craigslist scam

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Hello I'm New here! Joined: 20 Dec 2009 Posts: 1

I responded to a craigslist reply to an item I have for sale, he has my email address already.

Is it worth asking him to send payment for my item?

Code:

Hello dear seller,
I wish to purchase your item which you list in craigslist.org the reason is that, i wanna purchase it for my girl friend i am offering u $500 for the item and $300 for the shipping fess and i am paying u via pay pal, so provide me your pay pal money request so that i can made the payment now .
hope to hear from u soon if the condition of the item is alright and if u are interested to sell the item for me ,let me know ASAP.
best wishes
Larry

Of course this was a $425 item...

Baiting Guru Joined: 07 Jul 2006 Posts: 5727

No

This is an overpayment scam. He will send you a (fake) certified check, cashiers check, money order, etc. for more than the amount. Dumb secretary screwed it up. If you would be so kind as to Western Union him the difference, he would sure appreciate it.

Check bounces, and you're out the amount you sent him. He has no interest in what you are selling.

Posted: Sun Dec 20, 2009 5:33 pm

It's a scam. If you knew that and are thinking about baiting, don't, as he has your real life email address. Read the stickies about safe baiting.
If you want to bait him, set up a fake email account accepting his offer for $400 for your antique mouth organ, flux capacitor, etc.
You'll get an email from a fake Paypal address "confirming" payment. It's not cler if the lad actually wants what you are selling.

Hello I'm New here! Joined: 30 Jan 2010 Posts: 3

I have one on the hook right now. Wants to buy my motorcycle.

I have him on a bogus Email account, he last asked for my name, address, blah blah blah . . . . . . . .

I am not sure how to punish him. Any suggestions?

For starters, what is a good ploy to get him to send a check to a safe address? PO Box? Some other setup?

I am not sure I want to set up a PO Box just for baiting . . . . .

Posted: Mon Feb 01, 2010 6:02 pm

Hi Goulding! Welcome to Eater!
For access to a p.o. box and other awesomeness:http://forum.419eater.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=81028
Happy baiting!

Baiting Guru Joined: 07 Jul 2006 Posts: 5727

Hello Goulding. Welcome.

You can sign up for premium and get access to a p.o. box, or, if you don't care about actually seeing the check, just make up a city and an address. They won't check. After he says he has sent the check you need to wait a few days, then tell him that your ex husband/wife managed to steal the check from you. Is there any way he could send another? (Keep in mind that these fake checks cost the lads money)

You get the idea. In a short period of time you'll be having the lad threaten you with the FBI, CIA, and anything else he can think of.

Hello I'm New here! Joined: 30 Jan 2010 Posts: 3

Yep, I'm starting to get the drift.

I kinda wanted to have the trophy, but I see the wisdom of just jerking him around for a bit . . . . . . .

Thanks for the tips!

Posted: Tue Feb 02, 2010 4:14 pm

(OP) There is a very good chance that this will be a spoof PayPal scam.

One way or another a spoof mail from PayPal is received saying that they have received the money. but it's being held by them until they receive a valid tracking number confirming that the item has been despatched.

By the time you realise that this is a scam the item is long gone.

I expect the item in question is sort after electrical equipment that is easily sold on the streets.