Home'scool Posted June 24, 2009 Share Posted June 24, 2009 I am selling a fur coat on Craigslist. Someone responded, and after a few back and forth emails, this is the email he sent. It is obvious he is foreign, but is this one of those scams? Hello , How are you and your Family?? I want to Thank you for the prompt response to my inquiry,i would have loved to come by my self to see it ,but i am a little busy and i will like to tell you that i am very much satisfied with the description, condition and price of the Item and i would like to make an outright purchase immediately so i will advise that you withdraw the advert for the ad. I shall be making payment via Us Postal Money Order or cashier Check to your location after which my shipper will be coming over for the pick up once you have gotten the check i must notify you that i am sending an excessive payment so that after it clears you will deduct your money and pay the rest to my shipper so he can come for the Pick up. I have decided to pay $350 if you will sell this to me....Thanks and feel free to ask any question .i will need both your Full Name and Address to post the payment. Thank you and have a wonderful day. Regards.....Rick Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jplain Posted June 24, 2009 Share Posted June 24, 2009 Anytime a buyer mentions overpayment and wants you to deduct money and give it to someone else, it is a scam. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LaxMom Posted June 24, 2009 Share Posted June 24, 2009 (edited) I got two of those in response to a couch I was trying to sell. In my case, the cost for the couch plus the cost of hiring "shippers" would have been more than just buying a new couch in the respondent's location, so it was pretty obvious that it was a scam. The wording was essentially the same, though. ETA: I missed the part about "excessive payment". That is always the tip-off. Money orders can bounce (if they're purchased with an invalid check) and can be counterfeit. The scam is that your bank has to credit your account within a certain amount of time after the deposit (48 hours, I think?) and so you pay the "shippers" and hand over the goods, then get a notice that the payment you deposited was no good. Edited June 24, 2009 by MyCrazyHouse Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SquirrellyMama Posted June 24, 2009 Share Posted June 24, 2009 I think it looks like a scam. Especially the part about sending an amount over the purchase price. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
.... Posted June 24, 2009 Share Posted June 24, 2009 It's a scam. Be very, very careful. I had a store on Ebay for years and I refused to sell out of country or to sell off-ebay. My mom has a store also and had her entire identity stolen - her personal info, they were making purchases in Europe with her paypal card, etc. Be careful. :glare: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fivetails Posted June 24, 2009 Share Posted June 24, 2009 :smash:scam scam scam scam scam :smash: Don't even email the guy back. Delete. These are EVERYWHERE. Delete! :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DawnM Posted June 24, 2009 Share Posted June 24, 2009 I get a lot of these when I list on Craigslist. I have read that they may actually send you a legit looking money order, your bank will take it, and then it will sometimes take 30 days or so for the banks to realize it is no legit and by then you have already lost the item and the "over-payment" and are out everything. Dawn Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xxxxxxxx Posted June 24, 2009 Share Posted June 24, 2009 Stay away! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tiff in TX Posted June 24, 2009 Share Posted June 24, 2009 The company I work for has been getting some angry calls from people who have cashed checks from "our company" only to find out they were bogus. The check will look real and have all of the proper information on it, but more people should realize that a big company isn't too interested in buying their bike/computer/coat. Another tip off is that the none of the addresses will match... ie the check, senders and ship to address will all be different. Sorry that a scammer got in touch with you... at least you were wise enough to see if for what it really was. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris in VA Posted June 24, 2009 Share Posted June 24, 2009 Agreeing--SCAM. I had something similar happen--I posted a tutoring ad, and had two people contact me. The first was a guy, supposedly from Jamaica, who was sending his son to the states and wanted to set up tutoring. He agreed to pay me. I almost fell for it--I would have, but then I got another email, from someone else out of the country who wanted to set up tutoring for his son...they were so similarly worded that it tipped me off. I did respond to both of them, saying, essentially, I knew what they were doing, would report it, and SHAME ON YOU! Man, there are so many ways to scam people, aren't there? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KidsHappen Posted June 24, 2009 Share Posted June 24, 2009 Yep, that a scam honey. Move on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Home'scool Posted June 24, 2009 Author Share Posted June 24, 2009 Thank you --- it sounded like a scam but the money order thing threw me. I didn't know they could be bogus, too. Should I report him to Craigslist? Or is that futile? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dirtroad Posted June 25, 2009 Share Posted June 25, 2009 Dh got almost the exact same response from someone. He called them on it by asking some questions & they never replied back. Drop them like a hot rock! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KellyJ Posted June 25, 2009 Share Posted June 25, 2009 I only use PayPal for craigslist transactions. That whole buyer/seller protection thing is, well, priceless! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Katiebug_1976 Posted June 25, 2009 Share Posted June 25, 2009 This sounds like a scam to me! I would advise him to send one check to you for the purchase amount only, then he can make shipping arrangements with whoever he wants to himeself. If he is legit, then he will have no problem with that. But my gut instinct says RUN! THIS IS A SCAM! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mad Jenny Flint Posted June 25, 2009 Share Posted June 25, 2009 You can be arrested for trying to pass what is probably a phony money order through your bank. Really. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BalanceSeeker Posted June 25, 2009 Share Posted June 25, 2009 I get similar sounding emails - about 30 per day! Drives me nuts, and I don't know how to block them. Do these scammers really have success? They sound so phony. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonesloonybin Posted June 25, 2009 Share Posted June 25, 2009 Sadly, they are successful. I know that you hear in the paper about elderly people that have fallen for the scam. It is just sad. Run away. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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