Thought I'd share scam helping tips for Craiglist shoppers

[mike-al]

Been buying certain untangible items on Craigslist and ran into a guy who runs scams, on these items. Fortunately my desire for this item did'nt overweigh by sense of a deal and I didnt get burned, but I notice the same similiar ads starting to popup, I suspect from same scammer relocating..

Here is tip for what I learned to help identify a scam.. The main ones are obvious that I will post below, but here are more to help.

1. The scammers never seem to reply right away, then wait a week and seem to act like they just got back from vaction... I am assuming this is because they want to scam as many as possible, not just you. Be cautious of sellers who take long to reply.. Do you post items for sale then go on vaction? I doubt it.

2. The scammers act like you are the scammer, lol they really try to reverse role that you are paying and scamming them... This is a confusion tactic against your integrity.. When this happens, just ignore the transaction nd move on... How can you be sending money and scamming them? You are not, they know you are not.

3. After you get suspicious, they try to go out of their way to make you feel its a legit transaction.. They won't call you, or call your cell phone, or give you their info, but guess what, they ask for your cell phone number and tell you they are sending you a pic of them holding the item.. LOL, instant tip-off to get out of dodge here.

3. Gmail is becoming a email system built for scammers. I no longer even talk to people on Gmail for purchases anymore.. As far as I can see now a days Gmail hides the end parties IP form inside the email headers.. (I cant find it? Anyone verify this???) This is a security tip we always used to identify foriegn scams... Why is Gmail supporting scammers? To offer privacy protection? Avoid buying from people using Gmail. Always authentify where you are making your purchase.

4. Make sure the person you are paying via PayPal is Verified.. you might be seeing "personal member" when you make payment. This is not a good sign.

5. Naturally the scammer will never will provide a name or address, or a phone number. Well a real one I guess, most never offer it and wish to remain annonymous.
ALWAYS GET A PHONE NUMBER AND CALL IT... CALL IT OR GET SCAMMED plain and simple... If they don't provide this information, they most likely are a scammer,
So far in the 10 items i have bought and the 4 phonies i ran into, the real sellers have all been easy to work with providing information and phone numbers to call for questions
and the scammers all hidding from the start

HERE IS TIP TO DO UP FRONT WHEN INQUIRING/BUYING ITEMS

Send ads from multiple places and offer multiple amounts, I started lowballing the scammers and I found out they normally take these offers.. Now if you email from 2-3
locations and this guy is accepting all of them... Ugh you just already caught the scam.

ITS ALL TOO EZ TO FIND EM, SO DONT GET SCAMMED OUT THERE... AND GOOD LUCK

AND MORE IMPORTANTLY REPORT ALL SCAMS WHEN YOU FIND EM! Only one way to get rid of them... report them

[payd2purv]

Some very good tips!

[96ukssob]

nice tips. there are scammers everywhere on there. try selling something like a cell phone and you will get hit up with every excuse why you need to ship the phone to the opposite side of the world.

anytime ive every sold anything, ive ALWAYS done it in person. ive even had some jackass try and scam me a few years ago when i was selling two lcd monitors. he met me on a late saturday afternoon and brought along a "money order" that was obviously fake. i tried to follow him to his car once i told him to leave but he ran across the street into the mall.

to maybe add to your list... ALWAYS pay in cash or meet at a bank to have the bank verify the check and write down the persons license plate number or drivers license id.

[ProducerCashDave]

Those were very good tips

[kane]

I ran into a guy selling MS Office on Craigslist for $59. I thought it must be used or something. I contact him and he tells me that it is a burned copy of the software. When I tell him that is illegal he says, "No, it says I can make a copy as a backup in the terms." I responded with, "But it doesn't say you can make a dozen copies and sell them." I never heard back after that.

[lazycash]

It seems like anything you post on Craigslist for sale automatically gets the typical scam response of "I'm very interested, I'm going to send you a check and its going to cover the item and shipping and some extra, I need you to send me the item and the extra money."

I've gotten back at some of them really good. I email them back and forth and act like I'm interested in closing the deal, but I'd rather them pay for shipping and I'll wait for their check. I convince them to let me send the item COD, this usually works on expensive items such as computers and ipods. I then fill up a plastic bag with lots of dirt to make it heavy and insert that into a box and send it to them in one of the many Dell boxes I have. I then send it "cash on delivery" and it usually ends up being some place in Africa or Europe. The scammers receive the package and pay for the shipping after seeing the box, only to find out its a bag of dirt. I've gotten some nasty emails back after they paid for their dirt.

[videodoll]

I am extremely frustrated with all the scammers on CL too. I was looking for apartments and every person I responded to via email (they never give a phone number when they are a scammer) was some person in another country trying to get me to send them a check. They are always "working in the UK" but they never speak proper english.

I also recently tried to sell a computer on CL and ALL the responses I got were from people that were "out of the country for school". Finally I started stating that I would only accept cash and local pickup. I am not going to play games with these people.

[DateDoc]

Originally Posted by mike-al

3. Gmail is becoming a email system built for scammers. I no longer even talk to people on Gmail for purchases anymore.. As far as I can see now a days Gmail hides the end parties IP form inside the email headers.. (I cant find it? Anyone verify this???) This is a security tip we always used to identify foriegn scams... Why is Gmail supporting scammers? To offer privacy protection? Avoid buying from people using Gmail. Always authentify where you are making your purchase.

Gmail shows the originating IP. In the message to the right of reply there is a downward pointing arrow. Click on it and select show original for full headers.