CL scam or real deal?

I think he's trying to scam you out of some free pictures of your bass

 

typical CL scam...don't reply

 

Ive gotten one twice for two different items. "hey, is the cab still availble" I respond, and then get a post back. Ok i will send you a money order blah blah, happens all the time. Don't take chances

 

I always put a line in the description that says something like, "If this ad is up the item is still available." just so if people email me with that question I know they aren't worth responding to.

 

Any time the responder doesn't specifically mention the item I'm selling, I delete the email. I've had many responses in the past sounding like, "Is the item still available?". I guess I'm cynical and paranoid and all that, but I've always looked at the internet, and Craigslist, as a very questionable neighborhood- you have to be smart and cautious to appreciate the area and not get scammed or mugged.

 

What is the harm in replying? There are a lot of people out there that don't know how to write properly. You might waste a little time with a scammer, but you might sell it too. I sold my Warwick 2 weeks after the ad ran this way.

 

You forgot the word "a" when you said "I'm selling _ bass". Maybe he/she forgot the word "bass". Sending pictures isn't getting scammed so the answer is that no one here in TB has any idea and you may (or may not) be ignoring a potential buyer. So many people text so the English language and emails in particular are getting grammatically eroded and abbreviated. I received a work email this morning that started "Wd u pls...." Makes me sick.

There is zero harm in replying to this guy unless your signature has your social security and the password you use for paypal.

 

i wouldn't read a lot into that....lazy typing more likely.....there are lots of things that will indicate a possible scam,like a desire for someone to come and pick it up for shipment upon receipt of a questionable mode of payment

 

Yes, I know that our language has deteriorated, and many Craigslist responses I've received are not articulate. However, I'm also aware of the big business of data mining, email scraping, etc. I've tried very hard to keep my email addresses free from spam. It's getting more difficult for folks to extract email addresses through data mining, but since functioning email addresses are valuable to spammers it's possible there have been developed robo responders to email ads. Seriously, some of the responses I've received seem completely unconnected to my posted item. And I've seen any number of Craigslist posters insisting on specific words in their responses to authenticate that the response is legitimate. Your experience and knowledge about the internet may be much greater than mine, however, and I'm really okay being dismissed as a raving paranoid...

 

You should tell the scammer that you're very interested and that he should call you right away. And then give him a wrong number - that is, the number of a law enforcement agency.
Or just lead him on for a while, try to take up his time with requests for more info from him.
Scammers deserve whatever hassles they get.

 

Since when did responding to an email become throwing caution to the wind?

Don't waste your time with that scammer. I personally don't send pictures, if the person is serious about buying they will come and check the item out.

 

Your response almost made me blow beer out my nose...

It is almost impossible today to get a response for anything that is not text shorthand or full of spelling and grammar mistakes. I have a very low tolerance for those replies and usually ignore them.

 

You'll love this:

http://www.somethingawful.com/d/email-pranks/email-spam-something.php