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Do you trust Craigslist ad?

Is this a Craigslist scam?? what should I do?? please help!?

  • I have been trying to list a motorcycle on craigslist, and i think i am being scamed.. what do you think? here is the back and fourth email conversation between me and, "martin" Martin: is the item still up for sale? Me: yes it is still for sale. your the first customer! any questions, feel free to ask. Martin: I'm glad you still have it for sale,i would have love to come and see it,but my scheduled is very tight.I will mail out your payment once you provide your full name.phone number and address.I can only pay via money order as am on a business trip now,pls let me know where to send your payment to because i wouldn't want to lose it to someone else.I don't mind adding Thirty ($30) dollars so you can keep it in my favor,you should get your payment in 4-6 working days i will appreciate if you can get the ad off craigslist so i can be sure you are keeping it in my favor..Please let me know as soon as you receive it so i can start making arrangement for the pick-up.Thanks Martin Me: Okay, my name is ***** ******* and address is ** ****** ** *******,**. and phone is *** *** ****. I will take the bike off list now, and will be waiting for the money order. When that arrives of $700.00, I will contact you through email again and we will work out a pick - up arrangement. Martin: Your payment has been sent but there is something i think i must bring to your notice immediately. I just discovered there is an error in the payment sent to you. My assistant sent the payment meant for another item thats more expensive than yours. I have called the post office to see if they could retrieve it but nothing positive. I really dont know what to do now. Please and Please, you can go ahead and cash out the Money Order at your Bank when you receive it, deduct your payment and send the balance via western union to the details i will provide you with. Can i trust you to do that for me? Martin Me: yes, you can trust us. Dont worry, I will deduct the $700, for me, and then i will send the remainder of the money back to you through the money order. --END OF CONVERSATION-- This seems weird to me. Even more weird after I found this article.. about the same situation as mine.. heres the link if you choose to look at it. http://ask.metafilter.com/156503/I-am-getting-scammed-on-craigslist-and-now-Im-getting-a-bit-worried-What-should-I-do-Details-inside Should I call the police, or go downtown and see them? So far I am at the part where he has sent me the money order, (as he said in the email), and its only been one day so I havent recieved it yet. Once I do recieve it, if it does come, what do I do with it?? If I cash it, it may be fake and i could be liable for it! If I go to the police, do i need that money order with me? so should i wait until i recieve it, then bring that to the police? What do i do?? i am so new to this and did not expect this at all!

  • Answer:

    Whatever you do, DO NOT CASH THAT CHECK! It is a fake check. But the banks won't know this, so they'll give you money for it. But a few weeks later, they'll figure out that it's fake and then they're going to want the money back. If you already spent the money, you're screwed. These guys sent you a fake check for extra money, in hopes that you will send them real money in return. I am trying to sell something on craigslist and I actually got an e-mail nearly identical to this just this morning. I instantly recognized it as a scam, but wasn't sure what they were planning to do until I read this. Usually a good sign that it's a scam is if they have long drawn-out e-mails. A real buyer would just say "Can you tell me more about the motorcycle?" or "I want to see it. Where can we meet?" know what I mean? No one is going to buy a motorcycle without looking at it. Also, notice that there are a lot of spelling mistakes with it. Feel free to call the police if you want, but these are really common. And they're not in America so there's not a whole lot the police will even be able to do about it.

George P at Yahoo! Answers Visit the source

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Other answers

This is such a well known scam that our local paper warns against it in their classified ads. Do not cash the money order and repost your motorcycle for sale and only sell it to local buyer.

VampireDog

This is most definitally a scam. Just a different form than what I've seen before. The money order is most definittally fake but if you want to be abosultley sure just take it to your nearest CheckSmart or Check Into Cash payday loan place because they call to check all amounts over $500 USD and if it's a real money order they will know. There may be a silver lining because to send a MONEY ORDER you have to spend the money to put on the order so there is a chance it could be good. Either way go to a payday loan place and they can tell you that way if it's real you'll know and if it's fake they will just take it, destroy it and you are free to put your motorcycle back up for sale. Hope this was helpful.

wammitycalamity

i would talk to the authorities, even just to cover yourself

Emmett

It's a scam. Just send his money order back to him. Re-list, he can not tell you what to do. Sell in person for cash or make sure the personal check they give you in person clears the bank, put that in your ad, checks take about ten days to clear.

Chris J

First clue. He calls the motorcycle an item, not a motorcycle. Scammers hate to be specific as they have to remember which scam they are running. Second clue. Doesn’t want to see the bike. Claims to have a business trip. Adding money for your trouble (though $30 is a joke). Third clue. Error with payment. Sending “too much money” so he wants you to cash it and send back the excess. (Your money is real, his isn’t.) Oh, yeah, wants you to use Western Union and he wants to know if he can “trust you.” WU is a favorite of scammers because they can pick up the money anywhere in the world without ID and once picked up, you can never get it back. I’m glad to see you realize it’s a scam. If you want, you can mail the money order BACK to him, but you could turn it into either the Postal Inspector (since he’s using the mail system) or the police. Simply delete all future emails. BTW, this version of the scam wanted your money as a refund. There is another version that wants you to "forward" money to his shipper (again, your real money, not his fake money). A 3rd version actually wants the item, but want you to ship it to them for free and even pay for the shipping. That one sends fake emails claiming to be from (insert Paypal, eBay or Yahoo here) and that they can't release the money until you provide proof of shipment. Don't feel bad--you haven't been robbed yet. Some versions of this scam have taken lawyers for $100,000.

Quick Answers

You do nothing. This is a Nigerian scam and everyone but you seems to know about it. These people are not even in the USA. The money order or bank draft is a phony and your bank does not know until they process it for a few weeks. These people always pay you more than you are asking as an incentive to go along with the scam. They always have an agent or shipper, never in cash and never in person. Dont cash the money order at your bank. He is never going to pick up the motorcycle. He just wants the cash from the phony money order. They always tell you to take your listing off Craigslist but that is your decision not theirs. You dont remove it until you have sold it. The FBI is familiar with these scams. They are in Africa or England and cannot stop them. You should only deal with a local person who can come in person and pay cash. Next time ask for their phone number and talk in person. Never give your information out. If someone is coming to pick up an item, you can meet them somewhere so they dont need your address.

Flower

It's a Nigerian scam DO NOT accept the money order - if it comes through FedEx or UPS refuse the delivery. Tell the delivery man nobody by that name lives at your address and it will be returned to the scammer. If sent by regular mail and there is a return address, do not open it - just mark Return To Sender, Addressee Unknown on the envelope. But if it's sent by mail with no return address, then turn it over to your local police or contact the Secret Service who investigate counterfeiting of monetary instruments such as money orders http://www.secretservice.gov/field_offices.shtml - they will advise if you should just destroy it or pass it on to them Whatever you do, DO NOT cash this for any reason

Kittysue

It sounds really similar to soo many scams that I've heard about going around. I would go to the police and take the money order with you and possibly a copy of your conversation with you so that they can tell you if it looks fake and you won't be held liable for something that may be fake. Better safe than sorry.

midnytangel18

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