Is this a craigslist scam?

Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

silvervan83

Well-Known Member
Joined
Dec 2, 2008
Messages
237
Reaction score
0
Location
Lakewood, WA
I have my silver van for sale. I got an email yesterday from a guy wanting to know if it was still for sale and I told him it was. He emailed this response:

I really appreciate your response to my email. I want you to consider
it sold, pls do withdraw the advert from CL to avoid disturbance,
anyways I don't have time to come over to take a look because of my
Business but you don't need to bother yourself with the shipment, I'll
take care of that by engaging the services of a mover, hence I'll be
sending a bank certified check and it will be delivered to you via United Parcel
Service (UPS), so I'll need you to provide me with the following
information to facilitate the mailing of the check.

Full name on the check.
Full Physical address to post the check
City, State and Zip Code
Home & Cell Phone to contact you.

Note that the payment will be shipped to your address via UPS NEXT DAY
AIR SERVICE and I will like you to know that you will not be
responsible for shipping i will have my mover to come over as soon as
you have cashed the check
N.B UPS does not deliver to a P.O box addresses.Thanks


Sounds kinda fishy to me
 
Sounds fishy to me, too. I'd probably just ignore it. If you want to see for sure, though, it might be worth your time to give the police dept a call and see what they say.
 
Have the check delivered to a friends house with your name on it so this guys doesn't know where the van is until you check the check, so to speak. If the bank cashes it then it's golden. Right?
 
I'm thinking about replying with something like "have your mover bring me an envelope with cash and I can hand he/she the title"
 
Sounds very fishy. Last I checked, people don't tend to use moving companies for vans. That sounds like a generic response they can send out to anyone. If that showed up in my e-mail box, the delete button would come in very handy.
 
Yep, sounds like a crock to me.

If you are selling your silver van, are you planning on changing your username or buying another van?
 
I've heard of scams with bank checks before. When you deposit the check it will go through, but a few days later the bank will realize they didn't receive the funds and will pull the money back out. I don't know exactly how it works, but thats my understanding of it.
 
Yeah, stay away from this guy. or at the least send him an email stating this sounds like a very common scam on craigslist and this is the reason you will except his terms. If he really is legit he will reply with other options.
i did this to a reply similar to yours from selling my dirtbike on C'sL. Albeit, mine didn't have very well English where yours seems grammatically and linguistically intact.
 
It's a scam - I was selling my boat on CL and got about 5 of those emails a day. Best way around it is to post your phone number and have people call you, scammers won't call only legit interested people.
 
Yep, scammer. Just for kicks get him to pay for the shipping, then put a bunch of nasty old food from your fridge in the box. Then just follow the package and try to cash that check :D. Post back with results of course!
 
Have the check delivered to a friends house with your name on it so this guys doesn't know where the van is until you check the check, so to speak. If the bank cashes it then it's golden. Right?

No... it may take longer to clear from the issuing bank than your bank holds the funds for.

If it fails to clear you'll be on the hook for the money. My wife works for a financial institution. Happens all the time.
 
You should go through with the deal. To be on the safe side transfer the sale amount of the van to me from your account. If the deal goes south, I will send the money back to you to cover the charges. You can trust me, if you need references my Nigerian Uncle will provide them.
 
This is a scam. I know its tempting cause you want to sell your van, but don't do it. What will end up happening is you will get a check that will be higher than your asking price. He will say his bank made a mistake and that you should send him the difference from your bank account. His check will bounce after a few days. Wait until a normal person answers your ad.
 
Back
Top