Craigslist Scams

[nipper]

Been looking for an inexpensive car for my son who is about to get his driver's license. Watch out for scams on Craigslist--they are rampant. Scammers always list a car (or something else) for which price is a little lower than it should be (but not totally ridiculous). When you inquire as to where the car is so you can look at it, they respond that the car is in Oregon, New York, etc., somewhere other than where you are located. They say they will ship it to you, you have 5 days to look at it, and if you do not like it, money will be refunded by third party which is holding the $ in escrow. These things are total scams, so make sure you always follow the Craigslist rule to never buy unless you meet the seller face to face and see the item for sale before $ exchange hands.

It makes me sick that there are so many people out there willing to dupe people with scams like this. Sad part is that the scams must work often enough for so many to be out there doing them.

[chumbucket]

Damn Nigerians!
My buddies kid got duped trying to buy a motorcycle against his fathers wishes. Lost $2200. Lesson learned.

[Blue_Runner]

Sadly as long as people keep falling for it, it will contiue. My dad was looking for a tractor. Found a nice Kubota way under priced. It was the same as you described and luckily dad ran like HE11.

[reelapeelin]

Originally Posted by chumbucket

Damn Nigerians!
My buddies kid got duped trying to buy a motorcycle against his fathers wishes. Lost $2200. Lesson learned.

Sorry about your friend's kid, CB...tough way to learn a lesson...it seems Craig's List would somehow tighten down as it really hurts THEIR credibility as well...

[nipper]

Unfortunately, there is only so much Craigslist can do. They do post very conspicuously on their site that anything involving shipping is a scam. Also, the people who use Craigslist are able to "flag for removal" any of these ads that appear to be a scam. I did that with all the scam ads I encountered. Seriously though, there are dozens of them, and that is only on the Indianapolis Craigslist. I think these scammers post them on every Craigslist in the country, so, unfortunately, someone might fall for it before the ad is removed.

[THEFERMANATOR]

Originally Posted by reelapeelin

Sorry about your friend's kid, CB...tough way to learn a lesson...it seems Craig's List would somehow tighten down as it really hurts THEIR credibility as well...

CRAIGSLIST is nothing more than an internet forum, you are just simply placing ads instead of posts. They have very little control over what is posted, but also this releases them of alot of liability.

[Blue_Runner]

We need to figure out a good way to scam the sammers. Like send them some fake money with a micro-GPS tracking device! HA!

[nipper]

I had a client who got caught in a scam that is also pretty rampant. I forget what kind of car he had, but he got an offer to purchase it above his asking price. If I remember correctly, it was a pretty expensive car (around $20,000). The deal was that the buyer would send a cashier's check for $35,000, that the client could cash the check, but then had to deliver the car and a personal check for $15,000 to the buyer's "agent" for shipping to the buyer. The extra $15,000 was to cover shipping costs, the agent's costs, and money the buyer owed the agent. The poor client fell for it. The cashier's check, although it looked perfect and would probably fool anyone, turned out to be bogus. So, the client's bank dishonored the check (but not until like 2 weeks after the transaction) and debited his account the $35,000. Plus, the guy was out the $15,000 for the personal check he wrote. So, the scammers got $15,000 and the car. What a deal, huh?

[willy]

There are always scams on the List, and on ebay and even in your local paper.
These two leggers live off of the less than 5% of people who are too naive, too innocent or just too stupid to recognize them.
Its a shame