Craigslist scam?

[fhm555]

I always reply to scammers that while I've already sold my item, I have a friend in the FBI with an item exactly like mine he's also trying to sell, and I have taken the liberty of forwarding their email to my friend.

I have yet to get a reply thanking me for helping out.

 

[GroovyBaby]

I've got a cab for sale on CL and got almost the same message.

 

[Calaverasgrande]

I also use the phone to screen folks. There are scammers here in the USA too! Even in the same town! I consider myself a good judge of character. I can usually tell if it's legit or not by just initiating a conversation about gear. EVERY musician is a gear whore and will enjoy shooting the **** about amps, axes etc. The guys that dont are either;
going to rob you.
running a pawn shop.
I also used to work in the classifieds section of a local free weekly, so my BS artist detector might be more finely tuned than some.
Folks never want to "just buy it" without checking it out unless it is some absurd rarity like a YBA3a or 9x10 SVT cab.
Then some folks just have thuggish jerk in their voice.

 

[hrgiger]

people need to watch out here on a couple of things. do not ever give your address out to anyone unless they are coming by to see it. I had a friend advertising a large HD tv on CL and he had posted a picture of it in his garage. in the picture you can clearly see 1 of his $$$ Busas right next to it. you can also see the inside of the garage door, just a regular 2 car door. he even had his small business # listed. when you googled his work # you found out his name, a quick google of that and you found out he was a big motorcycle racer who had posted more pictures on racing forums. the busa in the pic was the tip of the iceberg.

so when guys ask "please more pictures" watch out what is visible in the pictures besides the item you are selling. NEVER put a phone number, and be very vigilant about who you give your address to.

these days with forums (TB ahem) its easier than ever for the dark forces at work to see a literally mouth-watering list of $$$ merchandise with the smallest info about someone.

thats why forum registrations ask for "Username" they don't ask for your "Real Name"

 

[Calaverasgrande]

I would say that in most cases Bass gear is just not on the radar of the criminal knuckle draggers. They may have heard of Ampeg and Marshall but few would know Bergantino or Aguilar.
Then there is the worst thing in the world, former musician gone junkie. They know what gear is worth, where to get it and more than likely some unscrupulous musicians that will buy. But that's another story.
As far as phone numbers, to my knowledge there isn't any kind of directory lookup or reverse lookup for cell phones numbers. This may have changed since the last time I worked for a phone company.