Craigslist scam - question from a noob

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Hello I'm New here! Joined: 20 Jul 2008 Posts: 5

I recently placed an ad on Craigslist........sound familiar?

I have a truck I'm trying to sell, but no, I didn't fall for a scam but dang, my ad seems to have drawn them out of the woodwork! The only responses I've received are from scammers.

I've received two responses that started out with "is the car still available?" and asked for price and details (all of which were in the ad).

When I responded, they immediately said they wanted the vehicle, and told me that due to their job, they couldn't come see it in person, yada, yada, yada, and told me that they wanted to pay via PayPal, then told me I should sign up for an account (I have one, but he's not going to get any info on it), and told me to send him my e-mail address.

I haven't responded to one of the lads, but for the other lad, I responded by saying that I don't really understand technical computer stuff, and while I've heard of PayPal, that I don't purchase stuff over the Internet because I don't understand it......and basically that I'm so computer illiterate that I had to have my brother post the ad on CL.

I'd like to string this guy on for as long as possible. He does have my name from my e-mail, but this e-mail has never been in association with my home address.

What I'd like to do is tell him that my boss (President of my company) has offered to help me with the transaction, create an e-mail account for my "boss" (aka - Ima Doofus). My plan is to have Ima tell him that her company does millions of dollars a year using PayPal (should make him hungry), but that because of some problems they've had to implement a new policy that requires that they get two forms of ID from anyone they transact business with over PayPal.

The two pieces of information will be a picture of their ID, and a picture of them taken with something that shows my name on it - that way I (Ima) will know that they are who they say they are and to make sure they don't just send a picture of just anyone. My hope is that they will send a picture of themselves holding a sign that says "Ima Doofus".

Question - if he knows my real name but I turn things over to "Ima" - is this a good thing to do, or should I drop this guy.

I haven't responded to my other lad, and plan to do so using my fake e-mail address.

Sorry this is rather long.

Posted: Tue Sep 20, 2011 12:18 am

Hi RadioActive1!

If the scammer has any of your RL information we advise you to drop the bait, even if it is just your name. This lad has your name and your email addy -- that's usually enough info to get more info on someone. So better to just drop him. Wink

As far as your idea, anything is possible with a lad, but remember that trophies aren't easy to get and usually take a bit of time to get the lad invested in your bait. So don't be in too much of a rush just to get the pic from the lad and spend some time just straightbaiting one to get the feel of baiting before you rush to get the trophy.

Do you have a mentor? Sign up for one (they are risky-free!) and make sure you always bait safe. Very Happy

Hello I'm New here! Joined: 20 Jul 2008 Posts: 5

Makes sense. No, I don't have a mentor - but I'll definitely check it out.

Posted: Tue Sep 20, 2011 1:00 am

Welcome to Eater, RadioActive1! Very Happy

Posted: Tue Sep 20, 2011 1:12 am

Welcome to Eater!

I suggest making a Craigslist account with fake information and an email address that is untraceable to you, and baiting from there. Then list an item with an unreasonable price or nonsensical details.

Posted: Tue Sep 20, 2011 1:16 am

Hello and welcome!

What you can do is wait a couple days then reply from a risky free baiting address saying "Yes the car is still for sale when do you want to look at it?" These lads reply to thousands of CL ads so they have no idea which ad they replied to. In fact I'm surprised he said "car" they usual reply with generic things like "Is the item still avalible". This lad may just focus on people selling their cars.

As a side note these lads are hard to bait for long. They will typically drop you pretty fast if they don't see a payday. So play it very straight.

Posted: Tue Sep 20, 2011 8:16 am

Welcome to Eater!

I can't think of anything that hasn't been said before, other than stress the importance of baiting safely. You wouldn't want to be in space without a suit, because of the vacuum and .. y'know.. dangerous antimatter and stuff. This is exactly the same. They're bogus through and through and there is no reason for you not to be too.

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