Got one of those craiglist scammers - what should I do?
 

If I can't get the shithead busted, I'd rather use the check and emails as proof and a learning tool for friends and family.

If you don't know the scam, here's how it works:

===========================

1. You list something on CL
2. Someone says "I like it, do you still have it?"
3. you respond
4. They say "Great! I'll pay for shipping, please send me the name and address I should send the check to. My movers will pick it up once you cash the check."
5. you give them the address, check is sent.
6. They email again: "Oh no! My secretary made the check out to the wrong amount i.e. $2500 instead of $500. I'll need you to Western Union the balance back immediately! I'll pay western union fees.'
7. You are dumb, say yes. Wire the "balance". Deposit the check.
8. Nobody shows up to get the item, check bounces, you're screwed.

============

I just received the check yesterday via UPS.

This morning I received the email with Western Union info.

What should I do? Is there any way I can get this asshole picked up at the Western Union, or will that be an exercise in futility and I'll just lose my souvenir (the check)?

you have a name and address from western union
call the police department and file a complaint.
you should try the police in the City you sent the western Union as well.

Man, i can't believe you sent that kind of money before cashing his check

i have one rule with CL: cash only

I'm assuming since there are a lot of places these guys cold collect a WU wire in New York, there's no way the fuzz will stake out all of them... and I'll just lose the check to "evidence".

I feel better having asked for advice than just walking away from this.

I didn't cash the check, I clearly explained that.

Cash the check and don't send him shit. Epic scam backfire in the making... :2 cents:

If anyone is that stupid, they deserve to get fucked out of the $2000.

It will bounce, probably costing you a bounce fee on top!

The check is going to bounce, and the bank might charge the OP fees on top of that.

Tell the guy you are going to be in NYC on business and you will be happy to meet the guy in person. Get all his info. Then give that to the po po

ask him to send you 500$ WU and you will wire 2500$ to him :D

post their info here :)

You've been mallick.

Waste of time stating to meet him in NY to discuss the deal or cashing the check which will of course bounce. Doesn`t WU require some national ID to collect the payment? If so, their would be a paper trail yes?

Or do these crooks recruit innocent people to collect payments for them? (like the email scams).

:thumbsup

Funny if it worked :1orglaugh

Maybe tell him you don't have time for WU, and you will send him a personal check? That way you with some luck you will have his real address...

tell him you will give the remaining balance to the movers... that you do not trust western union.

when someone comes over, arrest them (citizens arrest) and call 911

they WILL send someone over this close to the holidays. they are greedy.

I got one of those emails once and recognized it right away for a scam, so I had him send me the fake checks (which look really good actually) and then kept him hanging and calling me for about a month. It made me feel better that he was out the cost of shipping the check and the amount of time he spent on the phone with me.

Haha, I have 3 of the same messages that I got last night. I knew they were a scam when I got the same email on 3 unrelated items.

"Hello,do you still have the listed item?"

I just replied "yup." This was the followup email to each message:

Hello i really appreciate your response to my earlier mail.like i said
i will like to buy this item for the exact price listed so pls do
withdraw the advert from Craigslist. I will also like you to know that
i will be paying via check.I will need you to provide me with the
following information to facilitate the mailing of the check.

1.Your full name to be on the check
2.Home or work address
3.Your cell/phone number.

**I will like you to know that you will not be responsible for moving
i will have my mover come over for the pick up as soon as you have
cashed the check**
Have a nice day.

Call Dateline and see if they'd be interested in trying to do a sting or follow the trail sort of thing. Or not...

its a felony to write a check you KNOW is going to bounce.... pimpdogg won a lawsuit in court about this.

i would turn the check into the cops and prosecute for that.

That sucks. Good luck. :thumbsup

What he said.

Go to the bank and tell them that you think you were passed a bad check and have them call to verify funds are not available. Get them to give you this in writing.

Call the police and file a police report; someone is trying to rip you off for a felony amount. Insist that you want to know who did this and press charges for defrauding you.

They'll probably give you the run around because it's too much effort for them to track the person down. At that point you can call the people that handle bad check prosecutions at the district attorney's office, who may help you because they hate scams.

I take it that you have never heard of the 419 Scam?

Why did you waste time fucking with this in the first place?

Here's where you start ... I'm working on one today.

https://complaint.ic3.gov/ctf.aspx

This is nothing at all to do with the 419 scam.

That is when nigerians say they are trying to get money out of the country they inherited from their dead Uncle who was a prince.

Thanks for playing though.

I collect those checks and hang them up in my office. The local news tried to interview me once, not interested. If you want some publicity call your local BBB / news and try to get a story out of it. Not sure if you have anything you can promote on network TV though.

And NO, I didn't send any money. In my case they are washing the money through an individual in California.

Gonna try my damdest to bust the fucker. :thumbsup

I got the check.

He emailed two days later to ask if I could urgently send the money.

I replied: "Heyyyyyyyyyy wait a minute... Is this some kind of scam?!"

He never responded. :1orglaugh


I'll save the check as a souvenir, it's not worth any more of my time :)

:1orglaugh :1orglaugh :thumbsup

Actually, it sounds like a different spin on the same old Nigerian scam.

The person that picks the Western Union up in NY is probably not the same person that is initiating the scam, and the original scammer is most likely a Nigerian. What the Nigerians do is spam job message boards with fake job offers for "collecting payments" for some type of business. When the person responds the Nigerian tells them the job is to pick up payments at Western Unions and Moneygrams and forward them to Nigeria, and they get to keep 10%. That puts a buffer between the Nigerian and the crime, and doesn't arouse the sellers suspicions because he thinks he is dealing with someone in the US.

When the shit hits the fan the person that picked up the Western Union has to do the explaining, and the Nigerian not only keeps the money but possibly the product being sold, too...

You got it. :2 cents: I remember seeing someone post a story about getting stuck in the middle of one of these scams. They would send checks and pick up the WU money thinking they were performing a legitimate job for someone else outside of the country.

Best thing to do is notify your local police and hand them the check and all emails. Then be done with it.

ok, seriously, how long has this been going on for? 700 years? jeeeeez

these guys know every angle you might possibly use to trap them so don't waste the time, they won't be caught.

Which Western Union they want you to send to? Try to find someone in that city to go wait for them there then beat the crap out of them, that would be great :thumbsup

I'd say still kick the crap out of who picks up the money for being stupid and taking a "job" from someone they haven't met that involves picking up and sending money/checks. If you don't know something is wrong with that "job" then you deserve to get your ass kicked for being stupid.

I say start with the issuing bank, but I bet its fake and thats where it will end

I sold my car on there and 5 seconds after listing it I got one of those emails asking if the car was still for sale. I thought it was a pretty stupid question so I ignored it.

Tell him you are having problems with your account, but you feel bad and you would like to make sure he gets his cash so it "isnt on your conscience".

meet him them beat him to a pulp.

anyone who reports shit to cops in a complete pussy.

Some of these "Nigerian" scammers are actually in the US. Be careful with fucking with them, especially now since they have your address.

A friend of mine years ago was selling a macbook and got one of these checks and I told him it was fake... who would send more than the item is worth and ask you to WU it back? He wrote some hatred email back to the guy and the next day the cops were at the door. The scammer passed the email along to the cops and told them he refused to send an item he had paid for.

The confiscated the laptop from him and the check. Took about 2 months until he was able to get the laptop back once the cops verified it was a fake check and told him "the other party decided not to press charges"

Watch who you fuck with :2 cents:

simple, don't respond to scams

obviously it would be nice to nail someone.

One I had was a guy said "can I pay by paypal? and you ship it to me" so I said "yeah send it to [email protected]" and after about an hour i got a fake paypal email saying i had been paid, logged into paypal and my balance had no new payments.

fucking stupid scam, didn't work, nigerian cunt failed.

And it was definately a nigerian cunt because the address was nigerian

Yep. Best to completely ignore such scams.

If wanting to do something, click the report bad post button and let CraigsList handle it from there...

Messing with scammers is risky ... not just in the obvious ways (ie. threats, violence, id theft, etc), but also in the aspect that human psychology is of such that all people are capable of being scammed under the right conditions...

To digress a bit, telemarketers / sales people take advantage of mental flaws / urges that exists in everyone ... the more time one interacts with a sales person, the more likely the individual will be enticed / convinced to buy something ... similar goes with scammers - more one interacts with a scammer, the greater likelyhood of being scammed.

Ron

The new twist scam:


Scammer finds a beat up car for sale for $4000 and says he will send check for car plus $500 shipping. You just need to cash check and send $500 by Western Union to shipper.
Scammer runs a ad for the same type of car in prefect condition selling at $4000. plus shipping.
Buyer of scammers car is asked to send check to real car seller. (Enclosed is payment for car, please send to me)
Scammer sends you a email saying the check is on it's way and instructions for paying the shipper by Western Union.
You receive check and cash it (it's a good check)
You send a $500 Western Union to shipper (scammer)
Shipper never shows up, Scammer keeps the $500, Buyer of scammers car knocks on your door looking for his car.