There is a lot of talk here from time to time about Craig's List, so I
thought I would try to sell a couple of items on it. Listed the items with
no trouble each one about $300 or so. Got four replies to the two items,
one was legit but decided he didn't want it, the other three were strange.
Two had the same line, I want your item, I will send a check to you by UPS
courier, take your money and send rest to my shipper so he can pick up item,
e-mail me when you get check. Three checks came each for $2900 by UPS
courier (about $30 each to send) one had a mailing address to send the money
to, the other two had no information at all, of course all three checks were
phony. What gets me is that I told the two that contacted me that I would
accept a check but only for the amount of purchase and shipping was up to
them, they sent $2900 checks anyway. The third one didn't contact me or send
instructions or tell me what they were trying to buy, just spent 30 odd
bucks to send me a bogus check. Who is getting scammed here and by whom? I
took one of the checks to my bank and they took one look at it and said they
wouldn't even cash it for me. So who is losing money on this?

Curran,
I got similar responses from my CL listings. I think these people
come from SCAMdinavia. I think they also are able to defraud UPS or
FedEx when they ship the checks to you.
Marc

"Curran Copeland" wrote:

There is a lot of talk here from time to time about Craig's List, so
I
thought I would try to sell a couple of items on it. Listed the
items with
no trouble each one about $300 or so. Got four replies to the two
items,
one was legit but decided he didn't want it, the other three were
strange.
Two had the same line, I want your item, I will send a check to you
by UPS
courier, take your money and send rest to my shipper so he can pick
up item,
e-mail me when you get check. Three checks came each for $2900 by
UPS
courier (about $30 each to send) one had a mailing address to send
the money
to, the other two had no information at all, of course all three
checks were
phony. What gets me is that I told the two that contacted me that I
would
accept a check but only for the amount of purchase and shipping was
up to
them, they sent $2900 checks anyway. The third one didn't contact me
or send
instructions or tell me what they were trying to buy, just spent 30
odd
bucks to send me a bogus check. Who is getting scammed here and by
whom? I
took one of the checks to my bank and they took one look at it and
said they
wouldn't even cash it for me. So who is losing money on this?

All the scammer wants is your physical address.

If you insist on "Huld foor pickup" at the local UPS or FedEx
station, they go away and try to find another sucker.

Lew

SFWIW, I use a PO Box.

"marc rosen" wrote in message
...
Curran,
I got similar responses from my CL listings. I think these people
come from SCAMdinavia. I think they also are able to defraud UPS or
FedEx when they ship the checks to you.
Marc

Maybe a stolen Credit Card?

"Lew Hodgett" wrote in message
...

"Curran Copeland" wrote:

There is a lot of talk here from time to time about Craig's List, so
I
thought I would try to sell a couple of items on it. Listed the
items with
no trouble each one about $300 or so. Got four replies to the two
items,
one was legit but decided he didn't want it, the other three were
strange.
Two had the same line, I want your item, I will send a check to you
by UPS
courier, take your money and send rest to my shipper so he can pick
up item,
e-mail me when you get check. Three checks came each for $2900 by
UPS
courier (about $30 each to send) one had a mailing address to send
the money
to, the other two had no information at all, of course all three
checks were
phony. What gets me is that I told the two that contacted me that I
would
accept a check but only for the amount of purchase and shipping was
up to
them, they sent $2900 checks anyway. The third one didn't contact me
or send
instructions or tell me what they were trying to buy, just spent 30
odd
bucks to send me a bogus check. Who is getting scammed here and by
whom? I
took one of the checks to my bank and they took one look at it and
said they
wouldn't even cash it for me. So who is losing money on this?

All the scammer wants is your physical address.

If you insist on "Huld foor pickup" at the local UPS or FedEx
station, they go away and try to find another sucker.

Lew

SFWIW, I use a PO Box.



I use a Business address but think I will go to PO box it might be safer.

In article , "Curran Copeland" wrote:
There is a lot of talk here from time to time about Craig's List, so I
thought I would try to sell a couple of items on it. Listed the items with
no trouble each one about $300 or so. Got four replies to the two items,
one was legit but decided he didn't want it, the other three were strange.
Two had the same line, I want your item, I will send a check to you by UPS
courier, take your money and send rest to my shipper so he can pick up item,
e-mail me when you get check. Three checks came each for $2900 by UPS
courier (about $30 each to send) one had a mailing address to send the money
to, the other two had no information at all, of course all three checks were
phony.

Yep.

What gets me is that I told the two that contacted me that I would
accept a check but only for the amount of purchase and shipping was up to
them, they sent $2900 checks anyway. The third one didn't contact me or send
instructions or tell me what they were trying to buy, just spent 30 odd
bucks to send me a bogus check. Who is getting scammed here and by whom?

You are, by the people who sent you the checks.

took one of the checks to my bank and they took one look at it and said they
wouldn't even cash it for me. So who is losing money on this?

You would be, if you had fallen for the scam. The way it normally is played is
that they ask you to refund the "overpayment" by Western Union, and email them
the security code to retrieve the money -- which they can do from anywhere in
the world (most likely Nigeria). Once you send the money, it's gone. Then the
check turns out to be bogus (of course), and you're stuck.

Google "419 scam" for more information. Also see www.419eater.com and
www.bustedupcowgirl.com for some pretty funny stories of people who have
turned the tables on the scammers.


--
Regards,
Doug Miller (alphageek at milmac dot com)

It's time to throw all their damned tea in the harbor again.

On Dec 18, 4:07 pm, "Curran Copeland"
wrote:
"Lew Hodgett" wrote in message
SFWIW, I use a PO Box.

I use a Business address but think I will go to PO box it might be safer.

In my opinion, craigslist is just like the paper classifieds. Cash
only and you have to pick it up (or we'll arrange something). No
shipping. Ever.

I've sold a few things through craigslist, and stocked about 1/2 my
shop through it. Table saw, Horizontal bandsaw, Thickness planer.
Drill press was through a flea market. All cash, both sides of the
transaction. Cleans up a few of the trust issues if you show up with
your pickup and a fist full of dollars.

"Curran Copeland" wrote in message
. ..

Three checks came each for $2900 by UPS courier (about $30 each to send)
one had a mailing address to send the money to, the other two had no
information at all, of course all three checks were phony. What gets me is
that I told the two that contacted me that I would accept a check but only
for the amount of purchase and shipping was up to them, they sent $2900
checks anyway. The third one didn't contact me or send instructions or
tell me what they were trying to buy, just spent 30 odd bucks to send me a
bogus check. Who is getting scammed here and by whom? I took one of the
checks to my bank and they took one look at it and said they wouldn't even
cash it for me. So who is losing money on this?

These scammers also do fake Post Office money orders that look good enough
that they fool people into sending goods and forwarding part of the money to
a "shipper" or whoever, of course when the check or money order turns out to
be fake they get stuck for the item they sent plus the money they forwarded.
Obviously one of the warning signs is when someone wants to send you more
than the purchase price so you can forward money to someone else. Somebody
suggested they have a way to defraud UPS as well, it's quite possible that
they're using someone else's account to sent the checks overnight, they
don't want to give their victims time to think about what's going on. These
days it isn't just buyer beware, sellers have to be careful too.

What gets me curious is why were all the checks for $2900? is there
something about that amount that I am not aware of?
"DGDevin" wrote in message
...

"Curran Copeland" wrote in message
. ..

Three checks came each for $2900 by UPS courier (about $30 each to send)
one had a mailing address to send the money to, the other two had no
information at all, of course all three checks were phony. What gets me
is that I told the two that contacted me that I would accept a check but
only for the amount of purchase and shipping was up to them, they sent
$2900 checks anyway. The third one didn't contact me or send instructions
or tell me what they were trying to buy, just spent 30 odd bucks to send
me a bogus check. Who is getting scammed here and by whom? I took one of
the checks to my bank and they took one look at it and said they wouldn't
even cash it for me. So who is losing money on this?

These scammers also do fake Post Office money orders that look good enough
that they fool people into sending goods and forwarding part of the money
to a "shipper" or whoever, of course when the check or money order turns
out to be fake they get stuck for the item they sent plus the money they
forwarded. Obviously one of the warning signs is when someone wants to
send you more than the purchase price so you can forward money to someone
else. Somebody suggested they have a way to defraud UPS as well, it's
quite possible that they're using someone else's account to sent the
checks overnight, they don't want to give their victims time to think
about what's going on. These days it isn't just buyer beware, sellers
have to be careful too.

"Curran Copeland" wrote in message
. ..

What gets me curious is why were all the checks for $2900? is there
something about that amount that I am not aware of?

Maybe criminals are creatures of habit like the rest of us and this is one
scammer using various accounts to try to defraud you and he just got
careless in between scamming dozens of other people this week. Or maybe
experience has taught himm that's just the right amount of money to hook the
greatest number of suckers, who knows? Glad you didn't get burned, I'm
amazed at how many people fall for such scams.

On Dec 18, 9:06 pm, "Curran Copeland"
wrote:
There is a lot of talk here from time to time about Craig's List, so I
thought I would try to sell a couple of items on it. Listed the items with
no trouble each one about $300 or so. Got four replies to the two items,
one was legit but decided he didn't want it, the other three were strange.
Two had the same line, I want your item, I will send a check to you by UPS
courier, take your money and send rest to my shipper so he can pick up item,
e-mail me when you get check. Three checks came each for $2900 by UPS
courier (about $30 each to send) one had a mailing address to send the money
to, the other two had no information at all, of course all three checks were
phony. What gets me is that I told the two that contacted me that I would
accept a check but only for the amount of purchase and shipping was up to
them, they sent $2900 checks anyway. The third one didn't contact me or send
instructions or tell me what they were trying to buy, just spent 30 odd
bucks to send me a bogus check. Who is getting scammed here and by whom? I
took one of the checks to my bank and they took one look at it and said they
wouldn't even cash it for me. So who is losing money on this?

They expect you to send them 'change', that is the difference between
the amount of their check and the purchase price and shipping costs.
Then their check will bounce. Bank checks, can 'bounce' after they
appear to have cleared, which is how that scam works.

Since you didn't fall for it, THEY lost money.

Good for you!

--

FF

On Dec 18, 2:06 pm, "Curran Copeland"
wrote:
There is a lot of talk here from time to time about Craig's List, so I
thought I would try to sell a couple of items on it. Listed the items with
no trouble each one about $300 or so. Got four replies to the two items,
one was legit but decided he didn't want it, the other three were strange.
Two had the same line, I want your item, I will send a check to you by UPS
courier, take your money and send rest to my shipper so he can pick up item,
e-mail me when you get check. Three checks came each for $2900 by UPS
courier (about $30 each to send) one had a mailing address to send the money

I have sold a few things this year on Craigs List. Rule #1 for me is
Local Only, I want to see who I'm dealing with. Rule #2 is Cash Only,
for the reason you just described - if you fall for the bad check
scheme, they get your item and your money.

Play by those 2 rules on Craigs List, and you'll avoid most problems.

Jerry

"Curran Copeland" wrote:


I use a Business address but think I will go to PO box it might be
safer.

I prefer to play mind games with them. Becomes a matter of how long
for them to give up.

The "Huld foor pickup" routine just screws with their tiny little
minds for awhile.

Becomes a matter of how long they want to suffer.

Lew

On Tue, 18 Dec 2007 15:54:50 -0800 (PST), Jerry
wrote:

On Dec 18, 2:06 pm, "Curran Copeland"
wrote:
There is a lot of talk here from time to time about Craig's List, so I
thought I would try to sell a couple of items on it. Listed the items with
no trouble each one about $300 or so. Got four replies to the two items,
one was legit but decided he didn't want it, the other three were strange.
Two had the same line, I want your item, I will send a check to you by UPS
courier, take your money and send rest to my shipper so he can pick up item,
e-mail me when you get check. Three checks came each for $2900 by UPS
courier (about $30 each to send) one had a mailing address to send the money

I have sold a few things this year on Craigs List. Rule #1 for me is
Local Only, I want to see who I'm dealing with. Rule #2 is Cash Only,
for the reason you just described - if you fall for the bad check
scheme, they get your item and your money.

Play by those 2 rules on Craigs List, and you'll avoid most problems.

Jerry

Those are the same rules I use. This year I've sold a truck and
bought a chipper/shredder via Craig's list with no problems at all.

Amazing what face-to-face and cash can accomplish ;-)

I also picked up a 24" snow thrower with electric start on the free
section - not much call for those things in Atlanta, but my son-in-law
(n the DC area) was excited when I took it to him.

John

"Fred the Red Shirt" wrote in message
...
On Dec 18, 9:06 pm, "Curran Copeland"
wrote:
There is a lot of talk here from time to time about Craig's List, so I
thought I would try to sell a couple of items on it. Listed the items
with
no trouble each one about $300 or so. Got four replies to the two items,
one was legit but decided he didn't want it, the other three were
strange.
Two had the same line, I want your item, I will send a check to you by
UPS
courier, take your money and send rest to my shipper so he can pick up
item,
e-mail me when you get check. Three checks came each for $2900 by UPS
courier (about $30 each to send) one had a mailing address to send the
money
to, the other two had no information at all, of course all three checks
were
phony. What gets me is that I told the two that contacted me that I would
accept a check but only for the amount of purchase and shipping was up to
them, they sent $2900 checks anyway. The third one didn't contact me or
send
instructions or tell me what they were trying to buy, just spent 30 odd
bucks to send me a bogus check. Who is getting scammed here and by whom?
I
took one of the checks to my bank and they took one look at it and said
they
wouldn't even cash it for me. So who is losing money on this?

They expect you to send them 'change', that is the difference between
the amount of their check and the purchase price and shipping costs.
Then their check will bounce. Bank checks, can 'bounce' after they
appear to have cleared, which is how that scam works.

Since you didn't fall for it, THEY lost money.

Good for you!
In this case the scammer got scammed. should happen more often.

"Jerry" wrote in message
...
On Dec 18, 2:06 pm, "Curran Copeland"
wrote:
There is a lot of talk here from time to time about Craig's List, so I
thought I would try to sell a couple of items on it. Listed the items
with
no trouble each one about $300 or so. Got four replies to the two items,
one was legit but decided he didn't want it, the other three were
strange.
Two had the same line, I want your item, I will send a check to you by
UPS
courier, take your money and send rest to my shipper so he can pick up
item,
e-mail me when you get check. Three checks came each for $2900 by UPS
courier (about $30 each to send) one had a mailing address to send the
money

I have sold a few things this year on Craigs List. Rule #1 for me is
Local Only, I want to see who I'm dealing with. Rule #2 is Cash Only,
for the reason you just described - if you fall for the bad check
scheme, they get your item and your money.

Play by those 2 rules on Craigs List, and you'll avoid most problems.

Jerry

Since both items were of a largish nature and not readily shippable for the
average Joe, I did get a little concerned when one of the "buyers" wanted
it shipped to California from Kentucky. Just didn't seem like a good buy
for him to me.

On Dec 19, 2:37 am, "Curran Copeland"
wrote:
"Fred the Red Shirt" wrote in ...

On Dec 18, 9:06 pm, "Curran Copeland"
wrote:
There is a lot of talk here from time to time about Craig's List, so I
thought I would try to sell a couple of items on it. Listed the items
with
no trouble each one about $300 or so. Got four replies to the two items,
one was legit but decided he didn't want it, the other three were
strange.
Two had the same line, I want your item, I will send a check to you by
UPS
courier, take your money and send rest to my shipper so he can pick up
item,
e-mail me when you get check. Three checks came each for $2900 by UPS
courier (about $30 each to send) one had a mailing address to send the
money
to, the other two had no information at all, of course all three checks
were
phony. What gets me is that I told the two that contacted me that I would
accept a check but only for the amount of purchase and shipping was up to
them, they sent $2900 checks anyway. The third one didn't contact me or
send
instructions or tell me what they were trying to buy, just spent 30 odd
bucks to send me a bogus check. Who is getting scammed here and by whom?
I
took one of the checks to my bank and they took one look at it and said
they
wouldn't even cash it for me. So who is losing money on this?

They expect you to send them 'change', that is the difference between
the amount of their check and the purchase price and shipping costs.
Then their check will bounce. Bank checks, can 'bounce' after they
appear to have cleared, which is how that scam works.

Since you didn't fall for it, THEY lost money.

Good for you!

In this case the scammer got scammed. should happen more often.

They didn't get scammed, they shot themselves in the foot because
OP didn't take the bait.

OTOH, this does suggest a way to screw them, by posting ads to
Craig's list etc with adds for things only a scammer would offer
to buy.

--

FF

If you look closely at Craig's List there is /has been a "caution",
"disclaimer" there for quite some time. Regarding scams.. Sell locally and
you can avoid these little hiccups.


Curran Copeland" wrote in message
. ..
There is a lot of talk here from time to time about Craig's List, so I
thought I would try to sell a couple of items on it. Listed the items
with no trouble each one about $300 or so. Got four replies to the two
items, one was legit but decided he didn't want it, the other three were
strange.
Two had the same line, I want your item, I will send a check to you by UPS
courier, take your money and send rest to my shipper so he can pick up
item, e-mail me when you get check. Three checks came each for $2900 by
UPS courier (about $30 each to send) one had a mailing address to send the
money to, the other two had no information at all, of course all three
checks were phony. What gets me is that I told the two that contacted me
that I would accept a check but only for the amount of purchase and
shipping was up to them, they sent $2900 checks anyway. The third one
didn't contact me or send instructions or tell me what they were trying to
buy, just spent 30 odd bucks to send me a bogus check. Who is getting
scammed here and by whom? I took one of the checks to my bank and they
took one look at it and said they wouldn't even cash it for me. So who is
losing money on this?

"Fred the Red Shirt" wrote

Since you didn't fall for it, THEY lost money.

Highly doubtful ... they probably used Lew's debit card to charge the UPS
shipping fees.

--
www.e-woodshop.net
Last update: 12/14/07
KarlC@ (the obvious)

"John" wrote

Amazing what face-to-face and cash can accomplish ;-)

Problem is, in Houston "face to face" may well mean you'll be looking down
the barrel of a $2 pistola ... and, they now know where your tools are.

I check out Houston's CL on a daily basis and I suspect that a perceptible
amount of what's sold here is hotter than said pistola ... you can almost
tell by what passes for "ingles" in some of the ads.

--
www.e-woodshop.net
Last update: 12/14/07
KarlC@ (the obvious)

"Curran Copeland" wrote
Who is getting scammed here and by whom? I
took one of the checks to my bank and they took one look at it and said they
wouldn't even cash it for me. So who is losing money on this?

---
I'm just a little curious, why did you not contact the police department?
Kate

"Kate" wrote in message
. ..

"Curran Copeland" wrote
Who is getting scammed here and by whom? I
took one of the checks to my bank and they took one look at it and said
they
wouldn't even cash it for me. So who is losing money on this?

---
I'm just a little curious, why did you not contact the police department?
Kate
I did both the local police, State Police and Sherriff. All told me same
thing"Don't Cash the Check", they claim that there are too many of these
scams going on and they are so expensive to persue that they don't have the
resources to do any thing about them. Alot of them seem to be international
in scope and out of the venue of the local or even federial authorities.

"Curran Copeland" wrote in message
. ..

I did both the local police, State Police and Sherriff. All told me same
thing"Don't Cash the Check", they claim that there are too many of these
scams going on and they are so expensive to persue that they don't have
the resources to do any thing about them. Alot of them seem to be
international in scope and out of the venue of the local or even federial
authorities.

There are federal agencies interested in such scams although you shouldn't
expect action on your particular complaint, but they do want info.

http://www.scamdex.com/Reporting.php

http://www.419legal.org/reporting-fraud/

http://www.crimes-of-persuasion.com/.../reporting.htm

http://banspam.javawoman.com/report3/scam1.html


http://www.fakechecks.org/

"Curran Copeland" wrote

I did both the local police, State Police and Sherriff. All told me same
thing"Don't Cash the Check", they claim that there are too many of these
scams going on and they are so expensive to persue that they don't have
the
resources to do any thing about them. Alot of them seem to be
international
in scope and out of the venue of the local or even federial authorities.

There was actually a Houston CL "ad" this morning where some individual was
warning about the exact same scam on an item ... looks like the scammers may
have "flagged" it enough times to get his warning post removed.


--
www.e-woodshop.net
Last update: 12/14/07
KarlC@ (the obvious)

Swingman's comment about my non-existant debit csrd.

It was announced last week that scammers had used some high tech gear
to get debit card and matching PIN numbers that were used at a local
gas station.

Got over $400K before it was stopped.

Gas station owner was cleared since he also got scammed.

The fraudulent activity took place not only in the metro Los Angeles
area, but also metro New York City.

And no, they did not get my non-existant card numberG.

Lew

"Curran Copeland" wrote in message
. ..

"Kate" wrote in message
. ..

"Curran Copeland" wrote
Who is getting scammed here and by whom? I
took one of the checks to my bank and they took one look at it and said
they
wouldn't even cash it for me. So who is losing money on this?

---
I'm just a little curious, why did you not contact the police department?
Kate
I did both the local police, State Police and Sherriff. All told me same
thing"Don't Cash the Check", they claim that there are too many of these
scams going on and they are so expensive to persue that they don't have the
resources to do any thing about them. Alot of them seem to be international
in scope and out of the venue of the local or even federial authorities.


Amazing, isn't it?
That's a darn shame.

K.

Amazing, isn't it?
That's a darn shame.

K.


It sure is.

"Swingman" writes:

"John" wrote

Amazing what face-to-face and cash can accomplish ;-)

Problem is, in Houston "face to face" may well mean you'll be looking down
the barrel of a $2 pistola ... and, they now know where your tools are.

Unless it is big iron just arrange to meet somewhere other than home.

On Dec 19, 6:01 pm, "Kate" wrote:
"Curran Copeland" wrote in message

. ..

"Kate" wrote in message

. ..

"Curran Copeland" wrote
Who is getting scammed here and by whom? I
took one of the checks to my bank and they took one look at it and said
they
wouldn't even cash it for me. So who is losing money on this?

---
I'm just a little curious, why did you not contact the police department?
Kate

I did both the local police, State Police and Sherriff. All told me same
thing"Don't Cash the Check", they claim that there are too many of these
scams going on and they are so expensive to persue that they don't have the
resources to do any thing about them. Alot of them seem to be international
in scope and out of the venue of the local or even federial authorities.

Amazing, isn't it?
That's a darn shame.

K.
On Dec 19, 6:01 pm, "Kate" wrote:
"Curran Copeland" wrote in message

. ..

"Kate" wrote in message

. ..

"Curran Copeland" wrote
Who is getting scammed here and by whom? I
took one of the checks to my bank and they took one look at it and said
they
wouldn't even cash it for me. So who is losing money on this?

---
I'm just a little curious, why did you not contact the police department?
Kate

I did both the local police, State Police and Sherriff. All told me same
thing"Don't Cash the Check", they claim that there are too many of these
scams going on and they are so expensive to persue that they don't have the
resources to do any thing about them. Alot of them seem to be international
in scope and out of the venue of the local or even federial authorities.

Amazing, isn't it?
That's a darn shame.

K.

I haven't found this snopes link in this thread yet:
http://www.snopes.com/crime/fraud/cashier.asp

They don't seem to be international, they ARE all international.
That's a key part of the scam.

"The scam works because the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC)
requires banks to make money from cashier's, certified, or teller's
checks available in one to five days. Consequently, funds from checks
that might not be good are often released into payees' accounts long
before the checks have been honored by their issuing banks. High
quality forgeries can be bounced back and forth between banks for
weeks before anyone catches on to their being worthless, by which time
victims have long since wired the "overpayments" to the con artists
who have just taken them for a ride."

If the bank does accept the check and give you the money, the only way
to be safe is to hold the cash till the check actually does clear or
not clear. Which, assuming the bank doesn't spot it and refuse to cash
it, can take weeks.

I suppose one can actually make money on it by using the time it takes
to clear to invest it in something short-term and high return. But
most of those schemes are also illegal. :-)