I have a kayak advertised on Craigslist. I got a short note today asking a simple question, which I answered , and stating they couldn’t reply through CL. A bit later I got another email, this one allegedly from the original’s wife giving me their job titles.
Then SOS; we will send you a down payment and our shipper will pay the balance at pick up.
1 Like
It must still work or they would stop doing it.
2 Likes
I am with @kayakhank - unfortunately not all sellers are educated now, so the scammers still make money at this.
There’s probably a scammers forum where they advertise…" Make $$$$$ and work from home." … Then sell the same old routine.
One to watch out for is where they send you a check made out for a lot more than the selling price. When you notify them, they’ll say, “Oh, our mistake; just send us a wire transfer for the amount of the overage.” Don’t. Do. That. Their original check will likely bounce anyway and they run off with your money.
Someone tried that on me when I was trying to sell a motorscooter. I found out the bank issuing the check was out of business.
I took the check to my bank, who immediately said, “It’s a scam”, but couldn’t do anything. Took the check to the police; they said the same thing but couldn’t offer further help. Nobody tries to prosecute these people because the courts don’t think it’s worth the effort.
I failed to think of taking the check to the Post Office and asking about mail fraud, but I doubt they’d have offered any better satisfaction.
If someone wants to buy my boat , they show up with cash in hand and leave with the boat.
5 Likes
That’s how I sold the last one; posted it for sale on NextDoor, a guy showed interest. He came to see it, we wrangled a little on the price (which I expected), he handed me greenbacks and I signed the registration over to him and away it went.