How does this scam work?

[Deleted]

I listed a cell phone on Craigslist and got an email from someone wanting to meet me after work last night and an email to reply to.  Never heard back from him and figured I was stood up.  Got an email from him this morning that was obviously a generic one saying he was sorry he was busy and couldn't meet me after all, but if I send him my address and phone number he'll send me the asking price of the phone plus $20 for packing and shipping it.  I don't send the phone until I get the money. 

Sooooooo...what's the deal here?  I mean, I can see the scam if I'm to send the phone and he'll then send the payment, but him sending me the check first?  Makes no sense. 

[ArchietheDragon]

fake check?

[Green Eyed Lady]

The scam might be that he now knows your address and phone number. (Why would he need your phone number for a mailing transaction?)  There might not be a scam at all - just a guy wanting to make a deal. I wouldn't give out that info but would rather offer one more attempt at a meet up at a public place.  If you do decide to accommodate him, I'd make sure the check clears the bank first but you probably already thought of that.

[Deleted]

yeah, I suppose.  Maybe that's it.  I'm tempted to put 10,000 as the asking price on the line that he left for that. 

[Deleted]

I'm 99.9% certain he's not really interested in my phone.  The email is way too generic.



Hello!!! I just realized that I will be busy throughout the week. So I won’t be able to meet with you to see the phone. I'll send a check to you for the amount listed. However, I will include $20 to cover postage and packaging. So when you receive the payment and it clears, You will send the phone to me via FedEx or USPS. So get back to me with below info to issue the payment to you.



Name:

Address:

City: State: Zip Code:

Phone Number:

Last Asking Price:



And as soon as this is provided, the payment will be overnight to you and i will let you know when its mailed out.

Thanks!

[GRG a/k/a goldenrulegirl]

Is it phishing? Is he hoping to access your texts and call information from the carrier once he had your name/address/phone number?

[Green Eyed Lady]

Sept 30, 2015 11:30:30 GMT -5 minnesotapaintlady said:

I'm 99.9% certain he's not really interested in my phone.  The email is way too generic.



Hello!!! I just realized that I will be busy throughout the week. So I won’t be able to meet with you to see the phone. I'll send a check to you for the amount listed. However, I will include $20 to cover postage and packaging. So when you receive the payment and it clears, You will send the phone to me via FedEx or USPS. So get back to me with below info to issue the payment to you.



Name:

Address:

City: State: Zip Code:

Phone Number:

Last Asking Price:



And as soon as this is provided, the payment will be overnight to you and i will let you know when its mailed out.

Thanks!

That makes an alarm bell go off in my head but then I'm paranoid when it comes to stuff like that.   The fact that he is apparently willing to pay a good amount of money for something he hasn't even seen makes me suspicious, too.

[Tennesseer]

No mailing of anything.  Meet in a public place like a restaurant or police station parking lot.

[flamingo]

All of it makes me suspicious. However, beyond any of that, I wouldn't go through with the deal because I'm lazy. You want my phone? Here's the price, when can you meet me at a public place (like the police station parking lot) with cash? That's it. I'm not fooling around with multiple checks, packing and mailing it, etc. Too much work. 

Again, I'm lazy. And, I don't sell on craiglist because I'm in dire need of money, I do it because I have stuff in good shape that if I can get some money for great. So, I wouldn't do the deal.

[mollyanna58]

If you deposit his check, generally you or your bank write your account number on the back in case the check bounces.  Then he's got your name, address, and banking info.

[Opti]

MP, it sounds like a scam. Not sure how it works but odds are it counts on the check initially being cashed and not discovered as counterfeit until more than a week has passed.

Snippet from a URL on Craigslist scams:

Once you’ve cashed the checks and forwarded money back to the person that sent you the check, you’ll notified that the checks were forged, stolen, or are counterfeit. It may take a week. It could take several months. If the check’s counterfeit, count on that fact being discovered. The bank will be missing some money and trust me, they’ll figure out why and guess who they’ll turn to first to recover the funds? That’s right, they’ll come after you.

www.fraudguides.com/internet/nigerian-check-scams/

[dannylion]

The bank will initially "clear" the check because they're only allowed to hold checks for a certain number of days (too lazy to look up the exact number, sorry), but that doesn't mean the check is good. It just means the money appears to be deposited in your account. On the basis of the money being deposited in your account, you, in good faith, thinking the check has "cleared" send the phone to the scammer.   Later, when the check has made its way through the labyrinthine process of actual clearance, lo and behold, it is discovered that it is a fake check, and the money is then removed from your account, and you might be facing legal issues for passing a bad check. The scammer has your phone, which he can sell or use to detonate an IED or whatever it is he plans to do with it.  

I wouldn't be so concerned about identity theft since the information being requested is readily available through public sources.  I think it's more likely to be a fake check scam.  He's offering the extra $20 to lull you into a false sense of security thinking he is a "good" buyer. 

I'm not so sure he's after your bank account information as the check is more likely to be fake and therefore will not find its way back to him since it will not have a real name or address on it.  I could be wrong about that, though.  I thin it's likely some banks don't put the depositor's account info on cashed/deposited checks, so I don't think scammers could count on getting that information for sure.   

[Deleted]

I can't believe people make enough money doing this to make it worthwhile.  Seems like a lot of hassle and risk to maybe get some free crap off Craigslist. 


eta:  Not that I'm selling "crap". 

[ArchietheDragon]

Sept 30, 2015 12:26:37 GMT -5 minnesotapaintlady said:

I can't believe people make enough money doing this to make it worthwhile.  Seems like a lot of hassle and risk to maybe get some free crap off Craigslist. 


eta:  Not that I'm selling "crap". 

blast out a few hundred of these a day (or more), get a few to bite, make a few bucks, rinse and repeat. 

[Deleted]

I think I might still ask for a 10K check, just to see if he sends it. 

[Tennesseer]

Sept 30, 2015 12:38:06 GMT -5 minnesotapaintlady said:

I think I might still ask for a 10K check, just to see if he sends it. 

Checks from the Bank of Nigeria are accepted world-wide.

[zibazinski]

That's why you never give out your email address on Craigslist. They have a way you can get legitimate responses without giving out personal info.

[Deleted]

I got the emails through the Craigslist email thingy.  I had my phone number on there to text to, but they went through the Craigslist email.

[greeniis10]

I agree with the others and would NOT do the deal.  However, another option is to not deposit the check into your bank account but take it to the bank the check is drawn from (if possible).  That way you know right away whether the funds are good or not.  Thankfully, checks aren't used often anymore, but I very rarely deposit them into my own account.  I go to the bank they were written from.

[busymom]

Tell him it's a cash-only deal.  

[Deleted]

Sept 30, 2015 16:13:39 GMT -5 busymom said:

Tell him it's a cash-only deal.  

[CCL]

Sept 30, 2015 15:29:01 GMT -5 greeniis10 said:

I agree with the others and would NOT do the deal.  However, another option is to not deposit the check into your bank account but take it to the bank the check is drawn from (if possible).  That way you know right away whether the funds are good or not.  Thankfully, checks aren't used often anymore, but I very rarely deposit them into my own account.  I go to the bank they were written from.

But that's an awful long way to travel all the way to Nigeria Just to cash a check.

[CCL]

Maybe it's the always popular "send a check for too much $$ and you can keep the extra scam"?

I will say though, we've sold plenty of stuff on Craigslist and typically someone will text or call me, say they want to buy it, (sight unseen) we meet up, they give me cash, they drive away with the item and we all live happily ever after.

I don't think there has ever been someone who didn't decide to buy the item. They tell me they want it before they ever even see it, so I don't think that part is unusual at all. I would never take a check, though. That's the part that sounds like a scam.

[greeniis10]

Sept 30, 2015 19:42:14 GMT -5 CCL said:

Sept 30, 2015 15:29:01 GMT -5 greeniis10 said:

I agree with the others and would NOT do the deal.  However, another option is to not deposit the check into your bank account but take it to the bank the check is drawn from (if possible).  That way you know right away whether the funds are good or not.  Thankfully, checks aren't used often anymore, but I very rarely deposit them into my own account.  I go to the bank they were written from.

But that's an awful long way to travel all the way to Nigeria Just to cash a check.

I know, that's why I said "if possible". I wouldn't accept a check drawn on a bank I couldn't go to to cash it, but that's just my opinion.  Just a PSA, really.  Most everyone here is knowledgeable, but some people don't know that if you deposit a check from someone else into your own bank account YOU are responsible if it's NSF.  Just making a general comment.

[Deleted]

I decided 10K with the address of the county sheriffs office was a good compromise. 

I have someone else interested that sounds legit that is wondering if I would meet them in the next town.  It's about 30 miles, but I need to make a Sam's Club run in the next couple days anyhow.

[Deleted]

minnesotapaintlady you should look into what the local facebook buy/sell/trade group is for your area. I have moved over completely to selling via that forum because I can take a peek at their profile and decide if they seem like a "real" person before I elect to meet up to sell an item. I have not run into any fakes yet & tend to have the same people ask to buy things from me because they know I am honest about condition and function. I completely gave up on Craigslist because all I was getting was scam emails, whether it was a car, tires, tents, dishes. Just got sick of dealing with that. 

Between the Buy Nothing Project group I belong to and the local Buy/Sell/Swap group I am moving all my stuff out via Facebook :-)

[Deleted]

Oct 1, 2015 9:59:40 GMT -5 @rockit said:

minnesotapaintlady you should look into what the local facebook buy/sell/trade group is for your area. I have moved over completely to selling via that forum because I can take a peek at their profile and decide if they seem like a "real" person before I elect to meet up to sell an item. I have not run into any fakes yet & tend to have the same people ask to buy things from me because they know I am honest about condition and function. I completely gave up on Craigslist because all I was getting was scam emails, whether it was a car, tires, tents, dishes. Just got sick of dealing with that. 

Between the Buy Nothing Project group I belong to and the local Buy/Sell/Swap group I am moving all my stuff out via Facebook :-)

I tried that.  No responses yet.  My Mom is the admin for nearly all the Facebook selling groups around here and she said the higher priced stuff doesn't typically move on her boards.  It's the under $50 items that go quick.  I'll probably use it to get rid of some of these kids toys though. 

[Wisconsin Beth]

Sept 30, 2015 12:38:06 GMT -5 minnesotapaintlady said:

I think I might still ask for a 10K check, just to see if he sends it. 

There used to be some scam about sending a larger than expected check, then after you cash it and give the overage to them; you find out the check was bad.  You're out the cash you gave back plus the item. 

[Deleted]

Now I'm not hearing back from the other guy.  Must have changed his mind.  I may have to go with the impulse buyers on eBay! 

[Deleted]

Jeez.  Now I got a text message from someone offering me $20 over asking price and $100 to ship it (after I'd received my $240 check for a $120 phone).