I use Craigslist all the time – usually it’s painless and I meet with the buyer in person and complete the transaction, but other times I get weird text messages from strangers who want to send me extra money in the form of a cashiers check to cover “shippers fees” or other ridiculous charges that you wouldn’t normally have to worry about. Whenever someone wants to pay for something with a cashiers check, you are are walking into a scam.
I ran into one of these scammers a few weeks ago when I was trying to sell a DJ Turntable, so I went along with it to see what would happen and I documented the whole process below to show people what really happens when scammers try to trick you on Craigslist. To most people, falling for something like this can be avoided due to the “too good to be true” principle, but for people who don’t use Craigslist that often or are generally too trusting of other people, consider this a guide to avoiding this type of scam in the future.
Note: Scams like this are illegal, although it is very unlikely the perpetrators will ever be caught because they usually originate overseas. These scams are usually violating multiple laws including Forgery, Mail + Wire Fraud, and Check Fraud, which is a felony in most states.
Before you read this story, you should keep in mind that any person who tries to use a cashiers check is usually scamming you, even if the check looks legit. You should never accept a cashiers check from someone on Craigslist. I’m going to re-word that: You should never accept anything other than cash when buying or selling items on Craigslist.
How the Craigslist Cashiers Check Scam Works
The Craigslist scam starts off simple enough with a text message that mentions the item and an introduction.
So immediately off the bat alarm bells should be going off because the person doesn’t even ask if the item is available, he is probably using a web script to go through each Craigslist listing and scrape the title of the post, then message the owner of the item in hopes of a response. Most people will ignore messages like this, but because I want to mess with him, I’ll follow along and even ask for $50 more on top of the original price. Of course he will give it to me.
Also notice how he states he’s an Army officer. This will be important to remember later. Craigslist scammers usually use personas of people who are in the military, don’t ask me why, maybe it adds another layer of trust, or maybe it fits the story of being overseas. (But we have to beg the question…why exactly is Richard, a supposed Army officer, trying to purchase a DJ Turntable? Oh well, let’s continue and see how this plays out.)
He asks for my shipping address, and I gladly provide it (You should never do this. By the way. But for the sake of the story I provided a fake name and an apartment address without a specific apartment number. Better safe than sorry. If you provided your information to the scammer, scroll down to the bottom of this article).
Notice the weird formatting of his messages, cutting off words at random places. That is because he’s probably using a free online VoIP phone like Google Voice, because the phone number he is using is easily replaceable and can be changed incase his number becomes associated with scams and blocked by telecom providers.
The tracking number is real. It does track the package. Richard asks me to take down the listing (probably because he doesn’t want to make a fool of himself and accidentally scrape the result again and message me asking the the same thing). Of course, I don’t take it down. Because I need to still sell it.
Lo and behold – a few days after Richard sends the message with the tracking number, the package arrives. The “From” address is real and it looks like a company that was probably used at random, but it’s not located in the same ZIP code that the package was sent from. At this point our buddy Richard has spent at least $5.25 to ship me the flat rate envelope. I sleep well at night knowing that I cause the scammer to part with his $5.
This is the check that was inside. The remitter and signature are different. The document does not have microprinting, and screams low quality. It also feels like regular printer paper but it does have the serrated edges that you usually find on checks, so at least it has that going for it. This is a classic case of a cashiers check scam, with a fake cashiers check to show for it.
At this point in time what people who have fallen for the scam do is take this to their bank and deposit it. The bank usually will not have a problem with it at all, the money will be available in your bank within the next few days, and you will send “Richard” the item that he paid for as well as the extra shipping money. About two weeks later you’ll get a message from the bank stating that the check you deposited was fraudulent, and now YOU are responsible for paying back the amount that you spent on Richards shipping agent, as well as anything else.
Notice, also, how Richard now is in the Marines, where earlier he said he was Army.
The Office of Comptroller of Currency sums this up real nicely:
The result of these scams is that the fraudulent check will be returned unpaid. The bank will then deduct the amount of the check from your account or otherwise seek repayment from you, and you will lose either the goods that you sold, the money that you sent to the third party, or both.
What if you fall victim to the cashiers check scam?
If you do find yourself a victim of scam like this, you’re really out of luck. Usually they are located overseas and mask their identity (Remember: Google Voice sets up a phone number for any area code you want, easily spoofing the caller into thinking that the text message comes from a local number.) You can try and file a complaint with the following locations if you really feel like you have a chance of recovering:
- Scams in general – Federal Trade Commission (FTC): by telephone at 1-877-FTC-HELP or file an electronic complaint via their Internet site at http://www.ftc.gov.
- Internet-based scams – Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Internet Fraud Complaint Center: http://www.ic3.gov.
- Mail-based scams – U.S. Postal Inspector Service: by telephone at 1-888-877-7644, by mail at U.S. Postal Inspection Service, Office of Inspector General, Operations Support Group, 222 S. Riverside Plaza, Suite 1250, Chicago, IL60606-6100 or by submitting a complaint online.
At this point in the story I took the check to the bank and reported it as fraud, but nothing will probably ever happen because, again, the scammer is likely overseas. I messed with Richard one last time just to see if he would send me another check, but I think he realized that he’d been duped and I was just trying to inconvenience him.
The rest is pretty boring, just him messaging me asking about the check and me responding that the bank wouldn’t take it. Eventually he never replied and I’ve since forgotten about it, but I thought you might find it interesting to see what happens when someone falls for a scam like this, luckily I haven’t had to learn the hard way and have heard of this scam before I started selling on Craigslist, but for those of you who are just hearing about this now, I have one last word of advice:
Never, ever, accept a cashiers check from someone on Craigslist!
What should I do if I gave a scammer my personal information?
There have been a few people emailing me asking what to do if they already gave the scammer their phone number/address/personal info. To be completely honest, you are most likely fine. The scammer has probably had this happen to them 100’s of times, so even though your info is out there, it’s very unlikely that they will try to do anything with it. If you gave the scammer information such as your social security number, your credit card or bank information, or anything that could be used to impersonate you, it’s recommended to read the warning signs published by the FTC regarding identity theft.
If this helped you, you might also want to read about other scams, or instead of selling your items on Craigslist, learn how to build an e-commerce website from scratch.
Thank you for this article, perfect timing and spot on!
Glad it helped!
I’m literally in the middle of talking to ” Bryan ” who is a prominent business man who wants to give me extra money for a really cheap bookcase that i jokingly put on a site just as a prank against my friend. I have to admit, I think almost everything is shady but I believed this dude at first! I quickly came to realize that its ridiculous to give me 50 extra bucks for literally nothing and knew it was a scam. He asked for my address so I gave him my daughters boyfriends name and his work address….. which is the sherrifs dept and he’s the deputy sherriff. I know nothing will be done but it made me laugh. Great article!
Thank you! Excellent. Just had this happen to me. But caught it first because of your article. Suck it, scammer.
I just posted some things on Craigslist and immediately I had four scammers, three of whom wanted to buy sight unseen with cashier’s checks. THANKS! The last one wanted to use Paypal without seeing the furniture, send extra for me to pay movers, which means they are my movers at that point. They deliver the stuff, buyer files claim with Paypal, who sides with buyers almost always, gets the money back and my expensive furniture as well! Not this time . . .
https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/35b1ff586dd4345ce512aaaf8472b0ab219f94f89fad075fb0728a8342661812.png I just received my cashier check for the same scam – I listed a used micro/over for $995 and received a check for $1,950. He said in several text, that his movers will come and pickup the item and I can just pay them with from the check. I told him I need to wait for the check to clear, and that I will be emailing him a purchase agreement and I need his business address and name.
Thanking you for taking the time to explain this
Bless you for this article. Seriously. Someone just offered me a cashier’s check for my car.
I Just recieved a check with a ridiculous amount of money. I just read what was going on and said thank you Jesus I didn’t deposit this amount. Wow thanks guys grateful for the info.
Thanks a lot for your sharing. I encountered the same thing 2 weeks ago when I posted a selling item Craglist. He sent me a check way much lager than the amount I asked for. Then I googled and realized it’s a scam. So I stop contacting him further and didnt deposit the check. But 2 weeks after, he sent me an email saying I stole the money from him asking me to pay him back, otherwise he’s trying to sue me. Wondering what should i do next?
I am selling some stuff as we are moving and came across a similar text message. Thought of searching “cragislist cashier check” and found this article. Thanks for writing it. I am sending them a link to this article in reply 🙂
Yep, this EXACT scenario just played out for me this week. Thanks for the heads up!
Yup.This just happened to me so I’m now i’m out $500 because i sent a ‘movers fee’ I still have my item but do know that the check i sent was cashed in kansas so maybe there’s a way of at least getting the guy’s identity
Thank you for the article. My dad called me tonight to tell me this exact story of an item he just sold. The cashier’s check was $1000 over the asking price and they said they mixed up because they had been stressed with their child in the hospital. Told my Dad he could deposit and then pay the mover’s with a check when they arrive for the item and keep an extra $50 for himself. Sounded like a good deal to him. I told him not to give them a check with his info on it. After I hung up, I googled “Craig’s List Cashiers Check Scam” and was bombarded by examples matching my dad’s scenario (I’ve never sold or bought on Craig’s List). I told my dad to contact the bank in the morning to explain to them the issue with the cashiers check he deposited. I am curious about the movers part since that would be a face to face interaction for the money.
Thank you very much. This page was very helpful. In fact, I got was selling my bike via craigslist, and then I got this “too good to be true” offer where the buyer will send me an overpriced check. Then almost at the same time I got contacted with another person interested in the bike, who offered to pay with a casher’s check although I told him it is already sold out, as if he were a deaf. Then I felt very suspicious and found this page through googling.
By the way, the terminology related to check is very confusing. The guy said hat he will pick up the item once the check is cleared in he bank, but internet search reveals that checks being cleared does not mean it is valid. Isn’t the word “cleared” means “proved to be valid”? This is a very confusing terminology indeed.
Thank you for this post. I just received a request like this and so I decided to google it. I was thinking it was a bad idea, but this totally made me feel better turning them down.
I have the same thing happening to me as we speak. I think I will play with them a little once the check arrives at my house. That is probably why instead of selling my used stuff I just donate it to Salvation Army. At least I know I am dealing with reputable people.
Ad says cash only, wants to pay via cashiers. I told him IN PERSON CASH ONLY; No reply.
Thanks for the informative article. Very helpful.
Thanks for this article. I just received a similar offer for a $20 glass tabletop I listed on Craigslist last night. My guy says he’s in the hospital rather than the military, but the rest is pretty much the same. I thought it seemed like a lot of trouble to go to for a 42″ square piece of glass with a chipped corner! I’m now going to reply with a link to this article. I hope he enjoys it!
Haha that’s a great idea to reply with the link! My scam situation was similar, with me wondering why someone would go to all this trouble for a used sofa with a broken support strap LOL. After mine started bullying me and asking why I would only take cash, I started investigating online and found this article. My resolution was to just text back with “Error Code VUDF delimiter_txt” – something weird to confuse him. He never replied. But next time I’m also going to reply with a link, or a government agency address!
You can almost tell by their grammar too. That and the fact they don’t negotiate at ALL. I just had the same deal with a bike i’m trying to sell for $800. I’m bummed.
Thanks for the explanation…I wondered how this scam worked…
One question though…if you gave him a fake name and address, how did you receive the package?
Thanks for the tips! Even though I was suspicious to begin with, especially with the poor grammar, this helped confirm my suspicions. Score one for the good guys! 🙂
I got one of these a few days ago and I thought is was very strange, but I was curious so I went along with it. Apparently there is a check en route to my house as we speak….. for the wrong amount of course. That what prompted me to Google this scam and it brought me to this story. The text messages here are almost identical to the ones I’ve been receiving. I’m trying to figure out how I will play the rest of this out. Where are these people typically from? I asked for his/her name and they said Yi Xu. I asked where they were from and they said Indiana, but the phone number has a Bay Area (NorCal) area code.
I had this exact thing happen to me, but I was selling a horse for $9,000.00 on DreamHorse.com which is a very reputable website in the horse business. It’s also fairly common that people will buy horses without seeing them if they are located in a different stare. I received a cashiers check for $15,950.00 which was to cover shipping. Luckily I figured out this was a scam before I shipped my very expensive horse off to who knows where and god knows who…..
I am getting a similar Cashiers cheque message .. I never knew this thing that if you get cash out of cashiers cheque, then also you could be liable to pay the bank.
HA! I read this a year or so ago, and I JUST had someone ask me if they can pay with a cashier’s check. Right when I saw the text, I immediately thought of this article
Thanks for the heads up!
I did the same, and went a step further. I gave them the address of the apartment complex. It’s fun seeing the “mover” show up and try to find the place.
Just got one those pitches for an item listed on craigs and was looking up his name to see if it was listed for scams. But their email “smells” who buys anything without seeing it first and then some gibberish about having their mover come pick it up after sending cashiers check and allowing time for check to clear or some blah blah. Tempting to give him the address for the police station so he’ll spend some money on postage. But I hit the delete button instead.
Great article. Thanks for your story and advice. My ad for an item for sale had expired in Sept and someone contacted me by phone 4 months later!?! I guess he had scraped Craig’s List but had only got around to my ad 4 months later?? Lazy scammer, I guess. Of course, “someone else” had told him about the ad, he didn’t seem real concerned with my description of the items and whether they were right for him, and he was “from Pittsburgh” and I’m two states away. Asked if he could send me a check and I could ship it. Told him “nope: cash only and in person” and that was it. So if you get a call months after your ad posted or expired, from a low-talking mumbling dolt, that’s my lazy scammer!
Great job explaining this scam. Thanks for taking the time to do so and hopefully save others a lot of heartache.
Thanks for writing this post. I posted an item to Craiglist tonight and got a suspicious text msg from a buyer almost right away. Found your blog article after the buyer asked to pay by cashier’s check and it seemed sketchy.
Just got an email like this, a son was trying to buy 2 KRK rokit 8’s for his fathers 65th birthday, I knew automatically this would be a scam lol
Posted something for sale yesterday. Immediately got two texts following this exact same format. Figuring it must be suspicious I googled “craigslist cashier check scam” and found this article. lol
I have lots of fun with them. I give them the name and office address of our district attorney to send the check to. After its delivered by tracking. I then text or email them saying i need another check. They ask why, I state that I cashed the check but stopped at the casino and lost all the money so I cant pay thier shipper. And attach a generic picture of a black jack table. Usually I get that thier brother is a sargent in the FBI.. Blah blah. Blah. I give them a few hours then start harassing them I need another check because my dealer has a big methamphetamine shipment coming and and we can make some money buy buying all of it at once.. They never respond back… Wonder why…
I tell them to address it to Yeti Snowden c/o Nessy Waterdragon 3 Candy Cane Lane North Pole, NP 38008. When they ask how much they should make the check for, you know the extra to cover my costs, I tell them 1000000.00. At this point I no longer get there automatic replies. I get a “real” scammer who’s genuinely surprised wanting to know if I misplaced the decimal, added extra zero. What I don’t understand is why some want to transfer via PayPal…..
Same thing is happening to me right now, but I’m glad i looked it up first before i deposited the check. Thanks a million for this information it was invaluable!!!
Thanks for posting! When Craigslist communications look like this, I’m usually suspect and just block the person. But I think my cousin just fell victim to a scam like this and unfortunately, she already cashed the check. It’s been a few weeks since, and she hasn’t heard anything from the scammer nor her bank. She was instructed to buy gift cards with the extra money and send the numbers to the movers, but she still has the cash from her asking price. What’s next? How long before her national bank asks for the fraudulent money back? I still don’t get how these scammers benefit…Where did that extra money come from that they probably have in the form of gift cards now?
The money is from her bank given as a loan to her until the check clears. If the check fails to clear, then the bank will want their money back. Once that happens the “extra money” is from her account. The end result of the scam is that you lose the item and the money spent on the gift cards.
fak scammers! pieces of sleeze filthbags.
The scam happens to me. I am so glad I read your article. THANK YOU.
Why would the bank have “no problem with the check“ if you as a non-bank employee can look at it and see that it’s bogus?
How did he get the fake cashiers check if he provided the scammer with an appartment address and no apartment number? Did he just pick it up in the leasing office?
Thank you for this post! You just saved me from falling victim to this scam. I’d just posted an item for sale on Craigslist yesterday afternoon. Late yesterday evening, I got a text that said, “I’m interested in the item you have posted on Craigslist. What is the lowest selling price?” I replied, “Which item? I’ve got a couple listed” (which was true). The person responded, “the last item you posted on Craigslist. what is the least selling price?”
It seemed weird to me that the person didn’t actually name the item, so I didn’t respond again until this morning. And before responding, I did more internet research about my item and discovered it was worth more than I was asking. After updating my Craigslist ad, I replied to the text, saying that I’d raised the price (and told them the amount). The person responded, “I’m good with the Price, let me know if a Certified Cashiers Check is ok, I’ll mail out the payment ASAP. So if my offer is acceptable with you kindly get back to me with Your :Full Name and Mailing Address I should mail the check to. After my check clears, my Mover will come and pick it up at your location. Thanks”.
That sounded even stranger to me, so I did a Google search about cashier’s checks and Craiglist, and luckily your blog post came up. Thank you!
Something like this is happening to me. I sell household items on a Facebook group that usually is limited to people in my county. I usually only accept cash, or credit card due to my smart phone’s ability to process cc payments.
Last week, I was contacted by someone who said they wanted to buy it, and said they could only communicate via email. Stupidly, I contacted via email. They said almost the exact same script, that they would pay $50 more for a $75 listing price. I also gave them my personal address (stupidly). They said they sent me the check. Well, as I was digging around, I discovered these were common frauds. I spoke with an attorney about what to do next. She told me not to give them the time of day; as long as I do not cash the check, I am not liable for anything.
I also called FedEx about stopping the check in transit. They told me on the three occasions I called that it had been flagged for account abuse and sent back to the sender. So, crisis averted.
But, I am a bit concerned since I gave out my personal address. Any chance it could be targeted?
I had this just happen to me from the app Offer Up, so be aware it happens other places besides Craigslist. Luckily for me, my bank placed a hold on the check for 7 business days and it came back as the acct was blocked/frozen. Only deal locally and with cash.
SAME HERE!! same exact thing. now i have to file a fraud report and i can never bank with my bank again. am i royally screwed? I honestly don’t know what to do… they gave me the address to make out the cashiers check to and i called the person out and now they arn’t replying…
I only accept cash or Zelle. A Zelle payment can’t be cancelled.
Awesome story. I am trying to sell my car and my ad is flooded with these types of scams. Sad!
I just had someone contact me with this exact scam from my Craigslist post. I’m glad I googled it first. I just told them “No Thanks”. Thanks for the article!!
Thank you. I’m selling 3 items on CraigsList and 2 of the 3 buyers wanted to send me cashier checks. Thank you again.
So thankful for this article. I just had the same scam pulled on me. I honestly believed the first guy because he said he wouldn’t have his shippers come until the check clears. Then today someone texted me with basically the same proposition so it obviously seemed weird. I googled and found this article.
What I’m wondering now is that I gave the first person that texted me my full name and real address…. What am I at risk for having done this? Does anyone know?
Wow, what a helpful article. I posted a listing for an antique table yesterday and within 12 hours received 6 different inquiries all offering to pay full asking price + “extra” with a bank or certified check. Wish craigs list would offer more of a buyer and seller verification process to avoid this scam. Thank you for posting.
We just had the same scam pulled on us for a $600 swing set. We didn’t realize it was a scam and gave the guy our name and address. We told him we would hold the swing set for only 3 days and if the check didn’t arrive before then we would sell it to another buyer (we had other interested parties through facebook marketplace). We got a cash offer from someone local a day before the deadline we set and texted the guy to see if he had sent the check. He didn’t answer until the next day and only with “yes”. The next day was the deadline and the check hadn’t arrived so we texted the guy back and told him the swingset was no longer available and that we would be returning the check when it arrived. He tried his best to get us to cash it anyhow. He wanted us to find another swingset for him and purchase it. Then he tried to get us to cash it and he’d tell us where to send the money. I finally just answered with NO!. The check came today (5 days past the deadline). It is a real check, not a cashier’s check. The check is from a company called S. Conley Sales, Inc. in Montana. The check was for the amount of $2750.00. We were already suspicious and the amount of the check and the fact it was from a company confirmed our suspicions. I looked up the company online and we called to let them know about the check and were informed that they had received over 400 calls from people who had received checks from them related to Craigslist scams. These scammers are unbelievable! I’m not sure how he got a check from that company but it looks like a real check. The final text I sent to the scammer was “Nice try you scamming mother f*cker!”
accept wire transfer or pay pal only that way your money is in your hands before anything else.
Same response for my craigslist item. Asked them for cash & to exchange at police dept and of course they did not respond back.
I got the same thing yesterday but it was (a doctor) that works to much to come see it. So I looked up eBay scans and saw this. Thanks
Hi all. Yep this happened to me BUT, I could smell the BS from the off. So I dragged him along as much as I could, I called everyone that could have been involved including the company the check was drawn on, the mail center that handled the check, ect… also the mail center has been receiving loads of the same type of envolope with these checks in them as return to sender. after about 3 days of draggig him along, I finally dropped the bomb on the S.O.B. it was kinda fun, coming up with excuses why I haven’t sent him the money yet. never gave my real info thou. Used a P.O. box I have. The only real thing he has is my cell # but thats ok. Just blocked all his #’s. https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/44266b4025095469aed9ed41e77d5c1de537ff67e1a3fe18b225bb013f9b27bf.png https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/430930973654d4e0cc35c87c17fa65ccd5bfe03d93f7d287951ff7f6d5b0499e.png https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/3ab09a23f2a3b8790937dbfe354962e75156bca4ce8e92733595a54f7dfde6cb.png https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/e76ec0d5741cfa2ea09fa4af016e96eea851e97ab0934a3c13900af776d05d00.png https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/d049db178eb72cf2161b7ee2375c861699883e2eabb15fa5e0bc6716bf92f291.png https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/4c3a3402deadb026800b26a148cfce95f874d5fc9303f5288294e35fd6e372fc.png https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/9a4a6c8a8638c57aa48aa91e25e34b41313cc6e4e1a13d958c15ca2233194104.png https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/caadf561e98c58ac791c819afd4d439717357479b984f304c5c1bcb9806eb6aa.png https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/6e5630d878dde265da22810b826197e265ed9d84bc5bfe5974902acdd3304a7a.png https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/b581e968bb2c508075b29fad429293bc87c284189a6211fbd471e28f2b4264e7.png https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/d54c8093919262d5b5e3e67833625dd0ce3516f447c7bc9aeacb24f03509706e.png https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/99cd53ee440f2d360e13343f5e71482ff0859091050654b55bc0ed4f4d6666ce.png https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/653a4b6082b4c46cab002eef0ea69d33f0bbd9bd81ac901318b4d42a301e81c5.png https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/84bc5d2014dbaf274d98924c1025772cfe631429a01ca31a51788b13b1131430.png https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/c78c4325c634fb158ca47e77dd09906bb6cb533f10fa6d7291f79a54015b91bf.png https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/265fe7b8a55c94ae32333122576227442a0fffd43fb90ef77985104c27218533.png https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/70d4b9c9b0297eafb59ab6080cc7eb49282e85df7c000c63c2ff002786c61a59.png https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/8aa3bf3de75f5f98aaf7dfad05474c8bd57134e546cf994e5794c3af6a2690d1.png https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/5b44005fbf15667aa04b65b112a5708c64320d3f71a81de805922fdcd5a8fcdb.png https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/e4c545f9ad33e581260a282e45715f9fd09880b5c0df543e0a9b8230992dc39f.png https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/d340a2f1bfe2e2fb9fdaacb3e533d43c97fc52c0ed5648b5e85e2a81c6eccebe.png https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/993bb7a4aa06ee38178fa1335d77284a7612b59871631e2bc1f4d25557a5551b.png I’ll post pix of the convo below.
They always pay you what you ask and usually more and it’s always the same story. For instance this just came in on my ad. I am not in town at the moment but can’t miss this deal. I am thinking I could mail a cheque and have my movers come pick up once cheque clears. The rest of this if I agree goes along the lines of him throwing extra money at you and being extra polite but when I press them about not even seeing the item they act like they trust me and take my word it is worth what I say. Theses guy would be funny if there weren’t so many of them. Hard to find a good buyer sometimes.
Thanks. New to Craigs list I just posted a chair and received a text within hours, Almost identical– consider sold, will send bank check and have movers pick up. Don’t know what to respond with if at all. Just ignore?
Happening to me now!! “Old lady” interested in my bath tub, she’s sending somebody to pick it up because she also bought a few other things in my area. When I asked her to call me because I had questions about the shipping fee (it wasn’t clear whether I would have had to pay for it) she said she’s deaf!! 😀 I said my parents are both deaf so I know sign language very well and we can have a videochat. Let’s see how long this last. THANKS FOR YOUR POST!!!
oh god, i just gave my address. And than I felt weird about it. So this person has my real address now and is texting me. Should I just block his number ?
Hello, I just had this
happened to my husband but in a different way. My husband owns a construction
company and the scammer e-mailed him and asked him to please give him an
estimate on a house paint from the outside. So, everything seemed normal, he went out and looked at the house, the house was
vacant but he still did the estimate. He sent the estimate to the scammer and
this is what the scammer replied.
“Hello,
Thank you for getting
back to me,I am okay with the total
estimate cost.. I’m ready to proceed with this.I would need a little favor from
your company.Because am just presently recuperating from the diagnosis of lung
Cancer and i still go to the hospital for check up. As stated that i’m out of
town and i just recently bought this home and i would like my house repainted
before i could relocate and move in with my family once completed. I am having
problem balancing the former owner of the house. I only paid part of the
payment and due to the fact that he doesn’t have the facility to accept credit
card for payment, then i decided that you would be able to help me out, I will
really appreciate it if you could do a perfect job for me regarding my house
repaint
I will also like you
to do me a favor due to my present condition for now. The initial owner of the
house do not have access to credit card facility that is why i want you to
handle everything for me, I’m putting my trust in you as a Good Christian and I know also that you’re
very sincere and trustworthy person.I will be mailing check
to you of $9,000 and you will deduct the sum of $1,000 deposit of your service and wire the
remaining $8,000 to the former owner of the property who sold the house to me
as this is the balance payment for the purchase of my home . Once the former
owner have the $8,000 he will make the keys available to you. Balance of the
work would be paid once you have the job completed.
Thank you and hope to
read back from you soon.
Joe Williams”
Why shouldn’t I be responsible when a bank cashes it then later says its bad
How could the bank cash the check if even you can call the bank issue in it and find out it’s fake in a few seconds. You’d think the bank can verify this better than You on a damn computer or something. Definitely something fishy about how brazen these scammers are. Almost like theyre not afraid of getting caught. How easy would it be to catch them? Just follow the movers to Their destination with fake items. If movers are in on it bust them too. Makes you wonder for sure. Who all is actually in on the scams.
They aren’t afraid to “get caught” because they’re operating outside the jurisdiction of the US. The shippers are paid by the victim and they are simply hired to ship something to an address. It’s what they do, and they are essentially hired by the victim. They perform a service and get paid, as far as they know it’s legit, most of the time.
The check is made out to you not the bank. It’s your responsibility to know who you are dealing with. The bank is only acting as your agent to help you collect the money, not taking over your responsibility for the party you are dealing with. Yes, they should be able to move faster but so should you, see earlier note.
I am so thankful for this web site. You explained it very well. The difference in my case is that I was selling tickets to a hot sporting event. I new the purchaser (scammer) needed the tickets in a few days. He originally said I would have plenty of time to verify the check but he kept delaying up to the last minute when he knew I would have to send them immediately. he said he would send a friend to pick the tickets up, ha! I never quite figured out how I was to send him money and for what. Guess he would surprise me with that.
The amount on the check, written in words, in incorrect.
i’ve done this many times but have provided fake addresses for them to send the check to. usually apartment buildings without providing an apartment number. after a few days, of back and forth, i inform them that i sent their check to the local fbi field office and that i hope they will enjoy their jail cell. the go crazy. they send me emails cursing at me. seems they do not like having their time wasted.
So this just happened to me on Let It Go a few hours ago. I was selling an expensive jewelry set and he ‘had no issue with the price’ but wanted to send cashiers check because he ‘just brought items from a nearby church’ and couldn’t do PayPal. I didn’t feel comfortable giving my address so I looked online for alternatives and found this article. THANKS A MILLION! I would have been a victim.
So i was scammed like this also and i found it was a fraud then the guy textedme saying he would contact the cia and fbi and im like cia wtf cause cia is li,e for the president so im like hmmmmmm probably some indian and just ignored/blocked his number.
Same thing happened to me with a couple other nuances … these folks tend to user burners for their texting with a change in their phone number mid-stream in my case … the check arrived in a priority envelope – just like the one depicted in this article! – drawn on a [bogus] MO bank with a bogus routing number for a company located in CO … the envelope was mailed from a company in GA. I was suspicious from the beginning with the ‘cashier check/mover’ story but was curious to see how it would play out … so, played along just for grins 😉
Best points of advice from this post are [in order] … #1) ALWAYS apply the “too good to be true” test in transactions with with people you don’t know [and perhaps those you do know as well] … #2) NEVER engage an offer to pay with a cashier check [unless for entertainment value and to have these scumbags waste their time and money]
Happen to me two days ago- of course I was not born yesterday and scam them right back!! hahaha I told her I was interest and that I need it the money as soon as possible to please overnight it lol lol it was funny. and they did of course!! i’m here laughing at them.lol
I got the exact same scam, by the numbers as you laid it out. For a $400 collectible, I eventually got a check for over FOUR TIMES that amount. He “would have loved to come over to check condition but i am currently not in town. My Movers (sic) will come over to pick up.” I texted back that I only take PayPal or cash, and he asked, “kindly get back to me with your full name and address where you want me to mail out the payment”. I responded with my address and said again that I’d only accept PayPal and that I’d set it aside for him after he paid me with PayPal. “ok… take the item off from craigslist and considered its (sic) sold to me”. I said, “I sure will, as soon as I get confirmation of your payment, which will show up immediately if you follow the link and use PayPal–I’ll get the money and you’ll get a secure form of payment and you’ll even get a receipt.” (I knew it was a scam, but wanted to see how it played out.) He thanked me for the address details and said he’d be sending my payment alongside with the mover’s payment and that “They will be coming for the pickup at your location or a public place. You deduct yours and send the excess funds to mover for the picking of the item. I hope we can trust each other .Good doing business with you. (sic)” I explained that he could just click my PayPal link and that “the rest is easier than anything else, I’ll get payment immediately and then I’ll set aside the (collectible) for you and take it off of craigslist. You’ll even get a receipt for your payment.” He responded, “i don’t have a paypal account okay (sic)” I told him he didn’t need one, and explained how PayPal worked. 10 days later I got another text, “Your item* was delivered in or at the mailbox at 3:59 PM on September 27, 2017 in [my city, state, and zip code]. “Kindly take to your bank and have it deposited notice funds will be available within a couples (sic) of hours and get back to me once you have the funds available okay” Then I texted back, “No” and that it was a stolen check and I wouldn’t be depositing it. Just like yours, the check was from one state and the zip code on the priority mail envelope was from another. He protested and tried to explain the movers fee–but I told him it was a scam and I wouldn’t have anything more to do with it. The moving company in NY shows up–Divine Moving and Storage–but they’re located at 854 3rd ave, not 54 3rd ave as the small return address says. The check says World Finance Corporation (TN) in blue–but also says Wells Fargo N.A. in Red–and has 2 different check numbers. There are watermarks and security features, and in the blue ink on the top, it reads, “The face of this document has a colored background on white paper” and on the bottom in blue ink, it reads, “The back of this document contains check security watermark and coin reactive ink.” When I rubbed the coin watermark with a coin, a key indeed showed up, and on the back, there is a list of security features, so it’s most likely a stolen (but real enough) check, but I’m not dumb enough to cash it. Another thing that happens is that someone will text me to email “my wife” at such and such email address if it’s still available, or _two_ email addresses “if ur collectible on CL still up for sale. Thanks.” This is an SMS phishing scam, as the number the text came from shows up as “390-1” That’s a few too few numerals for a real number. DON’T respond. Unfortunately, all too often, people don’t check to see if it’s a scam until they’ve already made the mistake. There are many scammers out there that are heartless, unfeeling animals that prey on the elderly and the unwary. Always, always demand cash. *Why is he calling the check an “item”? Thankfully, people that decide to scam for a living aren’t very bright, and the mistakes are _usually_ easy enough to spot.
Thank you for this article! i received the same scam almost verbatim what you have shown! My only concern is that before i realized it was a scam i sent my address and name, should i be concerned?
I just did the same thing. And now I am worried. I see your post is from 5 months ago. Is there any follow up ?
I want to thank u for writing this. I was a day away from being scammed!!!
I have a bunch of these checks, I have a collection going! LOL – just to mess with these scums. I always text them back that I got the check, (I have a PO BOX, so I feel kind of safe doing this), but that I am really poor with small children and if the check bounces my children will starve to death. I always get the “It’s a good check, I do not rip people off”! I also get a lot of “God Bless YOU” LOL
I am hoping they are out the postage fee’s, but I am starting to think they have a way around that also.
Hey thank you so much for this article. I was trying to sell a bedroom suit and they told me if was going to be a birthday present for their daughter but they were out of town on business for a month. But they would send me a cashiers check and pay a little something extra just for holding it for them until I receive it. Then they would call a moving company to pick up the furniture after I receive the check. I knew this was all fishy, glad you confirmed this for me.
Thank you for writing this! Just got the same thing – sounded too good to be true. I think he expected me to put a 70’s Gravely walk-behind tractor in the USPS. 🙂
I fell for it, too And only smartened up after the fact, I gave my name and address and would love to know if I should worry about it or not. I get the feeling that I shouldn’t because it says they are likely overseas and I doubt they would keep text records containing the address since they have to constantly change numbers. It’s just kinda funny because my scammer’s texts match up almost perfectly with the talk of movers, being an army whatever, and texting when they feel you’ve taken too long in deciding to make the deal. My scammer tried to get buddy buddy with me, too but their sentence structure was so off. Their Facebook page was beyond fake and empty. I really should’ve known better.
Hello, Thank you so much, your post was so helpful. We are about to fall for a similar scam.
This is funny, because I just got a scammer that wants to buy my guinea pigs. He was saying how after I receive the check, I can send the item to him. For one, it is two guinea pigs. For two, they are not an item, they are animals. He even said he would give me an extra $50, to hold them for a little while. When I first saw this email, I knew it had to be fake. So I looked it up and found this, and was glad I did. Now, I can make them lose money, and I get to have some fun. 🙂
gerbils and hamsters and pigs, oh my!
Here I am telling people I owe that two people are interested in my series of paintings. Now I have to tell them, I gotta keep looking for buyers. What a WASTE OF TIME. Gets me so mad. Scammers have no respect for people trying to actually make some things happen.
I just fell for this. Fortunately, it seemed like an obvious scam when I received a cashiers check for $1200 over so I didn’t go any further. It is satisfying that the scammer is out the priority mail fee. I am concerned because I gave my address. Anyone have advice on what I should do to protect myself.
So what will happen if you actually did become a scam victim and did give name and address. What to expect and how to protect yourself from the conciseness? Thanks
Shredded check and notified authorities.
Thank you so much for posting this. I am selling a motorized wheelchair and the person said hi I’m interested in this and would like to purchase it. I replied that’s great I said I want 900 but if you would like to negotiate I will consider reasonable offers. He replied no the price is fine with me. That gave me a red flag. I mean someone who doesn’t want to negotiate a lower price when the seller is offering it? I thought I know I heard of things on Craigslist and something about false cashier’s check but I wasn’t sure cuz I don’t use Craigslist a lot. And my husband is completely a novice when it comes to Craigslist so he said tell him yeah. We were at a gathering so I just said well we’ll talk later but I did tell this person I think it’s name is Keith that yeah I’ll take a cashier’s check. But right after I did that there was something in the pit of my stomach and I looked up Craigslist and cashiers check scammers and found your story and even though my story isn’t exactly like yours I feel my story still sounds fishy. So I’m going to write him back that my husband said no cashier’s check cash only on delivery. And if he doesn’t like it too bad. It’s so crazy how people can be so evil and so selfish. I don’t mean to sound all religious but this screams that we are living in some serious sleep bad times where people would be lovers of money rather than lovers of God. So so long KEYT I may give him a friend’s PO box see if he sends it I don’t know but I am going to ask for cash. See what he tries to pull. Again thank you thank you thank you for your story and thank you all for your comments because it reinforced that gut feeling that this was not right. You all have a wonderful evening or day wherever you may be in the world.
I know sometimes it appears that things are getting worse, but really this page is full of people who DIDN”T get ripped off. Even 20 years ago these scammers might have gotten away with it, and there was no internet to help you. Things appear worse now because the information flows easier, but that is an illusion. It is just like the News; crime seems to be going up because the News is on 24 hours a day, but if you look at the statistics, crime is actually at an all time low. The world is getting better, but if a News program said that, no-one would watch.
Just got an offer for my item, the cashier check made me suspicious and thanks to the Internet I found your post, so thank you.
Should I accept a check from an individual who wants to buy an item I posted on Craigslist? He says he’s out of town and wants to mail it to me.
NO! Never accept checks over Craigslist of any kind! ONLY cash! Hope this helps!
Should I accept a check from someone who wants to buy an item I posted on Craigslist? Says he’s out of town, wants my name and address so he can send me a check.
Never! And never agree to transferring funds by Western Union…I got royally screwed once by someone on Craigslist this way!
I just listed something after a year of not listing. The same scam was attempted on me, over a year ago. I never fell for it. These assholes make me sick!
4 cashiers check scammers in the first 2 hours of post. The syntax is a dead giveaway, usage of the word ‘kindly’ cracks me up every time.
I tell them it’s either Western Union or cash and I only meet in a public place
. Otherwise, no deal. It makes them go away real quick. Also, never ever give out your personal information to anyone on the internet. A person would have to give out their personal info to receive a check which is a big mistake. Than they can obtain your name, address, phone number etc. I learned in the past never trust anyone on the internet ever.
Sandra Rivas wants to send Cashiers for $50 more than asking & have her shipper pick it up. Really nice try Sandra & why do you want this Truck Tool box I advertise on Craigslist…. Thanks for the article guys….saved me a hastle!
I got two scams simultaneously for the same object I was trying to sell. At first I thought I would accept the check, then looked online for how long it takes a check to really, really clear and it is 30 days, so I told both of these morons that I would accept cash only and then one of them started trying to buddy, buddy me up saying, “Good morning, how was ur night?” How inappropriate is that? And bad spelling to boot. It’s none of your d*** business how my night was you freak. Dang thieves wasting my time.
Thank you Jon. I just sent one such person a ‘hit the road’ text. My item hadn’t been on Craigslist 5 minutes. It just didn’t sound right. I didn’t have near as many ‘clues’ as you provided in this article. Just gut feelings. People should learn to trust that feeling. There is always another buyer out there!! ..boy was he MAD!!! 🙂
Same story here. . . I told them I would gladly accept their offer of an overpaid check. They wanted my address, I told them I’d be more than happy to continue the transaction, but I needed a driver’s license number matching the check to instantly verify through the Federal Bureau of International Banking (LOL–an agency I made up) to protect THEM from fraudulent transactions. They returned a text that used the foulest language ever heard, ending it by threatening to bomb my house and kill my children. I kid you not. . . in broken english. I let them know that Homeland Security had been notified because of possible terrorist activity from the get-go and was tracking all communications.
This just happened to me. At first I agreed to accept the check, then he texted the check was made for the wrong amount can you send the difference. I’m thinking ok, I had that mistake.
Then google and found your posting.
I sent another text and said no way!
What happens if they send a check… They have my address, I feeling very nervous…
I feel like such a fool, who use cashier’s checks!!!
Thank you for doing this! My husband got one of these and I didn’t feel comfortable. Your article helped!!
Just received a cashiers check for $1940.00 from a Brent Grisham. I also received one about 2 months ago from someone else. I too feel like I’m contributing to they’re demise by at least costing them the postage and handling.
I don’t understand what the scammer
will get from it? Check will not be cleared and you will not ship him your item. What he gets from it???
You didn’t read the article carefully. The gist is this:
You cash the check at your bank, and they accept it. It’ll clear and the money is now in your account. You think everything is good and send the scammer the item.
A week or two later your bank realizes the check bad and seeks to get their money back. You lose the money because you’re on the hook for cashing a bad check, and the scammer got your item for little more than the cost of mailing you a fake check.
ok, thank you… I still think that there is something else to it… I was selling old car on Craiglist, wanted just $500… yes, I received few text messages out of area who exactly were asking for my info to send me check… but did they expect me to mail them the car???
Bless you for this article! I “sold” something for $300 and got a cashiers check for $1750! I’m afraid I would have been one of the gullible ones if I hadn’t googled and found you.
I’m not very happy that they have all my contact info. Is there anything I need to do to protect myself?
Is the bank in on this scam or what? How can they not verify a fraudulent cashiers check? They got supercomputers.
also I’m seeing this has been going on for years how the fuck did these people never get caught? Catching them would be as easy as 1 2 3 follow the movers. Great police work by our aa attorney general’s.
Usually the scammer sends you more money than you asked for. So, you want $100, and he sends $500. He tells you he made an error, and to cash the check and send him $400 back from the proceeds of the check. You do that, and because your account has enough funds (outside of his cashed check) the bank sends out a good check. His “mover” or person who is supposed to contact you to pick up your item never calls. A week later he has cashed your check and now has real money. Your bank calls you and tells you the original check was bad and they’ve deducted the amount from your real money to cover it. Cashiers checks don’t clear instantly. People think they clear instantly because the bank gives you near instant credit, but they still have to send through the Federal Reserve system and collect. Even with a cashiers check this can take a week or longer depending on who it is drawn on. You just sent him $500 of good funds. That’s what he gets.
This makes more sense. Thank you for explaining it.
Almost word for word I got the same inquiry on a Craigslist camera post I put up. Even the wording of having a “mover.” Something didn’t feel right so I did research and came across this. Thank you!
I just told a guy I would accept his cashiers check on a selling app. He asked for my name address and phone number for the check so I sent it and he hasn’t responded. Now I don’t want to do this because I’m wary but can he still scam me in some way with the info he already has now?
Wow this helped me before i turned into the big elephant in the room wow id get supposedly 900 and i have to deduct 300 for myself and make the payments to walmart keep reciepts 2 wow it seemed so legit ive been fooled its a horrible thing to do to people seriously im so happy my grandmother still has custodial lock on my account i love her for this i dont like making any fraudulent federal agreements online .
Wow! Thanks so much for this info! 12 hours after posting, I received a text from 775-470-6344 asking about my Craigslist item – their text read exactly the same as my ad. Wants to send a cashiers check. Their area code is for Nevada, I’m in Virginia. My ad states “Cash only”.
Again, thank you!
Yes, just wanted to join in the fun as I just got the same scam attempting to sell a set of used snow tires. I was close to falling for it as I haven’t been on Craigslist for so long and the text came about 10 minutes after I posted so I was thinking, “oh wow, I’m going to be able to sell these tires real quick.” The text came from 424 area code and over time, things just smelled fishy and not right. Cashiers check, third party, everything listed in this comment thread they were throwing at me. I then pulled back after I realized what was happening and it was just “too good to be true” and sounded a bit too complicated. Very happy to have found this thread. Thanks for putting it together and adding to it.
Hey you’re welcome! Glad it helped!
anyone gotten a text about buying items from a 424-284-xxxx number?
Yep…got the same exact deal on my phone — 3 people popped up at almost the exact same time….within 3-5 minutes after the post! None of them had a local area code (I know that with people moving around now this is not a “dead giveaway”, but it seemed off). They all wanted me to respond to their “Private email”….however, I started texting a conversation with one of them, and sure enough, they started with the cashier’s check thing. That’s when I went to the internet and found your article…thanks so much! I changed the ad to “local” and “cash only”. I texted all of them back with that information, and have heard nothing else from them!
https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/9af1f8d7a899681958a70597922cfb3ff55108bb74948c87db5eded27db45a54.jpg https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/3f84a15089c5286e163ef6274fda5d4126d282fb0f191f92ab9b787c5301c8a3.jpg
Am in the middle of same scam over at VarageSale and have the bad check here. Waiting for Scammer to give me an address to send the “movers funds to then I’ll play dumb and string the idiot along for a little while before going to the FBI or post office with the bad check. I’ve seen this same scam before while selling my wife’s painting online.
Well done! Waste their money 🙂
I am glad I found this post. My wife and I recently had a death in the family and we are now in the process of trying to sell some of the items we inherited. We just don’t have the room. I have been using Craigslist to post them and sure enough I have received several test messages asking if they can send me a cashiers check for the items.
After a few google searches, I cam across this post.
My scammer was a little more savvy and talked me down on the price. Hadn’t seen this article but ended up figuring it out. When he asked me to send the receipt to his cell, I sent him a picture of my bare ass. He called me a liar and I told him I had contacted the police and we would let them decide who was lying. Never heard back.
Thanks so much. Just had a similar situation. At first I said ok to cashier’s check, but something felt off. I searched for similar situations and came up with your post. I just messaged back that I can only accept cash at the time of pickup and will not hold. I’m guessing I won’t hear from them again. I really appreciate you sharing your story!
Just happened to us to the “T”. We called the bank and they said it looked legitimate but we were still skeptical so we googled and your post came up. Thanks for your help!
Help! I’m concerned. This happene
d to me last night and though it felt fishy, I didn’t think I’d be at risk because he said he would send a mover, so I wouldn’t have to ship anything or pay anyone. So, in my exhausted stupor, I sent my address.
I’m worried now that someone will show up at my home. I have already emailed him to confront him, told him that the address I sent was fake, and that I was reporting his account. But will he send a mover to my address? What can happen? What have I done?!
They WON’T send any “mover”. They just want you to send “someone” some money for the so-called “mover” so PLEASE do not give them any money of any kind and tear up the “cashiers check” they will send you or have your bank VERIFY it but DON’T DEPOSIT IT!!! No mover will ever show up at your door or anybody else’s door!!!!
This exact thing just happened to me. It seemed sketchy that he didnt ask a single question about what I was selling and the phone number had an area code no where near me. So I searched google and came accross this- Thank you! The texts he sent are below
_________________________________
Thanks, lets consider the deal sealed. I will be using the services of a mover who will come on my behalf, to check condition and pick up. I will send a Cashier Check to cover the cost. Do provide full name to be written on check, full address,it will be required in order to issue and mail out check. Please delete the add from the site. Pick up will be made after the check has cleared. -Richard
Just got this one:
“Would you accept mailing you a Cashiers Check and wait till it clears off your bank before pickup commence?”
After reading this thread now I know that I can mess with them and cost them time and shipping costs.
Clearly these scams are working on a certain percent of the population which is disappointing.
THANK YOU for saving us from this scam! Your article was ‘spot on’ with what was happening to us! We are messing with our scammer right now. He is persistent to keep asking us to get that check deposited. Thanks so much!!!
You’re welcome! Glad to hear this helped!
It’s totally a scam that’s exactly what they tell you, they will give you extra money so you pay for shipping cost or an agent that just happened to me and the over payment me so I had to pay the agent $750 and sent a moneygram which if you’re trying to catch a scam if you send money thru moneygram is the worst company to deal with. I didn’t know Cashier’s check in your bank will clear the next day and then find out the fake check and fraud after you sent products, money or even both. The bank Chase couldn’t even verify another Chase Cashier’s check they noticed it’s fake after 7 business days. Please be very careful they stole me 750 dollars. I search in Google the phone number but no spam comments because they probably changed it. I filed a claim with my bank and a police report but the worst part is that my bank froze my account and they think I’m part of the fraud
When you get the cashier’s check, just call the bank at their real number that you have looked up on the internet, give them the check number, the amount, the date, and the remitter, and ask them if they issued it. If not, you can have fun with the scammer feeling very good about it. If they did issue it, the check is valid since the bank won’t issue one until they have the funds in their hands, and it can only be cancelled by returning the voided check
Thank you for your informative article! This just happened to me on Offer Up.
Thank you for this. It sounded fishy so Googled certified check craigslist. Glad I did. Here is our conversation. Haven’t heard back. Go figure.
Just so you know, even with a legitimate cashiers check, the remitter’s name will always differ from the authorized signature. This is because the bank is issuing the check and an authorized signer of the bank will sign the cashiers check, not the remitter. What doesn’t make sense is that Richard is buying the item but Carla is listed as the remitter (though he could just say that’s his wife).
I have sold almost everything I own on Craigslist recently and I get these text often, I always provide a fake name and address and when they give me the tracking number and tell me the pkg had the wrong address I tell them I know it’s a scam lol
I’ve gotten these texts before and just deleted them. And just today received another. My question is, if the scammer gives me time for the check to clear, how can he scam me? Here is a copy of his text:
“Thanks for the reply,am willing to pay the price and I will be paying you with a certified bank check and after fully clears with you, my movers will come for the pick up and i don’t mind giving you extra $50 to hold it in my favor.Text me with your Name & Mailing Address and i will have the payment mailed out immediately. Let me know if this is fine with you Today.”
He will not wait for the check to clear, he will try to trick you instead and pressure you into sending him money, probably with guilt. Ignore him and don’t fall victim!
Exactly my question. How can they scam if check will not be cleared?
They’re probably banking on you trusting them. Worst case for them, the check doesn’t clear, you don’t send item and kickback, and they move on in search for the next victim.
Funny shit. And they keep coming. The sad part is people will continue to fall for their scam.
Thanks for this post. It just happened to me as well. I posted an ad on Craigslist for a washer and dryer. The text messages quickly started coming.
Same situation…they were in the military away on deployment and wanted to send me extra to pay the movers.
Thanks again.
Just got the same thing!!! Goes by the name of “Emily Bennett.” Wanted to send me more than the $600 for my washer and dryer, so that I could pay the moving company she was supposedly going to send to pick up the set. According to her, she was out of the area for a funeral and couldnt pick it up herself. Unfortunately I wasn’t aware of this type of scam before I gave the person my
address…now I’m a bit worried that they’ll use that information. I
really hate people like this. Like come on.
I wouldn’t be that concerned about giving them your address. Usually they are all overseas and send out hundreds of messages a day trying to scam you. It’s extremely unlikely that anything will happen by just giving your address.
This just happened to me today. I realized it was scam after he wrote the check for too much money. Now I’m worried someone will come to my house.
And what to I do with the fake check…
This scam is running rampant. I’ve received 2 emails and 3 texts in 2 weeks for one item I’m selling. Most have vague description of the item. I just respond that I know it’s a scam. I love the idea of messing with the scammer!
Just got the same scam. Have them the address to the FBI to send the check to and used the FBI directors name for them to send it to.
Great idea
Howww !
LOL, that’s a great idea, or the attorney general’s office!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Attorney general of Texas:
Ken Paxton
PO Box 12548
Austin, TX 78711-2548
But Paxton is a white-collar crook, too, so he probably knows the scammer personally.
Lol, now this I like. Or use this address : 1600 Pennsylvania Ave NW, Washington, DC 20500
This is the address to the White House if it is not recognized as such. LMAO
Zaine
Thank you so much for posting this! Got the same exact scam and being new to Craigslist almost fell for it. Thank goodness I googled and found this! Saved a heartache for sure!
Glad that it helped!
Haha this just happened to me and I had a feeling that it was strange. Searched and came up with your article. Thanks!!
Glad it helped Jillian 🙂
Same here it helps
Me to, (twice) glad I found your article. ☺
Same here!
I don’t do CL often…but just today listed 3 items.
I was INUNDATED with inquiries immediately…and those were the ones wanting to pay with cashiers check!
One agreed to using PayPal…but demanded my PayPal email…even though I repeatedly told home my phone number was all he needed to transfer the funds! He claimed he didn’t know how to do it that way. I sent screenshots from PayPal showing him the way. Finally he had the audacity to flat out ask..”why do you refuse to give me your PayPal email?” I answered “why do you refuse to use this phone number to pay me?”
I saw this article a bit late in the game..and had given my physical address to one scammer…hopefully I’ll be fine.
In the end i messaged them all saying everything sold for the amount I would accept if somebody would purchase all 3 for cash.
THANK YOU SO VERY MUCH FOR THIS ARTICLE!!!
Just got the same scammer, ticked all the boxes, over-payment, exact title, and another red flag they didn’t want any details on the item, even when pressed; I guess they didn’t even know what it was. At least they are out the overnight shipping. Thanks for posting this, saved a lot of headaches
Notice the name I gave him in my pictures. The address is to our local Pinellas County Sheriffs Office.
LOL, I gave the scammer the address of the local police for his “mover” to pick up the item – not that there is a “mover” at all! I plan to send back the scammer’s bad check if I get their address!
I could have written this article. Exact same story. Especially the movers. The guy was going to send movers to my house. I called the bank of the cashier check and, of course, it was a frauddy checky…It was $1600 over the amount I was selling the item for. I am now playing with this guy and asking for another check. Oh, I’m also asking him what kind of music he likes. I have also told him what a great dad he was and that he is a nice man.
The first sign is when he asks if it is still available the title is exactly as it states on the ad. He is texting me right now. I’m going to mess with him too. It’s sad but I’m sure a lot of people still fall for this stuff.
I knew something felt fishy with this sale. Your blog reads almost exactly like my experience. Got the check today and can’t wait to call them out. Glad to know I cost them the UPS postage!
I am the same way, I love jacking with them and costing them money, making them pay postage on the check. When It arrives I hit them with the heartbreaking news that I contacted the bank to verify the check and guess what. I cant seem to be able to get that done. Then I inform them that most American banks have a new instant verifying system and this check is no good…..It just breaks there heart…..lol
Lol, priceless
What is their end game? I understand that if you deposit the check, then you’re liable for the amount when it doesn’t clear, but what do the scammers get out of it besides screwing people over. Where’s the financial gain for them?
yah i dont get it either O.o
The check will be for too much, like double or triple what you sold the item for. They will often ask you to send the extra back to them, or to give it to the person who comes to pick up the item. A couple weeks to a month later the bank comes after you and you are out whatever you gave the scammer, which may be the item as well as cash or check you gave the pickup person/mailed to the buyer.
In my case, I was contacted by email saying that they had received my resume and offered me a job. I knew the pay and benefits they told me were too good to be true,. but I went along with it anyway. Once we got to chatting nack and forth I was told that I would need certain computer equipment in order to do my job that would send me a cashier’s check to pay for. This is when the red flags went up, so i started playing 20 questions, calling them out on one BS thing or another. From what I can tell, the idea was for me to deposit the check and get on this website to order this equipment (to the tune of $3400), providing my bank information of course. Then once the bank learned that the check was counterfeit, I would’ve been fucked .
In the case of purchasing goods they get your stuff.
Thanks so much for this article. I actually just had one of these guys message me and told them to EFF off. lol Have a great day! 🙂
Glad it helped!!!