Something's not right here...

Eskimo Spy · #1 06-29-2010, 07:25 PM

I sold my bass to a member here, and shipped it today to New York, he paid via PayPal, and very quickly took care of a problem I caused by giving him the wrong PayPal email address to use. But that's not the issue...

I also had it listed on Craigslist in the D/FW area in Texas. Now tonight, I get a call from some guy in the San Francisco area asking about my bass, asking me if I shipped it. After talking for a few minutes, I realized that this wasn't the guy I sold it to from TB, it was some guy asking about my Craigslist ad and why there was one almost exactly like it on the SF Craigslist. I looked, and lo and behold, there it is, the same pictures as mine, and the original description I had listed, back when I was going to keep my newer Fender case and sell it with my old Lakland case.

Here are the ads...

Here is mine, listed for $950:

http://dallas.craigslist.org/ftw/msg/1805524655.html

And here is the copycat, listed at $500:

http://sfbay.craigslist.org/sby/msg/1818114598.html

Now, what are the odds that they have the exact same bass, with the same Schaller tuners, and that they have an old Lakland case laying around?

I'd say about 0%.

So, what do I do? As I said, I just shipped it to NY, so how could this guy possibly have this for sale? Should I call the San Jose police? This just seems really weird. Plus, some random guy calling me from San Mateo asking me about shipping it seems really random and weird too.

Help!

busta_bird · #2 06-29-2010, 07:33 PM

Weird man. As long as you mailed it to the address from the PayPal payment, you are in the clear. If someone sent money to a Craigslist seller, it's their fault.

Eskimo Spy · #3 06-29-2010, 07:40 PM

The guy who bought it from TB asked me to ship to to NY and have it "held at location," which means that the FedEx office holds it until someone comes and picks it up. I thought that was a little weird, but...

He's bought stuff on TB before, and I contacted a couple of people who have dealt with him before, and they vouched for him. The PayPal payment was made and I moved the money to my bank today.

I don't think the guy from here is pulling a fast one, but I am trying to figure out what to do now. Clearly this guy in CA doesn't have this bass for sale.

**Mark Wilson** · #4 06-29-2010, 07:44 PM

I'll PM JT with a link.

busta_bird · #5 06-29-2010, 07:44 PM

Weirdddddd. How did the person call you? I only see your email address posted.

merc50 · #6 06-29-2010, 07:46 PM

Somebody is getting messed over somewhere in all of this...most likely the guy in San Fran.

He copied your pics, and changed you text a little bit.

Really odd dude, keep us posted.

bag_of_dirt · #7 06-29-2010, 07:50 PM

Definitely fishy. I don't want to paint that whole end of town with the same brush, but there are definitely parts of East San Jose I wouldn't want to wander into with $500 cash in my pocket. Just sayin'...

Eskimo Spy · #8 06-29-2010, 07:52 PM

yeah, the guy in SF didn't buy it or contact the guy. It was weird that he asked me if I had shipped the bass though, that was his first question. I think he thought I sold it to the guy in SF, and wanted to know why it was so much less. This is very weird.

Like I said, I don't think the guy from TB who bought has anything to do with this, he seems like a straight ahead guy and had lots of transactions and people vouching for him in previous high-dollar transactions.

What I'm trying to do is prevent someone from getting screwed by this San Jose scammer.

I've now reported it to Craigslist, I'll keep you guys updated.

merc50 · #9 06-29-2010, 07:54 PM

Yeah, I am sure your guy is on the up and up...but somebody is for sure up to no good in California.

You would think he would crop out the pictures on the wall in your pics etc.

Eskimo Spy · #10 06-29-2010, 07:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by busta_bird

Weirdddddd. How did the person call you? I only see your email address posted.

I just removed my phone number, since I have no idea what the hell is going on here, just to be safe.

Also, I left the ad up so anyone who needs to see this can, such as Craigslist or law enforcement.

bag_of_dirt · #11 06-29-2010, 08:07 PM

If you wanted to go the extra mile, you could post a response ad on SF Craigslist along the lines of "SCAM: 2004 American Fender Jazz Deluxe," and then more information about it being your bass, etc. Might save someone some serious grief.

Either way, you're a standup guy for following up on this.

**NYCBass** · #12 06-29-2010, 08:17 PM

For me the whole Craigslist thing is a bit shaky, I feel safer on evilbay. I guess that's why you pay to post there. The good news is that whoever picks the Bass up at the shipping office will have to show ID. So if there was a problem at lest you have the information of the person that picked up the Bass. Best of luck to you with this.

EagleMoon · #13 06-29-2010, 08:36 PM

They could have very easily have snatched your picture from the Dallas CL and posted a fake ad, thinking that since it was that far away, no one would catch it. We need some big dude to go show up at this guys door and see what's up.

Eskimo Spy · #14 06-29-2010, 08:37 PM

I think the police showing up would be just fine. I'm calling the San Jose PD next.

fruity2x · #15 06-29-2010, 08:50 PM

Looks like the ad in San Fran has been fagged for removal and is being taken care of. Props to you Eskimo Spy for being an upstanding guy!!!! Good looking out!!!!

Eskimo Spy · #16 06-29-2010, 08:56 PM

I called the San Jose PD, I'll be filing a fraud report tomorrow. Man, I hate when people try to scam bass players! We already have it hard enough, what with drummers and guitards...

Eskimo Spy · #17 06-29-2010, 09:07 PM

Here's the ad from San Jose, just so everyone can see how obvious this was...

elgecko · #18 06-29-2010, 09:19 PM

At least the scammer made some effort and reformatted the text and changed "vintage bass" to "college". Some scammers are just so ridiculously lazy.

But seriously, this is messed up. I'll be eying this thread for developments.

Kenner · #19 06-29-2010, 09:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fruity2x

Looks like the ad in San Fran has been "flagged" for removal and is being taken care of. Props to you Eskimo Spy for being an upstanding guy!!!! Good looking out!!!!

there...fixed it for ya

SurferJoe46 · #20 06-29-2010, 09:35 PM

I scan CL constantly and I think I saw this same ad (yours) in the Orange County-California posts a few days- if not a week- ago.

I just re-looked and even tried all of LA and Palm Springs too - but it's not anywhere to be found at the mo.