Craigslist scammer?

[Praxis]

Heh, well I just posted a car up on Craigslist and within 24 hours got someone asking if the car was still available.

I responded that, yes, it was, and almost immediately got this response:

Hello,
Thanks for your reply i got all your information about the vehicle and am ok with it, i will be making your payment today, i need your full name and address and your valid phone number to make the payment today through certified check will handle the shipment myself.i The check will get to you in 2-5 days time and when you recived the check you can then get the check cashed at your Bank i will wait for you to confirm and clear the check.The payment will be in excess as i will want you to contact my shipper with the excess fund for him to pickup the vehicle after you must have confirmed and cashed the check .i will wait for your bank to clear the Check so you can deduct your own money and send the excess fund to my shipper via money gram Money Transfer cos he needs the excess to pick up the car .You can IM on this ID -*********@yahoo.com or call me on ******* for more information.Thanks and God Bless,you can get the posting deleted from craiglist

This certainly sounds like a scam; I specify that my car's odometer is not working and offer either a discount or to get it fixed before the sale, the buyer doesn't even mention it. They don't ask to look at the car and want to mail a check.

I'm assuming this is a scam (can anyone confirm?). My question is, where does the scam come in? Is the point to steal the car and get the bank to pull the money back or something? I'm trying to see where they'd get money.

Also, why do scammers write like such idiots all the time?

[Master of Cards]

Heh, well I just posted a car up on Craigslist and within 24 hours got someone asking if the car was still available.

I responded that, yes, it was, and almost immediately got this response:


This certainly sounds like a scam; I specify that my car's odometer is not working and offer either a discount or to get it fixed before the sale, the buyer doesn't even mention it. They don't ask to look at the car and want to mail a check.

I'm assuming this is a scam (can anyone confirm?). My question is, where does the scam come in? Is the point to steal the car and get the bank to pull the money back or something? I'm trying to see where they'd get money.

Also, why do scammers write like such idiots all the time?

The Bank has to send the money within 3 days, it does not know if its a legit check till day 5. So the scammer has a forged check, picks up the car and then leaves with the car. 5 days later you're stuck with no car and the money is gone from the forged check.

[Darth Fanboy]

There is one scam where the buyer intentionally gives way too much money in the form of a check, then it is discovered he overpaied. When the excess money is returned to him, the payee finds out later that the check bounced anyway and so those extra funds should not have been repaid. This sounds similar.

[Praxis]

There is one scam where the buyer intentionally gives way too much money in the form of a check, then it is discovered he overpaied. When the excess money is returned to him, the payee finds out later that the check bounced anyway and so those extra funds should not have been repaid. This sounds similar.

That's gotta be the trick right there. They say in the email that they'll overpay and then I pay their shipper the extra money. Then the check'll bounce, and they'll collect all the money back; meaning they get the money I paid the shipper, and possibly a free car.


So, should I mess with him or tell him to bug off?

Only danger is that my phone number is posted in the Craigslist ad and I already corresponded before I knew it was a scam, so they have my real email (@ Gmail, not too personal I suppose) and real cell number if they want it.

[Hawkwings]

Just tell him that you're selling to to a close friend or a neighbor's kid.

[Lisa]

I'd deal with cash only or hold the cheque for 3 weeks before releasing. This is an obvious scam and you may want to get the authorities involved.

[brianeyci]

Scammers want marks to underestimate them, so they write dumb so people think they're stupid.

Isn't fucking up/resetting the odometer illegal? You got to have it working before it hits the road, right?

Shipping for a used car, sounds retarded: ask if he can just come and pick it up? If it is the scam, the scam looks like trying to get you to sell cheaper by making you pay for the shipping.

[Soontir C'boath]

Isn't shipping a vehicle crazy in costs to begin with? I'd only accept people who pick up only.

He did give a telephone number. I'd try reporting it to the police and see if they can trace it back.

[Praxis]

Isn't fucking up/resetting the odometer illegal? You got to have it working before it hits the road, right?.

Is it? I don't know. I've never opened it up; it just stopped working one day a few weeks ago. I haven't been driving it.

The whole dash stopped working (speedometer and odometer).

[Soontir C'boath]

The whole dash stopped working (speedometer and odometer).

Man, I gotta wonder if you're required to tow it instead as that seems pretty damn bad.

[Praxis]

The whole dash stopped working (speedometer and odometer).

Man, I gotta wonder if you're required to tow it instead as that seems pretty damn bad.

You mean I legally couldn't drive it to the mechanic? Weird, I would have thought my dad (retired DEA officer) would have mentioned it to me if it was THAT big a deal.

I'll be ordering some parts and replacing it. It's just the display that stopped working; the car still calculates the MPG so it must be reading the speed.

It's an old 86 Crown Victoria.

[Uraniun235]

It's possible to sell a car with a broken odometer in Oregon, you just have to note on the paperwork that the odometer is busted and the buyer signs off on it. My last car's odometer didn't work when I sold it.

That said, car laws are almost always a state issue - if you're concerned, check your local laws.

[Praxis]

I sent this:

Hello,
I appreciate your interest! I hope you'll take good care of the car. However, before any monetary exchange can take place, I'll need to sign the title over to you. I'll need your full name, address, and social security number, and I can draft up a contract and send it to you. Thanks!

I don't want to do something REALLY mean since the scammer has my phone number.

[Arthur_Tuxedo]

This is a variation on the classic lottery scam. We see it all the time in the bank. They send you a fraudulent money order, you are unlucky enough to deposit it with an inexperienced teller who can't spot a bad check or you deposit using the ATM, then you wire them a portion of the funds before the check has time to clear. A wire can't be recalled once sent and received, and the check comes back fraudulent shortly after, overdrawing your account by thousands of dollars which you now owe to the bank.

[brianeyci]

You want to know a funny thing?

Someone has tried this on me in an MMORPG. The basic scam is give someone more money than he asks for, making him think you're doing a favor for him, that you trust him. Then somehow end up on top by asking him for the money back, somehow. You can even do it without bouncing cheques, though it takes a gullible person.

It's too complicated to explain. But if money flows both ways in a sale, it reeks of scam. The first thing aspiring professional writers learn is never to pay vanity publishers to print books for them, since writing is such an art that the money should always flow to the author and not the other way around. Hell, it should be the first lesson you learn in grade school: don't pay the guy for pogs if he's asking for a IOU.