Adventures on Craiglist

[aggienaut]

"Debra Smith":
Dear Seller,
I saw your advert/posting of Car on craislist.org, i will like to purchase the car, so before i can proceed in with the payment of the car i will like to know the present condition of the car. So Please get back to me immediately if we have a deal.
Best Regards.

Me:
You're responding to a posting regarding a ladder rack. Its present condition is excellent. Vehicle, however, is not included.

Please call us at (###) ###-#### if you are still interested...

"Debra Smith":
Hello,
Thanks for the prompt reply,I want to purchase the car and make your payment today,please send me your information such as [...] I will make your payment via Electronic Check(E-Check) ... [five more lines of bullshit about how her "e-check" will be in excess and I need to forward that amount to her "shipper"]

Me:
I just want to make sure you understand, the LADDER RACK does not come with several critical components of a "car" -- such as a chassis, axle, wheels, engine, etc etc.

Also, I hate to curb your enthusiam, but we can only accept payment by credit card. We cannot under any circumstances accept an "e-check." In fact, you might even say that, in our opinion, an "e-check" is less a legitimate form of payment than a LADDER RACK is a viable car (however, we still won't trade it for the e-check).

However, if you can pay by credit card, we would still love to sell the ladder rack to you.

Comments

[silent-vash.livejournal.com]

I presume there is some kind of method to report such scams?

Seriously, can people be that stupid?

..


Wait, yes they can.

[emo-snal.livejournal.com]

Yeah you can report them to abuse@craiglist.org, and abuse@ whereever their email address came from, and if you're feeling really feisty there are other places ... at first I reported these things, but I've gotten so many I've given up and now just entertain myself by sending them saucy responses. I know I've heard you aren't supposed to respond to them at all (because once you have their attention they may harass you), but I figure (A) it gives me some entertainment at work (B) their whole scamming operation is based on mass producing scamilicious emails and getting one bite out of every few thousand or so .. if I give them something they end up reading it'll slow them down significantly.

[silent-vash.livejournal.com]

Ones they end up reading and replying to, definitely wasting their time there.

[giania.livejournal.com]

I heard about this scam in conjuction with timeshare resales. People go to resell their timeshare via craigslist, ebay, etc, and get contacted like this. Cars as well if I recall. I guess a fair amount of people have fallen for it.

The buyer's check is obviously completely bogus. You deposit it, extract the "extra" and send along your item and the money. Neither of those are ever heard from again and when the fake check bounces, you're generally left with so many overages that the bank will shitcan your account and you'll end up with a black mark preventing you from getting a new checking account.

Dirty stuff.

offtop

[hypnoglyph.livejournal.com]

HI! =)

You added me to your friends. It was kindly and suddenly, thanks! =) But why?? I write in russian so! You read in russian? Wow!! Let's be friends!! =)
Pleased to meet you! =)

P.S. sorry fo my english

=)

[ex-elusivesh428.livejournal.com]

I recently had an experience like this while trying to find new homes for our ferrets before we move next week. Someone contacted me about cars, wanting to know their condition, etc when the post clearly said and showed ferrets!

[emo-snal.livejournal.com]

Aw ferrets! I wish it was legal to have ferrets in California! )=

[ex-elusivesh428.livejournal.com]

Wow, it's not legal to have them there? The lady who is taking 4 of our 6 just moved from Cali and apparently has had two for quite a while. :-O

ferrets

[emo-snal.livejournal.com]

Yeah I'm almost certain it is. Not that they exactly go busting down doors about it though. But it can be hard to get veterinary care for them I think due to the legal complications. And of course no pet stores and such will sell them here.