Craig's List, It Is a Safe Way To Sell Personal Belongings?
Posted: Sunday, September 05, 2010
by Iris Taub
We recently avoided being victims of a scam involving a solid brass queen sized bed we advertised on Craig's list.
When they say buyer beware, they should also include seller beware of scam artists who are looking for an easy mark or an easy way to literally steal merchandise from someone who is trusting and believes that they are actual buyers for a particular item.
Three weeks later, a check was mailed to our home sent by Federal Express and there was a bank check from Chase. There was an additional amount of money sent for supposedly shipping fees to send the bed to the buyer.
We immediately took the check to a Chase bank who assured us that the check was real and that there was indeed an account for the amount and that there was sufficient funds in that account.
We then went to our bank and deposited the check and notified the "buyer" by e-mail that we received the check and deposited it in our account
He then requested that we contact Western Union and wire money to them and that the extra money should cover the "expenses" for shipping the bed to him.
When we tried to withdraw the extra money from our account, the bank refused to let us withdraw the money and explained to us that even if the check seemed official, that they have had numerous problems with Craig's list and that many people have been scammed by thieves looking for an easy mark. Luckily our bank picked up on it and advised us to wait until Tuesday to see if this check would clear or come back as insufficient funds. The check came back on Friday.
Even though Chase assured us the money was in the account, these professional scammers, are smart and will leave the money in the said account for a day or two because they know people will check it out and then they will withdraw the money so that the trusting party will think that everything is OK.
This so called person even tried to get us to mail money ahead of time to set up a pick up date for the bed and I answered him that we were advised by the bank not to do anything until the money cleared.
Luckily for us, we listened to the bank and sure enough the fee for a returned check came back.
We were the fortunate ones who were only out the $12.00 but how many other victims were left holding the bag with not only laying out money to ship an item but to actually have someone come and pick it up and then the scam artist receives the merchandise so not only does he get your money, but the product as well and now can sell it privately to some unexpected interested party and the scam goes on and on.
So....next time you decide to sell something over the internet, both buyer and seller beware! There are people out there that are thieves and will not think twice about scamming you!
We are glad that we didn't become victims and I hope that this article will help others into being a careful party involved in either selling or buying something.
Here are some simple tips to take.
If you have someone contact you about a particular item, if they are from out of town, insist on a bank check or money order.
Even if they send it, don't release the product until that particular check clears at your bank
Do not get involved in arranging for shipment of the item. That should be the responsibility of the person who wants to buy what you are selling.
I can't guarantee that this is a full proof method to avoid being scammed but it certainly makes it harder for the thief to scam you!
Iris S. Taub
Parkland, Florida
This Article has been viewed 1,106 times. (Not updated in real-time.)
Top-level comments on this article: (4 total)Very interesting and informative story Iris, thanks for sharing.Thanks David,I felt this experience should be shared by everyone especially since there is nothing Craig's List can do about this problem and unless you fall victim to a particular crime, even the police can't do anything about it. Like they say an educated consumer is a smart consumer.I hope that enough people will read my article and avoid being victims of scams.If enough people are made aware of the situation, these people won't be able to continue this type of crime!Iris S TaubParkland, Florida
Thanks...nice article...keep it up...Regards...CPHi CP,Thank you for taking the time to read the article. I try my best to share my experiences with others so that we can all learn from trial and error. Luckily as I so delicately put it, "We were born and raised most of our lives in New York" so, we can be quite suspicious about certain actions and this guy was too good to be true! You also have to be smart enough to realize that if someone just accepts a price without seeing the item and says that he is out of town at the moment and will get back to you soon, you need to keep your guard up. I think we became even more suspicious when he sent an extra $775.00 to "cover expenses" for handling and shipping information and continually insisted on us to go to Western Union to wire money! That was the first red flag we got and I am glad that we didn't fall for this scam but feel sorry for those who did!Iris S. Taub
Great idea Iris. A neighbor had her house for sale by owner and a scam artist put it on Craigs List as a rental! Cannot believe how many scam artists there are out there.GraceGrace, it is only going to get worse since people are trying to find ways to make easy money.I had my house listed on Craig's List and took the listing off today. After our experience, don't need to have to worry about someone doing the same thing to us that they did to your friend and unfortunately, there isn't much Craig's list can do to prevent this type of situation that is why the consumer must be an informed consumer. Thanks for taking the time to read my article.Iris
I'm so glad you were able to avoid being scammed. Thanks for writing about this.Hi Jennifer,Thank you for taking the time to read my article and respond to it!You have to hear this, would you believe that the scammer sent me another e-mail today to ask me to check with the bank about the check and I simply wrote back, you have been busted! The check bounced!Iris
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