Fraud let the seller beware

[Robert Willing]

Not sure if this belongs on turning or not but I have spent the last week solving a fraud problem on Craigslist while trying to sell my Nova 16-24 lathe. I finally got the State Police of Michigan involved after I received a $3,000.00 check via UPS on Wednesday. The check came with not info in the envelop just the check, than on Thursday the people that were trying to scam me sent an email stating instructions. That's when I informed the emailer I had investigated the origin of the check and the fact the check came from NY, NY and the trust company backing the check was from California. They wanted me to send part of the check to their shipper in Kansas. I followed the instruction from the State Police and so far have not had any other contact with the annoyer. Of course the check has been destroyed. My lathe is no longer listed on CL. This incident really has put a damper on getting a different lathe, and am not sure what to do now.

[J.D.Redwine]

Cash. No checks. Ever.

[Ralph Lindberg]

Some years back I had a similar scam artist try that on me, I got him to send the check three-times (always by over-night express) before he caught on I was scamming him into wasting his money on the shipping costs

[Dale Bonertz]

This comes at a timely manner. I just sold my lathe to someone in Seattle. I suggested we use paypal. Is that a safe money transaction avenue? I will get his shipping address and confirm it is legitimate. But outside of that how can one be sure?

[Russell Neyman]

Just gotta keep your eyes open. The tip offs for this scam (had the exact same thing with a corvette engine I offered on CL) are the huge overpayment and the multiple states. They do that because it's impossible to persecute in so many different jurisdictions for one crime.

[Edward Weingarden]

I have sold items using PayPal. I don't ship until I receive confirmation from PayPal that payment has been made to my account.

[Robert Willing]

Caution: Be very careful when selling on Craigslist (CL).

Make sure you don’t leave your address on CL.

After you receive an email from CL do not open or use an email within that email, only communicate thru CL email.
Be aware of a person wanting to buy your item sight unseen.

Be aware of someone not even discussing the condition or what you are actually selling, or seemingly not knowledgeable about what you are selling. In other words if their primary objective is payment, wanting name, address, etc. be wary.

They may use words like your advertisement on CL.

Look at their use of the English language. How well are they conveying what they have to say?

Do not get caught up in their reason for not being able to come out and look at your item.

They may say that they will pay with a cashier’s check, or bank draft check, and they will send it via UPS or the mail.

Just what I have learned.

[Scott Underwood]

Paypal is usually a very safe method of receiving and making payments. Make sure you document condition of the item you are shipping with pictures, and give good descriptions / pictures to the buyer. Make sure you keep copies of all communications with the buyer. I also take pictures of how I packed the item if it is something that could be damaged in shipping. Keep a copy of your shipping receipt and tracking number. If the buyer sends you a message, be sure to respond in a very timely manner.

I've only had one person try to file a dispute against me saying the item was not packaged correctly, resulting in damage and they wanted a full refund. I uploaded all my pictures and documents to paypal, and I did not lose a penny in the transaction.

If you don't cover your own behind, paypal will nearly always side with the person who is the buyer.

I never accept Western Union or any form of check due to the number of scams out there, and lack of possible recourse if a dispute arises.

[Geoff Whaling]

This incident really has put a damper on getting a different lathe, and am not sure what to do now.

Unfortunately these sorts of scams are common across the world.

I know of other pro wood turners who have escaped the scam only after bank intervention.

A few years back our credit card was hit with three fraudulent transactions, a little over $1k all up, after I paid for accommodation at a huge mine accommodation camp. Fortunately our bank halted the transactions and contacted us before we even knew of the scam, they cancelled our card & reissued another to us, we lost $50 due to the fine print conditions on the card contract. Two people at the mine camps office were sacked and now have criminal convictions for fraud.

Despite our advice that the offer was a scam a relative was scammed for $1500 on a “second bidder” scam (original auction bidder reneged, we are offering it to you scam.) outside of Ebay using Western Union as the payment method. Lost the money, & no item appeared of course.

We have listed a car for sale here in Australia, (not on CL). Since listing we have been bombarded with scam email offers for all sorts of things, bogus competitions, gift cards etc.

All you can do is be vigilant as I don’t think any site or any credit card transaction is “safe” anymore.

[Hayes Rutherford]

Seems like every time I list something on Craigslist, someone tries a scam. Last time my response was " why would a scammer want a stump grinder?" Never heard back.

[Robert Willing]

Good advice.

[Mark Greenbaum]

Not sure if this belongs on turning or not but I have spent the last week solving a fraud problem on Craigslist while trying to sell my Nova 16-24 lathe. I finally got the State Police of Michigan involved after I received a $3,000.00 check via UPS on Wednesday. The check came with not info in the envelop just the check, than on Thursday the people that were trying to scam me sent an email stating instructions. That's when I informed the emailer I had investigated the origin of the check and the fact the check came from NY, NY and the trust company backing the check was from California. They wanted me to send part of the check to their shipper in Kansas. I followed the instruction from the State Police and so far have not had any other contact with the annoyer. Of course the check has been destroyed. My lathe is no longer listed on CL. This incident really has put a damper on getting a different lathe, and am not sure what to do now.

Seems that a typical CL scam - i have had the same type responses from "BUYERS" wanting my $2000 drafting table, guitars, bicycles, etc. I now list things as cash only, and local pick-up (meet at the local police station of MY choice). Also report the initial scam email to Craigslist, and maybe it'll stop for a while.

[Allan Dozier]

If you really want to see these dirt bags come out, just try selling a boat. I sold one a few years ago and was inundated and it could be worse these days.

[Allan Speers]

Paypal is usually a very safe method of receiving and making payments. Ma....

If you don't cover your own behind, paypal will nearly always side with the person who is the buyer.

Be aware, though, that Paypal will not help you at all unless the person you are dealing with (whether a buyer or a seller) has a "verified Paypal address." If you are dealing with one of those "2 different states" deals, then you will not be saved.

[Jon McElwain]

I have had really good experiences using craigslist. Of course, if something looks fishy, or if I even have a hint of a question, I just ignore the responder. Also, I set up a dummy email account that I only use for craigslist and other sites that seem to draw a lot of scammers. Easy to do, and you can set it up any way you like - use an alias etc. That way you don't fill your regular email account with junk and scams. Scams are usually pretty easy to spot - I agree with the previous comments on how to sniff them out. Be super cautious and things should turn out okay.

I recently bought a scroll saw off craigslist. They guy was not going to be home when I wanted to pick it up, so he left it out back and asked me to leave the money under a brick. Maybe he wanted to avoid trouble, maybe he had confidence in his fellow man. Who knows, but I gave him a great tip for it!

Sorry to hear about the scam. My wife got two or three emails down the road of a scam a while back - we copied the text of the email into Google and the first dozen hits were people warning others of the scam.