GTVapor

I also received a strange response when listing my factory wheels for sale on craiglist as seen below. Needless to say I did not respond. What kind of crap is this?

Re: 05-09 Mustang OEM 17" Wheels/Tires - $400 (Southern Maryland)‏
From: kelvin wesley (wwesleykelvin1@gmail.com)
Sent: Sun 9/06/09 9:49 AM


I would like to make an outright purchase, so i will appreciate it if
you can withdraw the advert from the web.I will pay an extra $50 for
the posting to be taken down from Craigslist. I just got married some
days ago and im presently on my honeymoon.I will be paying via
certified cashier check.Furthermore my mover will be coming over for the
pick up..as i might not be available for the pick up myself but am
OK with the information from the ad. My secretary will handle the
payment.I will need the following information details to make payment
arrangement 1,Your full name to be on the Payment.2 ,Your postal
address.3,Your phone number both land and mobile.4,Your postal
code.????
I will really appreciate it buying this item from you.So you get me
the required information for your payment to be issued asap.
Thank you

Bmr4life

Bingo. That's exactly how those scams work. What I don't understand is how a fake check is even made. WTF>!>!> How dumb is the bank's system that a fake check can pass for any period of time.

PNYXPRESS

You can also take the check to the issuing bank and just say you want to check funds availably and to cash it.

Bmr4life

The funniest time to get these responses is when you're selling something huge. Once I listed a couch for like $150. Scammer wanted me to ship it to them, but was going to handle all the shipping chargers (stolen fedex/ups account of course). It would cost more than the couch was worth to mail it across the street, lol.

Derf00

It sounds like a scam that is going to be going a step further and actually may end up in a threat (via e-mail) being made if you don't take it down. Scammers have gotten somewhat brazen these days with grabbing onto people that respond and scaring, threatening, and intimidating them once they've made contact to get what they want. Better just not respond at this point.

whyask

yeh my Ex fiance got scammed for 15 grand ! Sold her car and the bank told her the check was A ok' well 3 weeks later the check was fake and it bounced... none the less she was 15 grand ! These scammers are amazing with photo shop and fake accounts !

Bmr4life

Damn, you serious? That means she say the scammer eye to eye!!

GTVapor

That is exactly why I did not respond to the e-mail. As well as the fact that I already had a local buyer and mustang owner that I had already spoken with on the way to purchase the wheels with cash in hand.

eddypython

LOL I've gotten the same exact e-mail back from a craigslist post I made. I had some fun with him.. here's the whole thing..


So I posted on craigslist to sell an item.. And I wake up in the morning, check my e-mail and I find a msg saying

" Are they still for sale ? "

I respond back saying, " yes "

And here's what followed.




--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Sun, 23 Aug 2009 09:07:01 -0700
From: johnnicholas01@yahoo.com
Subject: ==========================- $190 (Charlotte)
To: eddypython@hotmail.com




Hello,

Thanks for your response to my mail and i want you to consider that
its sold, pls do withdraw the advert from craigslist to avoid
disturbance.I want you to know that i will be paying with a bank
certified check and to also notify you that shipping funds will be
included with the payment that is coming to you. so therefore.I will
need you to provide me the following information listed below, so that
i can ask my secretary to issue out the payment to you.

Full name to write on the check............
Full Physical address to post the check..
city......................
state..................
zip code....................
Home & Cell Phone to contact you

*** Note that the payment will be shipped to your address via COURIER
NEXT DAY SERVICE and I will like you to know that you will not be
responsible for shipping i will have my mover coming over to your
location for pick up after the receipt of the payment

Thanks

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Now, anyone past the age of 5 would catch this.. So I said. I'm going to have some fun with him.. Here's what I wrote.



---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
John, I just want to congratulate you on your purchase. As a result of this purchase not only do you get the product advertised, but you have won a trip to wonderfull Bermuda.
Hotel, flight and meals are provided FREE to you at no extra charge. Why would a deal like this pop up out of nowhere you ask ? Simple. The economy is so bad, hotels are losing money by the day. We have been contracted by these hotels to give away a free travel deal to someone. well, to make things interesting we posted on craigslist an add that would work pretty much as a lottery. the first person to want to buy our product, would be the lucky person to win this trip.

Why would the hotels do that ? Because they are so sure you will enjoy this free trip, you will be back for sure. So it's a win-win situation for both.

Here's what you have to do to take full advantage of this OUTSTANDING offer.
Send us your contact information.

Name:
Address:
Phone number :

And we will send you your plane tickets. and the itinerary for your trip.

This is the only thing you have to do to take advantage of this offer. Since you are interested in our product, we will also give it to you for free. Here's the catch though, our products do cost money. So, we will send you a check worth $300 dollars that way the company that gives them to us for advertisement purposes see the transactions are taking place and we are not just giving them away for free. How do we make money from this you ask ? Simple, we get paid for the advertising. So we win, and YOU win. Doesn't that just take care of any worries you might have ?

John, again, you are the lucky guy that will enjoy a beaiful trip to Bermuda, and since you were looking for a product for your car, you can also ride with pride.

By the way, could you send us pictures of you and your car so that we can post it on our wall of winners ? Looking forward to hearing from you John.

----------------------------------------------------------
this is what he sent back to me.



Date: Sun, 23 Aug 2009 09:07:01 -14:28
From: johnnicholas01@yahoo.com
Subject: ==========================- $190 (Charlotte)
To: eddypython@hotmail.com



%$#$ you !


yeah, I blocked out the foul language. needless to say I laughed my *** off.
I wish I would catch one. I love braking fingers..

JimC

I got the same exact response on a craigslist ad as well. Almost exactly the same wording.

And all they do is use copiers and photoshop to create checks - with legitimate routing numbers and account numbers. Usually the routing numbers are for one bank and the account number is for a different bank, neither of which is their bank of course. Your bank can "clear" the check, but it takes time for it to process through the system before they are notified of the problem in the clearing system and the scam artists take full advantage of that. Often they will send you a check for more than the sales price, and ask you to use Western Union to send the excess back to them - so they now have your item, some extra cash, and you find out later that the check was bad and you are liable to your bank.