Anyone else seen this craigslist scam?

Ubersheist · #1 10-05-2009, 12:46 PM

So, I've been out of work for a while, and I'm trying to pick up an extra few bucks by giving guitar and bass lessons, as well as tutoring kids in math or college students in Geology (which was my day job). I posted up ads for both on Craigslist.

About a month ago, I got a response for the guitar lessons ad from a "Paul Williams" from Glasgow, Scotland, a doctor who works for the U.N. He said his son "Josh" will be coming into town "tentatively" next week and will require 3 lessons a week for about 6 months. He said that he'll forward me my monthly charge, plus several hundred extra dollars for "incidentals and textbooks." Anything extra, he said, could be given back to him via MoneyGram.

My BS meter was high from the start, and that was the clincher. I sent a few emails back just to mess with him. After I insisted on using either PayPal or cash only, with absolutely no exceptions, "Paul" didn't return any more of my emails.

A few days ago, I sent up another batch of email ads. Almost immediately, I got another email from "Paul Williams." This one was very vague and only said something like "my son needs lessons. What's your availability?"

I forgot about the other email, so I replied. I got the following email back from him:

Quote:

Thanks for your reply to my request..Just to introduce myself.Am Mr.Paul Williams,A Mechanical Engineer,A single parent lost my wife two years ago,currently based in Calgary,Canada with my children,My Son will be coming for an holiday in the States,and i want him to be busy
with something gainful and productive.Therefore,i just want to know if he can always come to you and have Math lessons(algebra/geometry) every afternoon.My Son's name is Josh,He his 15 years old,He learns fast with no disabilities.i will want you to get back to me with the cost of you teaching him for a month which can start soon as he arrives..He will be in the states on 10/15/09(tentatively) and he will be coming to your Place for 1 hour each for 3days in a week or 3 days that suites your availability.

I do have someone that will always drive him down to your Place,i mean a Nanny or perhaps you can as well come to him.i will want you to get back to me with with your time schedule and payment for the month and other necessary arrangements

Mr.Williams

This was almost verbatim of what was in one of the previous email, and that's when I remembered the older email.

I wrote back the following to "Mr. Willams":

Quote:

Wow.. this is amazing! A "Paul Williams" from Scotland who also has a 15 year old son named Josh recently contacted me for guitar lessons (I also teach guitar). The other Paul wanted 3 lessons a day sight unseen with a stranger on the internet and chose to forgo a reputable and dependable established business. The other Paul Williams seemed a bit shady, as he asked very unusual things from a tutor, like fronting the money for the plane ticket and requests for "total charges" for the month, where I'd get a cashier's check for a total amount, and then send back the excess to Mr. Paul Williams.

What an amazing coincidence! What are the chances?!?!?

Probably none, so please don't contact me again. I'm already dead broke, so best of luck on scamming someone else.

I also got a strikingly similar email from "Joe Gates," an attorney in South Africa, and "Derek Baum," a psychologist in Australia.

bongomania · #2 10-05-2009, 12:47 PM

Yes, that is the most common scam out there these days. It's like dust or tap water.

Cyber Soda · #3 10-05-2009, 12:51 PM

... s/he/it is the bane of CL responses. Wow. I remember having a similar occurrence when I was about 12 trying to sell a video game on CL. Can't remember details, but the name stayed the same as did the message... but of course, the location changed.

Robbery is a *****.

billhilly66 · #4 10-05-2009, 02:35 PM

I had 2 responses on a bass I was selling that seemed reminiscent of the Nigerian businessman emails. They were both wanting my name and addy. Grrrrr. I hate scammers.

TonyGnarks · #5 10-05-2009, 02:44 PM

The same thing happened to a friend of mine who had posted ads for drum lessons.
He was told that two dutch sisters were coming the U.S. on vacation etc.
Weird scam.

Ronbeast · #6 10-05-2009, 02:45 PM

I wouldn't trust it,one sarah williams contacted me on craigs claiming to be legit about buying my bass.whoever it was wrote exactly the same as that and had a story that was very close to the one you posted.in short "sarah williams" was a scammer who tried to steal my bass out from under me,I guess I have developed a disorder because I never want to sell online ever again.

NKUSigEp · #7 10-05-2009, 02:56 PM

Yeah, it's a pretty common scam that the average bear will sniff out. I used to get that crap all the time from scammers when I was selling something on CL. Now they upgraded their first response to "Is this still available" and you reply back with "yes", and then they give you their general garbage about "what is the last asking price" and "will am interested give you extra $50 to take ad down" and all that butchered English. Good luck! lol

MetroBass · #8 10-05-2009, 03:02 PM

My CLs experience was Mr. Davis, a guy on his honeymoon in Hawaii that saw my ad for a table on his iPhone and wanted me to sell it to him. He'd be there for a few weeks but is secretary would contact me and send a check!! Right!!

Or how about all the checks being delivered by Fed-Ex these days: so far I have $4,572 from UC Berkely (check out the spelling), $2,575 from Audi Cars of America and $3,725 from The American Tax Industry. Interesting thing is none of them have remittance info on the stub.

bassbrock · #9 10-05-2009, 03:03 PM

I believe the whole idea behind the scam is just to give you a fake cashier's check and send back any 'extra' money to them. Their profit is the 'extra' money.

For some reason our banking system is screwed up in that it can take weeks for a bad cashier's check to bounce. All the while you think you have deposited a legitimate check... it takes significantly longer for the bad cashier's check to bounce than a standard personal check.

The scammer profits from all the people sending him/her the 'extra' money.

LaklandBass · #10 10-05-2009, 03:13 PM

Ya know this sort of thing really bugs me since alot of people are selling their stuff right now to pay bills. There is an interesting spin on this though and im wondering how they pull it off. I got a reply for a fish tank on CL and they wanted to send me the check and have an "employee" pick it up. I was so tempted to tell them sure just so I could throw down when they came to pick it up. I figured theyd probably never show and then request the money back

Febs · #11 10-05-2009, 03:16 PM

Read #4: http://philadelphia.craigslist.org/about/scams

j.stemmler · #12 10-05-2009, 03:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by billhilly66

I had 2 responses on a bass I was selling that seemed reminiscent of the Nigerian businessman emails. They were both wanting my name and addy. Grrrrr. I hate scammers.

I had the same thing happen when i sold my conklin. a woman emailed me and insisted i ship rather than deliver (she claimed to live within a 2hour drive from me). she also continued to as for my name and adress. what really made me suspicious was that when she emailed me, she had no questions about the bass, and kept referring to it as "this item" rather than "the bass" or "the conklin"

MysticMichael · #13 10-05-2009, 03:52 PM

I'm in process of selling a four-track cassette recording console here on my local CL (NYC). Yesterday I got an email from a guy with a "reply to" email address apparently provided by yahoo.gr (Yahoo! Greece). His message was simply, "Available for sale?"

Naturally, I wanted to reply with something like, "No, available for rent", or something similarly sarcastic. Then I recalled having had several almost identical "inquiries" when I've attempted to sell things on Craig's List previously.

I'm convinced that what initially passes for complete cluelessness on the part of the respondent, is in fact a cunning attempt to lull the seller into a state of false security regarding his chances of gaining the upper hand against the "buyer" - when in fact the seller is the one being set up for a scam...

MM

H2ODog · #14 10-05-2009, 04:55 PM

I love CL for selling stuff. I have sold basses, amps, and a bunch of other non related stuff. I have also received just about every type of scam mail there is. Sometimes if i'm bored i'll string them along a few e-mails before i pull the rug from under them.

The key to selling on CL is ALWAYS meet the buyer, never ship, and i also make it a point no to do business out of my home, i always meet them at a public place. Have never had an issue doing business like this.

Ubersheist · #15 10-05-2009, 05:14 PM

well, Mr. Williams contacted me again. He wrote back the following:

Quote:

Thanks for your reply to my request..Just to introduce myself.Am
Mr.Paul Williams,A Mechanical Engineer,A single parent lost my wife
two years ago,currently based in Calgary,Canada with my children,My
Son will be coming for an holiday in the States,and i want him to be
busy with something gainful and productive.Therefore,i just want to
know if he can always come to you and have Math
lessons9Algebra/Geometry) every afternoon.My Son's name is Josh,He his
15 years old,He learns fast with no disabilities.i will want you to
get back to me with the cost of you teaching him for a month which
can start soon as he arrives..He will be in the states on
10/17/09(tentatively) and he will be coming to your Place for 1 hour
each for 3days in a week or 3 days that suites your availability.
I do have someone that will always drive him down to your Place,i
mean a Nanny or perhaps you can as well come to him.i will want you to
get back to me with with your time schedule and payment for the month
and other necessary arrangements
Mr.Williams

Time to just ignore the scammer...

The thing is that I've sold plenty of stuff on Craigslist, and had ads up for a variety of reasons. It was only the "tutoring" ads that brought the scammers in for some reason.

**jbybj** · #16 10-05-2009, 05:25 PM

What truly boggles my mind, is that the only reason there are soooo many of these emails, is because the scammers make money doing this!

Who falls for this sh*t? I feel bad, it must be tough to be a person who gets taken like this...................

rhapbus · #17 10-05-2009, 05:29 PM

Send him a few thousand in collateral, he might be able to help you out.

pigsonthewing · #18 10-05-2009, 05:31 PM

When I was unsuccesfully trying to sell my drumset, I kept getting poorly written e-mails that were very bossy, saying that I was to take it off craigslist immediately, and that I had to give him all checking information. He said his scretary would come and get it.

The funny part is that he didn't mention anything about the drumset in the e-mail, which was the icing on the cake

Menace · #19 10-06-2009, 01:13 PM

I once saw a bit of twist to the scam. I replied to an ad for a Honda Goldwing trike. I really didn't want one, but the price was less than half of the bluebook value. The catch was that the trike was in the UK, I had to pay for the shipping, then they would reimburse me and add a little something for my time.....

The ad was pulled the next day.

MX21 · #20 10-06-2009, 01:26 PM

I recently saw another twist. My ad only had my phone number, so I get this call and it's from a teletype operator. Apparently there is a system set up for deaf people to be able to use the phone. The deaf person can use the internet to type their message, and the operator is a go-between, translating their typed text to voice, listening to my response, then typing it back. It's apparently a free service.

The caller was using this system to get my email address instead of calling me. Of course, once they had the email address, it was "I am interested in your item, I'll send you extra money and you can wire the extra to my shipper, blah, blah, blah". It's probably also so I don't hear their nigerian accent.

After this, I checked into it, and apparently this deaf - telephone system is now getting overwhelmed by these scammers, with something like 70% of their calls being scams.

MX