Am i being scammed?

[4drmadness]

hey guys i put my tanabe exhaust for sale on craigslist. after a couple of days, this girl emails me. this is what she says.

Hi, How are you doing? Am writing you in regards to your advert and i'm interested in buying the item for one of my cousin.I want to know if the item is still available,if yes,Pls do get back to me with the last price and the condition of the item.Hope to read from you. Have a wonderful and productive day.. Thanks Linda

I replied to her and then she said:

Hi, Thanks for the response to my introductory email..I am pretty cool with the price and condition and i am buying this for my cousin but my mode of payment will be the Most acceptable,safer and reliable means of payment which is United state certified money order...Also,i am going to add $40 to the price for you to withdraw the advert from site.Please do get back to me with your name and address so that payment can be sent to you as early as possible and i will have myshipper come to pick it up once you receive and clear the payment OK. Kindest Regards,

What do you guys think
Modified by 4drmadness at 12:08 PM 2/13/2009

[4drmadness]

and then she said

Thanks for the reply..I will forward your name and address to my Personal assistant so that he can mail out the money order for the item as soon as possible and i want you to consider the item purchased.....I will also like you to confirm this address before the payment is sent Ok;

[infinitgkid]

idk man...

my question is:

what craigslist shopper has the money for a personal assistant?

[4drmadness]

yea true. she kinda sounds legit, but idk, like she has only asked me for my name and address. i gave her my phone # as well. she hasnt called me or anything.

[Bstrd240SX]

she ADDING money to the price, this makes it a scam. and the sloppy English, and the overly formal nature of the email.

if shes legit, my beer farts are warm summer breezes

/story

[4drmadness]

thanks bro, i knew it. I HATE SCAMMERS SO MUCH.

[uncbeers]

I second that (minus the beer farts)... who adds money to a deal?

Did you try asking for her info or calling her-not that it would necessarily help but see how reluctant she is to give up info I guess. It sounds weird to me...

Now may be a good time to see if she likes long walks on the beach, etc...

[smockers83]

SCAM SCAM SCAM SCAM SCAM!!!

I have dealt with these people before. I have even called them and bitched at them when I've tried selling stuff online.

[Rex]

she ADDING money to the price, this makes it a scam. and the sloppy English, and the overly formal nature of the email.

Add to it she doesn't refer to your exhaust in any specific manner. Key indicators it's a scam

No specifics about the item for sale.Paying more than your priceThey want to dictate payment methodPoor English, but no "slang"Requesting you remove your adReference to assistants

Report her to CL if you can.

[eZg001]

SO....you guys are thinking the money order will be fake? Is she hoping 4dr will send the exhaust before he cashes the money order?

I agree it is prob a scam, just trying to figure out her 'Angle.'

[Sentientbydesign]

SO....you guys are thinking the money order will be fake? Is she hoping 4dr will send the exhaust before he cashes the money order?

I agree it is prob a scam, just trying to figure out her 'Angle.'

I'm surprised more of you haven't seen/heard of this before.

Usually, the buyer is from a foreign country or WAY out of the area (think cross country). They send an email similar to this one which contains the following:

Poor grammar, or overly proper englishNo initial reference to the item you're sellingRequest for "Final Price"Money Order, Wire Transfer, or Western Union as method of payment

In addition, the buyer will state that their "Shipper" will come pick up the item, BUT instead of paying the shipper, they send you the cost of your item + a huge shipping fee (sometimes higher than the price of the item). They ask that you cash the money order, then pay the shipper from the money you got.

There are a couple of spin-offs from this.

1) You cash the check, pay the shipper and your bank later tells you that the money order was fake/fraudlent and takes the money out of your account.

2) You provide enough personal information to the "buyer" that now you're an identity theft victim.

* There may be other spin-offs that I am not aware of, but those two are pretty common and are well documented on CL's website IN HUGE LETTERS

[kmckis1029]

i had a simular thing happen when i was car shopping... i saw a subrau sti listed for $16k... supose to be for a charity... it didnt sound right but out of curiousity i emailed the person... they imediately emailed back talking about sending a $500 "shipping fee for a test drive" and had very propper english... and refered to an assistant and would not call me when i asked...i told the guy/girl to have the owner call me as i wouldn't do business with an "assistant"... i never got a call...

got to be a scam...

[smockers83]

SO....you guys are thinking the money order will be fake? Is she hoping 4dr will send the exhaust before he cashes the money order?

I agree it is prob a scam, just trying to figure out her 'Angle.'

Yeah, the MO or whatever she would send is going to be a fake. I've dealt with these people twice. The first one I was trying to sell car stereo equipment. The guy emailed me, said he was from my state but he worked construction and would be leaving for a contract in France. He wanted money for when he got to France so he gave me a money order for $1000 over the asking price. I got the MO, called the issuing company to verify it, it was cashed last year. They then told me that they don't issue MOs over $500 or some such amount.

The 2nd time I was trying to sell a car. Guy emailed him, I emailed him back asking when he would like to come and look at it. He didn't want to look at it, he just wanted it. Red flag, but I decided to see how far this went. So I told him my accepted modes of payment (MO or certified check). He said he wanted to do it by certified check, but now he wanted to add money for me to have it shipped. I already knew it was a scam and I said no, you ship it yourself, he emailed me back begging. So I said ok, deal is still on but I reminded him that I had to verify payment meaning I checked it with the bank and verified the funds were in my account. I got a check from him, but it was a personal check, from Klipsch, the company that makes high-end speakers. I knew it was a fake just because it was a company check but I called the bank that was on the check to verify the account. No account. Emailed the guy saying the deal was off because the account didn't exist. He got mad at me saying he was going to sue me and have the FBI investigate me. I said bring it. Later, I got a call, couldn't understand a word, so I figured it was a wrong number. Same number called me back within a few minutes. Now I understood what he was saying. He was yelling, I was yelling. It was great fun. Oh, and after he told me he wanted it shipped, he gave me the address...in the UK.

I had the check with me and threw it in the back seat of the G. A couple of days later I got an email from a girl saying she found my check for thousands of dollars and wanted to give it back to me. I told her she was awesome for being a great person and doing that, but I felt bad telling her the check was a fake and she could just throw it away. I kinda rained on her parade.

But what they're trying to do is not get whatever you're selling, but the money you're supposed to return to them via "their" shipping company or some such thing. They want you to cash the check/MO and take that cash and send it to them before the bank gives you the ole NSF.

[Bstrd240SX]

i remember a case like this playing out quite odd

seams the person sending the emails was the same person that was picking stuff up. the item in question was a car and seams the "shipper" showed up to pick it up the day AFTER the fake money order arrived to the seller

the seller was like WTF? when the fat bed pulled up and the driver was insisting that the car was paid for and he was taking it no matter what, and if the seller had any problems with the situation he should deal with the buyer

tow truck driver, and his passenger wound up with a gun in their faces while the seller called the cops, turns out the 2 guys were wanted in multiple states for a laundry list of crimes

on that one situation alone they got mail fraud, bogus check, vehical theft, deadly weapons charges and a bunch of other stuff. they had a bunch of hand guns in the cab of their truck and i think some drugs of some sort too

so now think, if your selling an item and get one of these scam emails, and you pass out your address and phone number... yeeeaaa ....

[adren77]

Yeah what everyone else said... SCAM

[4drsleeper]

Bank checks are the most common form of counterfeit on the market today.

SCAM!!!

[TrueWangan]

Smells like a Fake.

[Vinny14369]

Complete scam. Stay away. Sentient is right on. This is an old trick...flag her as fraud.

[uncbeers]

If you haven't seen the P-P-P-Powerbook read yet it's worth a little time. Revenge that turns costly to the scammer!

If you're bored at work - enjoy this!

http://www.zug.com/pranks/powerbook/

[4drmadness]

Hi, Thanks for being there for me all this while,I really appreciate it. I want to let you know that i'll make it up to you.The payment will be mailed out to you on Thursday via regular mail and it will take 7 or 8 working days for it to get to your place.. I want you to know that my shipper will be coming to pick up item as soon as you receive the payment,it won't cause any problem because my Personal Assistant will include the shipper's fee in the payment.......So you will be getting the shipper's fee and the item fee together.You will just deduct your fee and keep remaining money for the shipper till he comes to pick the item up. Hope you can understand me?...I want you to get back to me and i also want you to remove the ad from the site because i cannot afford to miss this item. I really appreciate you for you have been so nice from the start. Thank you and God bless you. Linda.

[smockers83]

When you get the payment, don't open it. You'll know it when you get it. Find out where your nearest state police or FBI fraud center is and take it there with all pertinent information. If it's not anywhere near you, take it to a local station and have them send it.

[4drmadness]

yea dude. that sounds like a good idea man. I emailed her back saying that i have already sold the item. she hasnt replied after that. Im thinking she will still send me the check

[Bstrd240SX]

I want you to know that my shipper will be coming to pick up item as soon as you receive the payment

hey cool .... hope you have a gun for personal protection ? nothing like having strangers drop by the house to try to try to pick up **** they THINK belongs to them

[smockers83]

More often than not no one will come to pick it up, especially when you tell them the deal is canceled and why.