Craigslist scammer wants to buy my car

By joining our community you will have the ability to post topics and access other forums reserved for members. Registration is quick, simple and absolutely free. Join our community today by clicking here.

Hello I'm New here! Joined: 06 Jan 2008 Posts: 3

Hey guys, first post here, I wanted to see if I could get some assistance. I've never been directly contacted by a scammer other than the mass emails they send out.

So, I put my car up on Craigslist, mentioning that the speedometer/odometer recently stopped working and it will be fixed before the sale, or the buyer can have a discounted price if they'd rather fix it themselves.

Within 24 hours, I got an email asking if the car was available, and I responded yes.

Then the same person responded:

Quote:

Hello,
Thanks for your reply i got all your information about the vehicle and am ok with it, i will be making your payment today, i need your full name and address and your valid phone number to make the payment today through certified check will handle the shipment myself.i The check will get to you in 2-5 days time and when you recived the check you can then get the check cashed at your Bank i will wait for you to confirm and clear the check.The payment will be in excess as i will want you to contact my shipper with the excess fund for him to pickup the vehicle after you must have confirmed and cashed the check .i will wait for your bank to clear the Check so you can deduct your own money and send the excess fund to my shipper via money gram Money Transfer cos he needs the excess to pick up the car .You can IM on this ID [email protected] or call me on 914595xxxx for more information.Thanks and God Bless,you can get the posting deleted from craiglist

Hold off on calling the phone number, please, as I think I want to have some fun with this one.

I've never done this before, so could I get any suggestions on how to mess with this joker? Also, what should I avoid? My phone number is listed in the Craigslist ad and due to the initial "Hello, is it available?" "Yes" conversation, they have my normal Gmail address.

Since the scammer now has my phone and email, is there any risk? How should I continue the correspondence?

Thanks for the assistance! Smile

MOD Edit - I xx'd out the phone number to avoid any problems - crash

Posted: Sun Jan 06, 2008 6:10 am

Praxis...since the scammer has your personal info, the best advice is just drop him; tell him that the car was already sold.
If you want to hang around and learn about baiting, read all the stickies and ask for a mentor.
You can always set up a fake e-mail account and bait him later. Wink

Hello I'm New here! Joined: 06 Jan 2008 Posts: 3

Cool, thanks Smile

I can't resist just a little tease before I drop him though. I sent this off.

Quote:

Hello,
I appreciate your interest! I hope you'll take good care of the car. However, before any monetary exchange can take place, I'll need to sign the title over to you. I'll need your full name, address, and social security number, and I can draft up a contract and send it to you. Thanks!

I'm sure he'll quickly back out and make excuses.

Baiting Guru Joined: 08 Feb 2005 Posts: 2301

Don't be surprised if he comes back with bogus information. Seriously, you're the one who should back off, and let him know that you've either sold the car, or are no longer interested in selling it.

Hello I'm New here! Joined: 06 Jan 2008 Posts: 3

Okay, I will. Thanks, guys.

I'm not sure of the current legal situation with scambaiting; is there a group I should send the email/phone number to that will track this stuff, or would no one use it?

Posted: Sun Jan 06, 2008 11:53 am

Praxis:

Welcome. Please read the stickies and learn to bait safe. I'd echo what the rest of our mates have said, drop this lad. We have a surplus form if you want to set up a new e-mail account and go after some lads.

As for this particular lads details, it is most likely that he/she is operating in a net cafe in some part of the world that will not really do anything about it. While law enforcement could trace the IP back to a particular cafe, identifying the person that did tis is next to impossible.

Craigslist scammer wants to buy my car	View next topic View previous topic