 kba4
join:2001-10-23
Canton, OH
 ·RoadRunner Cable
 ·AT&T U-Verse
| [Rant] craigslist scammers Hi,
I just have a simple question and a story to relate to everyone here (and hopefully this thread will be indexed by google for all to read soon).
a little background on me: I run a computer build/repair business and have so far done pretty well. I decided earlier in the year to start selling some of my used and even new inventory as well as systems here on the DSLR "For Sale" forum. Last week I decided to check out a site I'd known about for a while, craigslist. I registered and posted many items there. Within 24 hours I started receiving correspondence. I've sold one item but so far the other people seem to be trying to pull a fast one on me. I'll explain.
I'm basically being spammed, albeit on a very small targeted scale, maybe 2 messages a day, with offers and suggestions. The offers basically go like this ("..." indicates my reply before another message is received):
"I saw the computer system you posted, is it still available?"
...
I am paying by certified check, I need your name, address, and phone number
...
I have sent the check and you should receive it shortly. The check was accidentally made out for more than your item costs, please deduct the difference and give it to my mover who will come to get the item once I receive word from you that you have received the check.
this situation played out over the course of 5 days and today I did in fact receive a check for a $420 item made out for $3,500. the check was in a UPS 2nd Day envelope, in an envelope itself. I immediately took the check to my bank to have it verified. It was determined to be a fraudulent document, so I let them keep it and brought them all evidence they might need to investigate (my e-mail correspondence and the UPS envelope). The UPS envelope had a different name than that of the e-mailer.
So basically that's where it stands, at least for now. I just wonder something though. Obviously this was meant to scam me somehow, but my question is: "How?!". I haven't sent the guy anything, he only has my name address and phone (I realize this is enough to locate me which is dangerous but it's not enough to get the police involved at this point). I have his "money", he has nothing of mine. So how would I be negatively impacted in this situation? Of course I feel let down but somebody spent time and money sending me a fake document just to make me feel bad? It makes no sense...
--
"I saw Matlock in a bar last night; the sound was off, but I think I got the gist of it..." |
|
 AlcoholPremium
join:2003-05-26
Climax, MI
kudos:3 | Cooler threads don't get indexed on google. |
|
 Mats Here kitty and the chimp. SmashPremium
join:2002-03-16
kudos:1 | reply to kba4
said by kba4: I just wonder something though. Obviously this was meant to scam me somehow, but my question is: "How?!". You would have been scammed if you were stupid enough to have sent him the difference from what the item cost and what the check said.
Lucky you didnt fall for it. |
|
|
|
 DanHoModerhatedPremium
join:2002-05-20
Seattle, WA | reply to kba4
»Scam and Phishbusters
»Rants, Raves, and Praise
--
Over-moderation at its finest... |
|
kba4
join:2001-10-23
Canton, OH Reviews:
·RoadRunner Cable
·AT&T U-Verse
| reply to Mats
how many people have that kind of cash laying around, I'd have "owed him" $3,080- hardly even what I could see having in a safe on site at any time.
--
"I saw Matlock in a bar last night; the sound was off, but I think I got the gist of it..." |
|
 60127178K.U. Sweet 16Premium
join:2001-02-15
Wichita, KS
kudos:1 | How it is supposed to work is some banks will hold the funds for as little as 24 hours. You deposit the check, get the money out the next day to send back to the scammer, by the time the check hits the "home" bank the account is usually closed, or overdrawn severely, they let YOUR bank know that you deposited a bad check, and you are out the extra money. |
|
kba4
join:2001-10-23
Canton, OH Reviews:
·RoadRunner Cable
·AT&T U-Verse
| that's eye-opening for sure but I still can't believe there are so many idiots out there who would fall for it. I know that's strong worded but anyone who handles this kind of money really should know better.
--
"I saw Matlock in a bar last night; the sound was off, but I think I got the gist of it..." |
|
 SnowymIRC unix.ro UnderNetPremium
join:2003-04-05
Kailua, HI
kudos:5
 ·Clearwire Wireless
·RoadRunner Cable
| reply to kba4
Unfortunately there isn't much that be done with mailing envelope because the scammers daisy chain the mailing through a convoluted list of 'handlers' that are recruited through help want ads.
Here's an outline of how the operation works.
1. Create a UPS account with stolen credentials (UPS_July_Acct.txt)
2. Recruit "handlers" to forward UPS packages (daisychain1)
3. Create pre-printed UPS labels with the bogus UPS account that has the handlers shipping info. (handlers1.gif)
4. Ship the bogus cashiers check to a handler (handler1) along with a pre-printed shipping label of where they are to ship the bogus check (handler2)
5. Send a pre-printed shipping label to handler2 with instructions to re-ship the envelope they will be receiving from handler1 to the address on the shipping label they just received. At some point in the chain a handler will receive a mailing label with your shipping info & that's how it ends up at your address.
This routine is replayed a few times until tracking back to scammer becomes literally impossible, or not worth the effort. |
|
Reviews:
 ·Verizon Online DSL
·Optimum Online
·EarthLink
| reply to kba4
said by kba4:that's eye-opening for sure but I still can't believe there are so many idiots out there who would fall for it. What did P. T. Barnum say? "There's a sucker born every minute." He was right. |
|
MGDPremium,MVM
join:2002-07-31
Fort Lauderdale, FL
kudos:9 | reply to kba4
said by kba4:Hi, I just have a simple question and a story to relate to everyone here (and hopefully this thread will be indexed by google for all to read soon). .....Last week I decided to check out a site I'd known about for a while, craigslist. ...... If you were a Craigslist "regular" you would know all about this scam, it is an epidemic. You could put a piece of dog poop up for sale, and within hours you will have a half dozen offers to buy it with a certified check for a few thousand over the amount.
Though not as successful as it once was, it still reels victims in. There are many new arrivals still coming to Craigslist who are not cyber savvy. The scammers now may have to go through a hundred or more attempts, before finding someone to take the bait. The costs are minimal, and the payoff is huge. This whole genre of scams operates on the fact that checks deposited into an account only clear provisionally within the first few days, the final clearance to the originating bank can take anywhere from 10 to 21 days. That is when the fake check will be discovered.
You may want to ask the sender where they want the money sent, then post that info so it is searchable for others who may potentially fall for it. Also post the originating IP of the emails, assuming they are not Gmail accounts. Plus post their email address for archiving too. Though they change and rotate names and accounts frequently it may save someone else who becomes suspicious and decides to search.
Welcome to Craigslist !!
MGD |
|
kba4
join:2001-10-23
Canton, OH Reviews:
·RoadRunner Cable
·AT&T U-Verse
| good idea. I will go ahead and lead these scammers on as long as I have the time to do so. I will create a data dump on my website and eventually google will index it and it will be evidence for anyone in the future. I feel it's the least I can do as a public service of sorts with my business website 
--
"I saw Matlock in a bar last night; the sound was off, but I think I got the gist of it..." |
|
MGDPremium,MVM
join:2002-07-31
Fort Lauderdale, FL
kudos:9 | Cool!, You will only need two more emails, one to ask to where and how they want the money sent. Then one more to say the bank called and said the check bounced. You will never hear from them again. Unless of course you have more items up sale, if nothing else they are persistent.
MGD |
|
kba4
join:2001-10-23
Canton, OH Reviews:
·RoadRunner Cable
·AT&T U-Verse
1 edit | The scammer wanted me to give the difference to his mover. I'll post the exchange at »www.kba4pcrepair.com/scams it should be active in a few minutes from this post.
the site is now ready for consumption. hope I can be of help to someone in the future. |
|
Reviews:
·Verizon Online DSL
·Optimum Online
·EarthLink
| reply to kba4
said by kba4:the check was in a UPS 2nd Day envelope, I bet they use UPS to avoid mail fraud charges if they're caught. |
|
K PattersonPremium,MVM
join:2006-03-12
Columbus, OH
kudos:1
1 edit | Its still mail fraud.
»tampa.fbi.gov/investprograms/int···raud.htm |
|
 pcdebbRIP dadkinsPremium
join:2000-12-03
Brandon, FL
kudos:4 | reply to kba4
said by kba4:The scammer wanted me to give the difference to his mover. I'll post the exchange at » www.kba4pcrepair.com/scams it should be active in a few minutes from this post. the site is now ready for consumption. hope I can be of help to someone in the future. can you post the scammers email address too on your site? alot of times people search the email address to get a hit
--
a time for change... | 1st & 10 | map your city |
|
kba4
join:2001-10-23
Canton, OH | good idea, I will post the e-mail addy. |
|
 GbcueAlmost P.E.Premium
join:2001-09-30
Santa Rosa, CA
kudos:8
·AT&T U-Verse
| reply to kba4
said by kba4:The scammer wanted me to give the difference to his mover. I'll post the exchange at » www.kba4pcrepair.com/scams it should be active in a few minutes from this post. the site is now ready for consumption. hope I can be of help to someone in the future. There are already tons of sites dedicated to this. This scam is commonly referred to as a 419 scam.
»www.419eater.com/
»en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advance_fee_fraud |
|
 Doctor OldsI Need A Remedy For What's Ailing Me.Premium,VIP
join:2001-04-19
1970 442 W30
kudos:17 | reply to kba4
said by kba4:this situation played out over the course of 5 days and today I did in fact receive a check for a $420 item made out for $3,500. the check was in a UPS 2nd Day envelope, in an envelope itself. I immediately took the check to my bank to have it verified. It was determined to be a fraudulent document, so I let them keep it and brought them all evidence they might need to investigate (my e-mail correspondence and the UPS envelope). The UPS envelope had a different name than that of the e-mailer. So basically that's where it stands, at least for now. I just wonder something though. Obviously this was meant to scam me somehow, but my question is: "How?!". I haven't sent the guy anything, he only has my name address and phone (I realize this is enough to locate me which is dangerous but it's not enough to get the police involved at this point). I have his "money", he has nothing of mine. So how would I be negatively impacted in this situation? Of course I feel let down but somebody spent time and money sending me a fake document just to make me feel bad? It makes no sense... You weren't supposed to know to inquire about the check at the Bank nor were you to have the Bank verify the check in order to end up telling you the check is truly a fake until afterwards when it is too late. You were to only find out way after clearing the float time and you handing over the overage, but since you didn't just blindly deposit it/cash it out against your account nor offer to send the overage back as they had planned you messed up their next step in the scam. You however are in the minority.
Others that ignore IISTGTBTIPI or think only of their Greed/Personal Gain or those lacking the needed Common Sense to guide them are instead ending up like this.
»Scam artists use technology to their advantage
said by Married Female Victim :
“It took a good 12 days for (the check) to come back and say it was insufficient funds,” she said. “Come to find out, the company was not affiliated with the bank.”
She said she then had to make arrangements with owner Mike Moon to pay him back the $1,600 she had spent using some of her 401(k).
“It put us in a bind,” she said. “I wanted it to be true.”
--
What’s the point of owning a supercar if you can’t scare yourself stupid from time to time? |
|
kba4
join:2001-10-23
Canton, OH Reviews:
·RoadRunner Cable
·AT&T U-Verse
| I have to laugh when I see grown educated otherwise mature adults falling for something so simple. I thought to myself, something's not right here...
As a general rule, I personally deposit all checks/funds over $200 to the teller. My bank (Chase NA) limits the availability of funds to $216 I believe when deposited to the ATM; so for this reason if I need more than that (or in this case if I simply want to verify legit nature of document) I will go in and ask for it in person. I asked to speak to the manager, and have the check verified. It took all of 10 minutes to learn it was indeed fraudulent and it's their problem from thereon out. My latest scam-bait is 'alliyah cole'; see »www.kba4pcrepair.com/scams/alliyahcole for the correspondence; she sounds a little pissed!
--
"I saw Matlock in a bar last night; the sound was off, but I think I got the gist of it..." |
|
