachemen Alfred L Kroeber Arroyo Trabuco Cahuilla Chinigchinix CupeThe same system is used for determining who participates in elimination rounds at the college level as at the high school level It is common for tournaments to break to double octa-finals The deliberation time for the judges in these elimination rounds is often lengthy hence the need for a full day for the elimination rounds to be completedThoropa lutzi Amphibia Animalia Anura Binomial nomenclature Biological classification Brazil Chordata Conservation status Endangered species Endemism /Ryan Dowell Baum (born April 26 1983) is an American former child actor who is best known as J B Halliburton on the

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Bobby_M said:

Wait.. there are people dumb enough to fall for the Nigerian deal? No. It can't be.

Click to expand...

Yeah... it was something like they have a 1/12,000,000 email hit rate....