I'm being scammed and I'd like some advice
cwazzy
Posts: 3,257 ✭
A week ago I listed an item for sale on Craig's List. This weekend I got an e-mail from someone saying they wanted it but since he was out of town "on assignment" the only way he would be able to pay for it was by money order and he would arange to have it picked up after I got the money order. Red flags immediately went up for me (especially since his e-mail address was harrison.ford.ford@gmail.com LOL) but I didn't want to risk losing a $200 sale on the off-chance that it was legit. So I gave him my work address and told him to send a Postal Money Order. He said okay and that he would have his "assistant" send out payment. The first thing Monday morning I get this e-mail:
Hello,
I hope you are fine and alright. I have been busy myself but doing
great. There is something i think i must bring to your notice. After a
reconciliation of my account, i discovered that somehow my assistant
must have over paid you. The payment that was meant for another
transaction was sent to you and the one meant for you was sent to
another, however i want to believe i won’t have a problem with you.
Please once you receive your payment, i will like you to deduct your
money and send the remaining via western union to the manager of the
shipping company that will help me with the pick-up. I will ask them
to contact you as soon as possible, Let me know if this is ok with
you. Please contact me as soon as you get your payment.
Warm regards.
Harrison
I haven't received the "check" yet but I'm sure once I do it will come back fraudulant. I'm covered in this situation as there is 0% chance I will lose any money. My question is: what do I need to do to give myself the best chance at catching this guy? Who do I contact? Is this an FBI issue and would they even care about a $200 fraud? Since the check is coming by mail I believe it would be considered mail fraud so is there someone that I need to contact at the post office? Please give me some advice so I can try my best to catch a scammer.
Hello,
I hope you are fine and alright. I have been busy myself but doing
great. There is something i think i must bring to your notice. After a
reconciliation of my account, i discovered that somehow my assistant
must have over paid you. The payment that was meant for another
transaction was sent to you and the one meant for you was sent to
another, however i want to believe i won’t have a problem with you.
Please once you receive your payment, i will like you to deduct your
money and send the remaining via western union to the manager of the
shipping company that will help me with the pick-up. I will ask them
to contact you as soon as possible, Let me know if this is ok with
you. Please contact me as soon as you get your payment.
Warm regards.
Harrison
I haven't received the "check" yet but I'm sure once I do it will come back fraudulant. I'm covered in this situation as there is 0% chance I will lose any money. My question is: what do I need to do to give myself the best chance at catching this guy? Who do I contact? Is this an FBI issue and would they even care about a $200 fraud? Since the check is coming by mail I believe it would be considered mail fraud so is there someone that I need to contact at the post office? Please give me some advice so I can try my best to catch a scammer.
Chris
My small collection
Want List:
'61 Topps Roy Campanella in PSA 5-7
Cardinal T206 cards
Adam Wainwright GU Jersey
My small collection
Want List:
'61 Topps Roy Campanella in PSA 5-7
Cardinal T206 cards
Adam Wainwright GU Jersey
0
Comments
........
You might call the local cops, after the check comes. Since the fake check will be for big bucks,
the cops might look into it, if they are not "busy."
If they wanted to, they could bust the guy if he comes to pick-up the item. Usually, once
the overage is sent to WU the scammers don't bother picking up cheap items. If the items
are expensive, they sometimes send guys dressed like "delivery drivers."
The FBI is not interested.
The USPS is interested, but busy.
www.ic3.gov will aggregate the complaints and submit them to the Feds when they
get a bunch of them.
The USPS will let you fill out a form.
//////////////////////
419 scams are all over CL.
http://www.scambuster419.co.uk/
Which it wasnt.
Otherwise, if you cannot find law enforcement to help, just refuse the MO when it gets to you.
...or, don't cash it and tell him that your bank has requested another $50 in processing because of the nature of the account from which the funds were drawn. Explain that needs to be in cash....
...nm, don't do that.
refuse the letter, package, etc..
Which it wasnt.
1)take the fake money order to an out of town check casher
2)get cash (minus 2-3% check cashing fee)
3)profit
4)never send card to scammer
5)sale card legit
6)profit
<< <i>are we in Nigeria?
////////////
absolutely.
<< <i>But then your name is on cashing a fake check right? >>
two party check that you had no idea was fake. Worst case scenario, it is fake and you have to eventually return the money OR the mistake is legit and you have to give buyer his money back. Best case scenario, scammer doesn't get card AND you get extra cash.
(also, I'm completely kidding). I'd tell the guy that I deposited his check and let him come to pick up the money and then fire high powered bb's at his grill from a sniper location when he pulls up. Or possibly real bullets, that way I can scour his pockets for cash or other fake checks to be used in the future.
<< <i>if you do get a check. Just send him the check back(his check, dont cash it) and ask him to send the proper payment. ONLY IF YOU THINK IT WAS AN HONEST MISTAKE.
Which it wasnt. >>
If the check arrives, do not cash it. Just hold it. Once the "buyer" contacts you asking if you received the "over payment," advise that the payment is unacceptable and the transaction has been canceled and that any further requests will be forwarded to local, state and/or federal law enforcement. Communication with the "buyer" will miraculously cease.
I'm "guessing" the chances are 100%. LOL
If I were you, I would not communicate with this scammer again in any way, shape or form. As far as reporting it...I hate scammers and would like to see them all in jail, but reporting this would just be a big waste of time, sorry to say.
1) You're not necessarily stupid. You'd be surprised at how many otherwise intelligent people get sucked into scams - that's the nature of scams, to get around the front lines of defense and get into the back door of your psyche. My parents are friends with a Dean of a midsized East Coast University who got hooked on a 3 card monte scam at the Port Authority and worked himself into a frenzy once while on vacation - he couldn't admit to himself that it was crooked. And this guy is a PhD who has never had a drink or a smoke in his life.
2) Having said that, this isn't a particularly clever scam. Not even by Nigerian standards.
3) I applaud you for trying to do the right thing. storm (I think he said it) is right: the FBI in general doesn't give a damn. I am an honest appraiser with a 20 year collection of fraudulent real estate appraisals in my basement; I have probably a couple of thousand down there. I've been wanting to do something/anything with them - give them to the state board; the Appraisal Institute; Barney Frank; the FBI, you name it. I tried to and to make a long story short, nobody gives a damn. Which frustrates the piss out of me.
4) Speaking of the FBI, I did however do some work for an honest FBI agent a couple of weeks ago and we had a good chat. In a nutshell, the local FBI offices work like little independent study modules: once you reach the proper level as an agent, you can design your own task force in whatever field you want - drugs, banking fraud, guns, whatever floats your boat. The problem is that you have to design the whole thing yourself and unless you're at the very top, you don't get unlimited resources. So if this guy was in your town operating a fraud out of his basement and you found a sympathetic FBI or USPS agent, they might take your advice. But if he's in a foreign country, it's just not feasible.
5) I read over your post fairly quickly, but it occurs to me that you might scotch the deal by offering local pickup only to this character. Tell him that your mom taught you never to trust an out of town check or money order and you'd be happy to return his money order and subsequently meet him at such and such a diner (that happens to be across the street from the local police precinct) to hand your item over in person. He backs out and relieves you of the feeling that you have to nail this guy and nobody gives a damn. Trust me, it's a very frustrating feeling.
But keep up the good work; storm and I won't be around forever and we need new blood in our fight against fraud
I listed a bunch of stuff on Craigslist when I helped my parents move. some items were antique and I put 'antique' in the title. on those listings I got all kinds of scam emails. they like to target old people and hope they fall for their tricks. on the other items that weren't antiques I did not get any scam emails.
<< <i>A week ago I listed an item for sale on Craig's List. >>
That's your problem right there
She's a young teacher (maybe 23) at my wife's school and she's really hot. And her husband's dumb as a post and just out of jail for DUI (usually how it works, isn't it?)
Long story short, I saved the hot chick and her idiot husband $400. Score one for me.
People who fall for these scams are usually young and inexperienced, or old and senile.
Ive got the same scam before, but the wording was so off (not card related) that it was funny. They kept using the word "item" instead of "card"
If the buyer contacts you afterward, just let him know you turned his payment over to the local police.
Collector of Pittsburgh Pirates cards for a slightly less stupid reason.
My Pirates Collection
Ryan
1951 Topps Red backs psa 8 only!
1960 Golden Press Presidential set Psa 8 's - Psa 9's
1961 Golden Press psa 9's
1976 Topps baseball psa 9 Stars
1980 Kelloggs baseball Psa 9's - Psa 10's
1988-1989 Fleer Basketball psa 9's
1988-1989 Fleer Stickers psa 9's
1989-1990 Fleer Basketball psa 10's
1992 Coca-Cola Donruss Nolan Ryan 1-26 Psa 10 only Gpa 9.80++ E-mail Newyork00007@aol.com
Here ya go Chris. Towards the bottom it says how the scam works. Very similar to your situation.
Fake Money Orders
It is not a 200.00 fraud, the guy will send you a check/MO for 2000.00 and expect you to send back 1800.00
Or something similar.
Chris did you really have to ask our advice?
Steve
<< <i>I sell a ton of stuff on Craigslist. Just delete that e-mail and go on to the next one or just repost it. >>
please dont tell me they are 52 mantles or T206 cobbs.....
ps i have a friend who would be VERY interested in fake MO....i would love to see a copy of the MO when you get it!
<< <i><< A week ago I listed an item for sale on Craig's List. >>
That's your problem right there >>
I have actually had quite a few successful transactions from Craigslist, both as a buyer and a seller.
<< <i>Here ya go Chris. Towards the bottom it says how the scam works. Very similar to your situation.
Fake Money Orders >>
Very helpful and interesting read. Thanks for the link.
- John Wooden
<< <i>Chris did you really have to ask our advice?
Steve >>
I know it was a scam. I know how it's going to work. I am interested in doing something to catch the guy. That is actually the advice I'm after and from what I'm seeing it's probably not worth the effort and time it would take to do it.
As for using Craig's List to sell things being the source of my problem: I have actually had quite a bit of success with it and this is the first time someone has tried to scam me. I am a banker and have seen enough of these scams work that I wanted to be proactive and try to take out one of the scammers if I could. But that doesn't sound like it's going to happen.
My small collection
Want List:
'61 Topps Roy Campanella in PSA 5-7
Cardinal T206 cards
Adam Wainwright GU Jersey
Of course this vermin thief and his criminal friends likely have many thousands of email addresses and change them all the time, but at least the emails he sent out with this email address will get noticed.
That is until he cuts out your liver and eats it.
Kiss me twice.....let's party.
<< <i>
<< <i><< A week ago I listed an item for sale on Craig's List. >>
That's your problem right there >>
I have actually had quite a few successful transactions from Craigslist, both as a buyer and a seller. >>
Don't you really mean giver and receiver?
Kiss me twice.....let's party.
<< <i>If anyone cares, I recently saved a young couple some cash by FORCING them not to accept a similar scam with a return payment by Western Union stipulation.
She's a young teacher (maybe 23) at my wife's school and she's really hot. And her husband's dumb as a post and just out of jail for DUI (usually how it works, isn't it?)
Long story short, I saved the hot chick and her idiot husband $400. Score one for me.
People who fall for these scams are usually young and inexperienced, or old and senile. >>
Is that all you scored ?
<< <i>.........She's a young teacher (maybe 23) at my wife's school and she's really hot.............. >>
<< <i>steps to take:
1)take the fake money order to an out of town check casher
2)get cash (minus 2-3% check cashing fee)
3)profit
4)never send card to scammer
5)sale card legit
6)profit >>
Is that the used car dealer way to get it done?
<< <i>
<< <i>steps to take:
1)take the fake money order to an out of town check casher
2)get cash (minus 2-3% check cashing fee)
3)profit
4)never send card to scammer
5)sale card legit
6)profit >>
Is that the used car dealer way to get it done? >>
that's the way the successful ones do it.
<< <i>
<< <i>
<< <i>steps to take:
1)take the fake money order to an out of town check casher
2)get cash (minus 2-3% check cashing fee)
3)profit
4)never send card to scammer
5)sale card legit
6)profit >>
Is that the used car dealer way to get it done? >>
that's the way the successful ones do it.
So successful car dealers are fraudulent scammers? Is that what you're saying?
<< <i>Just poop on it and send it back >>
By far the best advice in this entire thread. Just imagine the look in Harrison's face when he opens up the envelope. Priceless!
CDsNuts, 1/9/15
<< <i>
<< <i>
<< <i>
<< <i>steps to take:
1)take the fake money order to an out of town check casher
2)get cash (minus 2-3% check cashing fee)
3)profit
4)never send card to scammer
5)sale card legit
6)profit >>
Is that the used car dealer way to get it done? >>
that's the way the successful ones do it.
So successful car dealers are fraudulent scammers? Is that what you're saying? >>
you already know that I was kidding about all of this so I'm not gonna respond anymore. I even put that I was kidding in my NEXT post after the first one, but you already know that.
<< <i>you already know that I was kidding about all of this so I'm not gonna respond anymore. >>
Ya I'm bored.
419EATER.COM
It is funny and will actually educate you and others on how these scams work.
<< <i>
<< <i>Just poop on it and send it back >>
By far the best advice in this entire thread. Just imagine the look in Harrison's face when he opens up the envelope. Priceless! >>
That would be funny, but keep in mind...the card is not what the scumbag is after, the card is meaningless in this situation. It just brought Chris and the scammer together. The email address (Harrison Ford etc. .com), that will more than likely not trace back to the person recieving the scammed funds.