Craigslist: does this smell like a scam to you? UPDATE: Received cashier's check, 1st post updated

January 25, 2019, 07:12 PM

Phelen_Kell

This is what they do all the time.

Don't even bother returning the check. Just throw it away.

If they call back and ask what's up, tell them you threw the check away and if they get upset, tell them to call the police and hang up.

They won't call back.

January 25, 2019, 07:39 PM

Cousin Vinnie

quote:
Originally posted by sjtill:
I posted an ad on Craigslist to sell a large wardrobe. Got a text from an area code supposedly in Michigan, person does not identify himself by name. Wants to send me a cashier’s check, and I am to contact his movers to arrange for them to move it and pay them out of the cashier’s check funds. Asked him to send by overnight delivery; this is two days and have not received.
I asked for a tracking number; his assistant was to send it and has not.

I have now told him I am unhappy with vagueness of who and where he is, moving company contacts, no tracking number.

Furthermore I have caught a cold and want to go back to San Diego, and this transaction is the only thing holding me up.

At this point I would like to cancel the transaction, and return the check if and when it comes. I’ve heard of fake checks for things like cars, this is only a few hundred dollars.

What would my invisible but trustworthy friends advise?

There is NO TRANSACTION! This guy is a SCAM....Go about your business and forget about it. And if he does send a mo or check, its most likely fake.....I would immediately call the bank and verify the payment instrument.

January 25, 2019, 07:49 PM

220-9er

The check is bogus but they take 2-4 weeks to come back. A regular check is actually better nowadays although I wouldn't take one of those from a stranger either.
I sell lots of stuff on craigslist and here is the way to filter out 99% of the scammers. Do not communicate by text. Only phone calls. They need to call you and you can filter the rest out that way but don't worry about that, they don't call. They can email but follow up by a call. They won't do that either.

January 25, 2019, 07:53 PM

.38supersig

quote:
Originally posted by valkyrie1:
...the 59th street bridge is for sale...

Hey, Thats my bridge too!

January 25, 2019, 08:10 PM

sjtill

quote:
Do not communicate by text. Only phone calls.

That was the first red flag. I asked him to call me and just continued to text.

January 25, 2019, 08:14 PM

LS1 GTO

quote:
Originally posted by sjtill:
quote:
Do not communicate by text. Only phone calls.

That was the first red flag. I asked him to call me and just continued to text.

Deaf people don't do so well talking on a phone.

I mention this because I sold a 62 VW bug to a deaf couple a while back. Though in their defense, when I asked why text only, he stated he was deaf.

January 25, 2019, 08:18 PM

sjtill

At least he didn’t say “don’t text, call, I’m blind.”

January 25, 2019, 10:21 PM

Krazeehorse

I had a guy do this to me. I told him I had surrendered the check to a federal bankruptcy court (I was selling a piece of commercial kithen equipment). He repeatedly called me telling me I had to get that check back. I had not surrendered the check as I was not in bankruptcy. The check was written on an account for a company that sold medium trucks with cherry pickers etc. I called the company and when I read the account number to them and the bank info they flipped. It was all correct. I sent the check to the company and they took it from there. I don't know how it ended but I laughed after every phone call from the guy. Hope they got him.

January 25, 2019, 11:19 PM

ridgerat

Yup. Scam. I had someone try this with me a few years ago.

They had their secretary send me a 'cashier's check' and told me a local relative would come pick up the item. The check, however, was in an amount much higher than the agreed-to price. They then claim it was a mix-up, and asked me to deposit the check, and just mail the overpayment, in cash, to them.

The check of course is fake, and by the time my bank would return the check, the cash would be gone.

I saw through this, and reported it to my local sheriff's department.