Fishy email from buyer (craigslist)

I posted some items for sale on Craigslist. Someone emailed me telling he is buying ALL of my items. I was happy at first, but when I inquired about how he is paying I got this email back:

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Hello,
thanks for your reply.i agree to pay the amount you want as final asking price.my mode of payment is Cashier Check, i am purchasing this item for my boss.give me the list of all the items you have available for sale including their prices/ more pics.my boss will include my commission/shipping fee in the payment and you must deduct the amount of your item and w/u the left fund.don’t worry your self about the shipment.i do have a shipping company that will handle pick the next day you received the payment.anyway below are the
questions i have for you.

1)Is the item in good condition?

2)Can you make sure you get the Cashier Check cash at your bank in one business day and send the left fund the same day?

3)Do you agree to deduct your item fees and send back the left fund as my commission and shipping fees the day you get the payment?

4)Do you understand that the shipping company will come and pick the item at your address the next day you receive the payment?

Answer my questions and let me know if you understand that the amount that
will be on the Cashier Check payment will be more than your item fees due
to my commission and shipping fees.i want you to close the advert right
away and i will add extra $20 in your payment for closing the advert
for me early.i want you to email me the address to send the Cashier Check
payment and the full name you want on the Cashier Check asap today so
that the payment can be mail out and you will receive it the next day..

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It sounds a bit fishy to me... do you think this is legit or is it a scam?

This is actually one of the Common Craigslist Scams. You were on the right track.

The common parts of this scam is as follows

They always want to buy everything but never seem to have read the ad.

Quote:

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give me the list of all the items you have available for sale including their prices/ more pics

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They always want you to remove the ad immediately (to remove evidence).

Quote:

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I want you to close the advert right away and i will add extra $20 in your payment for closing the advert for me early.

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They will state they will be using a Shipping Service or a Courier to pick up the Item (to get your full address and name without contact or identifying themselves).

Quote:

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don’t worry your self about the shipment.i do have a shipping company that will handle pick the next day you received the payment

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The only thing new I see in this one (new from the dozen I have received). Is that they want you to cash a Cashier's Check for them and Trusting you to send back some money. I've never used a Cashier's Check but I would assume there is some tracking (to get your info) or its a false check.

One of the best ways to Con people are to encourage them into a situation where they feel like they are in control. ("I'll send you the Check and Trust You to send money back.) This gains your trust and distracts you at the same time.

Definetly a scam.

They send you a cashiers check in excess to the amount they owe you. (they come up with some creative reason for this, in this case " boss will include my commission/shipping fee in the payment and you must deduct the amount of your item and w/u the left fund")

You take the check to the bank, the cashiers check seems legit and the bank accepts it and credits the funds to your account. you then wire the difference back to the scammers.

A few days later the the check bounces/turns out to be fake, and the bank deducts the funds from your account. You have now lost whatever sum of money you wired to the scammer (which coulve been hundreds or thousands of dollars)

This scam has been going on for a while and unfortunately lots of people fall victim to it every day. So good thing you checked.

yeah thats why its important for the scammer to make sure you wire him the difference the same day:

Quote:

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2)Can you make sure you get the Cashier Check cash at your bank in one business day and send the left fund the same day?

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he wants to get the money from you before the check turns out to be phony

Yes and once you've wired the money to him it is gone (it's not like a credit card where you can do a chargeback...)

See the warning from the Federal Trade Commission (FTC):

Quote:

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According to FTC officials, the scams work like this: Someone responds to your posting or ad, and offers to use a cashier’s check, personal check or corporate check to pay for the item you’re selling. At the last minute, the so-called buyer (or the buyer’s “agent”) comes up with a reason for writing the check for more than the purchase price, and asks you to wire back the difference after you deposit the check. You deposit the check and wire the funds back to the “buyers.” Later, the check bounces, leaving you liable for the entire amount.

The checks are counterfeit, says the FTC, but good enough to fool unsuspecting bank tellers.

Don’t accept a check for more than your selling price, no matter how tempting. Ask the buyer to write the check for the correct amount. If the buyer refuses to send the correct amount, return the check. Don’t send the merchandise.

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Check Overpayment Scams: Seller Beware

Lots of Informative and Great Posts in this thread. :)

Can we Sticky this one?

I also had a buyer asking me to remove craigslist post. That's like almost a sure sign that it is a scam.

I received an email from Craigslist supposedly, titled something like "craigslist important account update email" and had a whole story on how they are upgrading the systems and they need me to verify my name or password otherwise I would lose access to my account and all that nonsense.

I clicked on the link (probably though you should not click on these links in the first place who knows if theres spyware and malware and such there) and it took me to a page where there were fields for me to input username and password (and it looked like a real Craigslist page), the URL of the page was somehing like craigslist.updateaccount292323.com which was obviously fake.

I knew not to fall for it, but one wonders how many accounts they get using this trick, the fake craigslist login page can easily fool the unexperienced.

while on the subject of scams, there's the lottery one that tells you that you've won lotsa money in some lottery that you never participated in the first place... of course you have to pay some tax before they release you the "winnings" which you never see again after paying that tax...

Here is the latest lottery email I got. This one is kinda lame, why would Google's security department be running these lotteries....

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Subject: Security Code Number: GUK/4532345G.
From: GOOGLE SECURITY DEPARTMENT <mrs.verumlemkleith@googlemail.com>

Google Incorporation&#174;.
Belgrave House,
76 Buckingham Palace Road,
London SW1W 9TQ,
United Kingdom.
Notification Date: 24/10/2009.

GOOGLE WINNING NOTIFICATION.

We wish to congratulate you once again on this note, for being part of our lucky winners selected this year. This promotion was set-up to encourage the active use of the Google search engine and the Google ancillary services. Hence we do believe with your winning prize, you will continue to be active and patronage to this company. Google is now the world leading search engine worldwide, and in an effort to sure that it remains the most widely used search engine, an online e-mail balloting was carried out on the 22nd of October 2009 without your knowledge, it was officially released today been the 24th of October 2009. We wish to formally announced to you that your email address was attached to a lump sum of 350,000.00 {Three Hundred and Fifty Thousand Pounds Sterling's}.

We also wish to inform you that you have successfully passed the requirements, statutory obligations, verifications and our satisfactory report test conducted for all our online winners. A winning Cheque will be issued in your name by Google Promotion Award Team, and also a certificate of prize claims will be sent along side your winning Cheque.

These are your award details.
Security Code Number: GUK/4532345G.
Ticket No: GUK/699/33/2009
Winning Number: GUK/877/798/2009

Information's required from you are part of our precautionary measure to avoid double claiming and unwarranted abuse of this program. To claim your won prize, please contact our Foreign Transfer Manager DR WELCH GIBSON neatly filling the verification and fund release form below.
VERIFICATION AND FUNDS RELEASE FORM.
(1) Your Full Name.
(2) Your contact address.
(3) Your Nationality/Country.
(5) Sex.
(7) Age.
(6) Occupation
(4) Your Tel/Fax numbers.
(8) Ever won an online lottery?

Mode of Prize Remittance.
(1)Courier Delivery Of your Certified Winning Cheque Name and other Winning Documents safely to you.

You are advised to contact your Foreign Transfer Manager DR WELCH GIBSON with his private email details below to avoid unnecessary delay and complications:
***********************************************
FOREIGN CLAIMS MANAGER
DR. WELCH GIBSON
GOOGLE SECURITY DEPARTMENT (UK).
E-mail: drwelchgibson_validatingteam@live.co.uk
Call: : +44 703 599 4122
+44 703 599 4827
**********************************************
Subject: Security Code Number: GUK/4532345G.
From: mrs.verumlemkleith@googlemail.com

The Google Promotion Award Team has discovered a huge number of double claims due to winners informing close friends relatives and third parties about their winnings and also sharing their identification numbers. As a result of this, these friends try to claim the lottery on behalf of the real winners. The google promotion award committee has reached a decision from the headquarters at the United Kingdom that any double claim discovered by the Lottery Board will result to the disqualification of the winners lottery. So you are hereby strongly advised once more to keep your winnings strictly confidential until you claim your prize.

Congratulations from the Staffs & Members of the Google interactive Lottery Board Commission.

Yours Sincerely,
MRS. VERUMLEM KLEITH.
GOOGLE ZONAL CORDINATOR
LONDON,
UNITED KINGDOM.

Do you know if this is a scam? Got this email after emailing a seller on Craigslist about a good deal for an Audi. He claims to be US Airforce

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Hello,

Thank you for your interest in my car.This is a 2005 AUDI A6 3.2 QUATTRO AWD Sedan, Exterior Color Blue, Interior Color Beige, Engine 6 Cylinder Gasoline, Transmission Automatic, Mileage 63,000,clean title,fully equipped, MPG is very good: city MPG averages 23 and highway 27,VIN#: WAUDG74F45N063226.

Here you can find more pictures of the car:

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3519/...7e7871356a.jpg

(if the above link does not work copy and paste it into a new web browser window).

The car has been well taken care of, always kept in the garage.Flawless exterior/interior condition,no scratches and no dents.It has never been involved in an accident.The engine starts and drives like new and the paint looks great.It comes with US clear title which will be signed and notorized in the buyer's name.Have all keys and manuals.

I'm an US Air Force Major currently stationed in the United Kingdom.The car is here with me. It was bought in the US and shipped to Europe, but it was never permanently registered here, the car is still registered in the US.The car is for sale locally as well, but there are slim chances of this to happen. In order to be able to register this car here in the UK the buyer would have to pay very high import/custom taxes that will double the price. So I decided to sell the car back in the US.

The price is $4,600.00 including shipping from the UK to the US and delivery to your home address.

So if you decide to buy this car or need further information please get back to me as soon as possible.

Thank you
Maj. Scott Kramer

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Then when I asked for more details regarding shipment and payment I got this:

I will have the car shipped from UK by an US Air Force cargo plane so there won't be any additional shipping costs. Also I will arrange for a truck to transport the car to your home address or, if you like, you can pick it up from the nearest airport in your area. The shipping will take 6-8 days, depending on your location.Shipping will be door to door,to your home address,somebody must be home when the car arrives to sign for the reception.The car will arrive with all the papers and documents required for registration and the keys. The clear title and the bill of sale will be already signed by me.

The payment will be done through eBay.You will send the money to eBay and as soon as the payment is confirmed they will notify me to proceed with the shipping. I will ship the car, you will receive it and you will have 5 days for inspection, both the car and the paperwork and the option to accept or reject the car.The inspection time period will begin as soon as you sign for receiving the car at your requested address.During all this time eBay will hold the money into a trust account.So, this is not a blind transaction,you can see the car before decided to buy it.If you are satisfied with the car and decide to keep it you inform eBay about this and they will release the money to me. If the car is not as advertised and decide not to keep it eBay will refund you the money, no questions asked, and shipping back the car will be my concern. I think this is more than fair for the both of us.Please take in to consideration that I will get paid only after you receive the car and make sure everything is as agreed.

If you agree with these terms and you have the money, send me your full name and the address where you want the car to be delivered to and I will initiate the transaction with eBay. You will receive all the transaction details from them.

I will appreciate an answer as soon as possible.

Thank you
Scott

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Does this sound suspicious?

Yeah whenever they give you their life's story when they try to sell you something its a sure sign of a scam.

Plus Ebay is not in the business of serving as an Escrow company for your car...

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Originally Posted by klicker

Yeah whenever they give you their life's story when they try to sell you something its a sure sign of a scam.

Plus Ebay is not in the business of serving as an Escrow company for your car...

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Thanks, Thats what I thought