Austin360 blogs > Digital Savant > Archives > 2011 > July > 22 > Entry
My Craigslist adventure: Part 2 - Scam City
Above: the fake payment confirmation email I got from “King.” Note the weird grammar and the “ymail.com” email address for Paypal. The email turned out to be part of a scam, Paypal later confirmed.
Yesterday, I told you about my experiences selling a computer on Craigslist. When we left off, an emailer named “King” sent what seemed like an innocent query about my goods. Little did I know that King would act less than courtly when it came to our transaction. And now, for the conclusion!
King said he was interested in buying the computer for his daughter. King asked me to send a photo of the computer (even though there were three in the ad). King sent a link to a website asking whether it was the same product (it wasn’t). The red flags started flying when he asked me to ship the laptop to England. He offered to pay extra for shipping and claimed the payment had gone through. The payment confirmation emails went straight to my spam folder, and with good reason. They were riddled with misspellings, and a closer read revealed they were fake. No money ever showed up in my Paypal.com account. Just to confirm, I emailed all the messages to Paypal’s fraud email address (spoof@paypal.com). They confirmed that the whole thing was a scam.
But King was persistent. When I emailed to say I was canceling the transaction, he wrote back, “what? scam? i dont understand.”
After spending several hours trying to sell a $150 laptop, including one late, exhausting night where I was convinced King was somehow stealing my identity, I began to wonder whether I should have just donated the machine from the start. Was the money really worth all the aggravation?
Gabriel Perales, trade practices manager for the local Better Business Bureau, says Craigslist and other online classified services present a unique challenge for the group when it comes to scams and complaints. Many buyers and sellers are anonymous individuals, not established businesses.
Perales says that healthy skepticism is the best strategy for buying or selling on Craigslist. “You’ve got to be careful; you’ve got to exercise caution. You really should not be paying for anything up front,” he said. “Until you see the product or can pick up the product, our advice is never to wire any money.”
Avoiding too-good-to-be-true offers and making sure not to ship a product you’re selling until money has shown up in your account (or you have cash in hand) are good rules to follow in case things don’t go as planned.
Before a face-to-face transaction, do basic research on the person (get a full name, phone number and address and then doing a Google search).
Perales says that a common scam during the summer is offerings rental properties that turn out to occupied or are on the market for sale, not for rent. “Some of these scammers take (home sale information) and list it for rent. Some people have fallen victim to wiring money and then showing up and realizing somebody’s living in that residence.”
If someone doesn’t want to meet in person and gives excuses as to why he’s making you jump through hoops to ship or get paid for something, take those signs as warnings.
I’m convinced after my experience trying to sell a 7-year-old laptop (it remains boxed up, unsold) that Craigslist is a portal to a place of weirdness and a way to meet… um… interesting people?
If you are the kind of person who spent your late 20s and early 30s weeding out people in your life who mainline on drama and who always have a complicated backstory for every defeat, Craigslist is a good way to reconnect to that missing part of your life.
On the other hand, the benefits might outweigh the risks if you happen upon an item you’ve desperately tried to find for a decent price or you’re able to unload otherwise unsellable items and clear up your garage.
Just watch out for those energy-sucking vampires, the ones who’ll waste your time, take your money and leave you more cynical than you started.
Note: A version of this piece will run Monday in the Austin American-Statesman’s Life & Arts section, kicking off a weekly Digital Savant column.
Edited to add, 1:24 p.m. Friday: Cageyness of the blog This Is The Edge has posted a thoughtful response about her experiences using Craigslist (which are much more extensive than mine). Check it out.
Permalink | Comments (9) | Categories: Austin, Computers, Internet, Shopping
Comments
When commenting, we ask that you keep things civil and abide by our Visitor Agreement. To report comment abuse, click here.
By CragFan
July 25, 2011 11:13 AM | Link to this
I buy and sell things on Craigslist all the time. I have saved lots of money and it is really convenient. It's simple to avoid scams. Pay cash and deal local and you won't have any problems. It's no different than with old-fashioned newspaper classifieds. I have had a few offers that appeared to be scams (
By Jason
July 25, 2011 1:17 AM | Link to this
Craigslist may have its faults but where else can you get a hooker and suitcase of blow at 3AM?
By Bill J. from Austin
July 23, 2011 5:11 PM | Link to this
I've sold furniture, riding gear and collectibles on CL with nary a problem. However, I knew going in that other folks HAD been scammed, so I was pretty paranoid, and insisted all transactions be in CASH ONLY - no checks, traveler's checks, certified checks, Lithuanian money orders, or any of that nonsense. American currency only, please.
Craig's List also helped me track down the hit-and-run driver who tried his best to ram my motorcycle head-on, clipped the back of my bike as I tried desperately to get out of his way, and left my wife and I, and another couple on a second bike, laying for dead in a ditch. There's no happy ending to a story like that, but we DID get the satisfaction of seeing our attacker plead "guilty" to three felonies. And in Williamson County, no less!
As for dealing on CL: Like anything else on-line, I approach it with a healthy dose of skepticism / paranoia. Too many scammers (and worse) out there!
Bill J.
By Menwa
July 23, 2011 7:08 AM | Link to this
I have come to the point in life that I donate just about everything to the goodwill and take the tax right-off at the end of the year. I have spent to many weekend waiting for people to show up to look at the items only to NCNS, spent to many days and nights dealing with these same scam emails, it has become a place for leaches and scum to scour the internet. Such a shame.
By James
July 22, 2011 9:21 PM | Link to this
Electronic and certain vehicle ads seem to draw these scammers. I saw them on scooter ads.
By Vanessa
July 22, 2011 7:05 PM | Link to this
Agreed - very classy. Thanks for posting, Omar!
By Joanna
July 22, 2011 5:41 PM | Link to this
Interesting post. And, nice to see the counter-view from Cageyness.
By amylou
July 22, 2011 4:39 PM | Link to this
Craigslist is great for giving away stuff that you don't want to take to Goodwill because they are too big. I have given away old filing cabinets and bookshelves. I have also sold some furniture via Craigslist with good results. I was contacted by a scammer, however, when I listed my piano - some guy claimed he wanted to buy it for his daughter - similar to what your potential buyer said. I was suspicious from the beginning - googled his name and all kind of other postings warning about this guy came up. So - when in doubt - find out more information first.
By Bruce
July 22, 2011 3:13 PM | Link to this
Thanks for including the 'thoughtful response' post - classy of you to share that.