Craigslist Scammers

[Mmfh]

Hey Guys,

Those damn CL scammers are really ******* me off. I've got a few things I'm selling and I keep getting emails from these scammers wanting me to use paypal for them and they will setup payment without even seeing the 4K boat for sale or the 2k surface grinder.

I will send my shipping agent to meet you for pick up after we exchange the money. I'd like to do this as quick as possible.

You know they are scammers just wanting my paypal info. What can I do to screw with them?

I heard of one guys once that strung the scammer along for a while before letting the idiot know he is never getting any money. Maybe giving him the address of the Whitehouse or something.

Have you guys had this happen, and do you do anything cool to screw with the scamming idiots.

I'd like to reach through the computer and &$^&*(%*$#&$%$%*$
You get the idea.

What would you do???

Mm

 

[info2x]

Yeah. I've had a few guys try to scam me, same deal as you. I was selling a large curio.

 

[gte718p]

Scam baiting. It's fun and exciting. Just be careful about revealing your true identity. I never respond to emails with my real email address and I never have people at the house. It's a sad commentary on life. Surface grinder it's a pain, but for a boat it's worth my time and energy to hook it up and drag it down to a local mcdonalds.

http://www.419eater.com/index.php
http://www.ebolamonkeyman.com/

 

[JC23]

I had one use that page that looks like the CL sign in.

BTW, you can tell it's bogus bu the address. If it isn't CL, it's scam city.

So on the line where they try to get yer email, I wrote "**** you" and sent it off to them

 

[Mmfh]

I had one use that page that looks like the CL sign in.

BTW, you can tell it's bogus bu the address. If it isn't CL, it's scam city.

So on the line where they try to get yer email, I wrote "**** you" and sent it off to them

So that's basically what I was thinking but I'm afraid if I screw with them too much they might make it their lifes mission to screw with me. Scares me a little but I really want to do something that will make them think twice before doing it again.

Mm

 

[NastyNate]

I have always wanted to ask them for a money order and then turn it into my local police. BUT I would hate to tie up any resources for something that might never see any real justice. Only thing I have ever done was create a fake email, and simply copy paste a bunch of hoops for them to jump through in order to continue. You dont want to waste time rewriting countless emails. Just ask them to send, call or do pointless actions till they give up.

 

[Lakeozark]

I actually received a cashiers check once for a car I was selling. VERY legitimate fake.
Called the police - who in turn got the secret service involved....
long story short - no way to trace them, they change IP addresses so often they cant tell who they are. They are mainly from South africa, according to the SS dept.
The check was written on chase bank - but when you call chase - the check # didnt exist.
They are hoping you cash the check, give them the difference of the "overpayment" and by the time they get the $$ from you, the cashiers check hasnt bounced yet.
They will never meet you in person. they just hope to score as much money as they can get off each person.

 

[gsport]

i usually say "you ****** idiot, why don't you get a real job" and send it back

 

[srmofo]

Theres lots of sites out there like this one, but I like this guys approach of making them hold stupid signs and taking pictures, maybe you can take some ideas from him
http://www.ebolamonkeyman.com/index.html
Its funny how they get dressed up nice

 

[Mmfh]

i usually say "you ****** idiot, why don't you get a real job" and send it back

I just about did exactly that, then I deleted it and made the post here. I don't want to have any trouble with somebody that is much smarter on the computer than I am, and cause me troubles I don't know how to fix.

Damn I hate these Scammers!

Mm

 

[Ohio Auto]

Here's what I do as I sell a bunch on craigslist.

1. In your add tell the responsdents what to put in the subject line. Most scammers use auto response programs that will not put the text you want to see in the subject line.

2. Set up a completely bogus email account to do all your craiglslist selling stuff. I use yahoo.

3. When you spot a scammer, don't take it personal, hit the delete button and move on.

4. Insist on meeting in a public place, don't let them come over to your house.

5. Don't waste your time playing with scammers, you've got better things to do with your time.

 

[Eagle Point]

This is why I stopped using my email address and always click "hide" for the random Craigslist email. I had scammers in the past. I list my cell# and "no texting" and I never answer a blocked caller#. If they leave a messege and a # to call then I will call back. Since doing this things have been fine.

 

[58Yeoman]

What srmofo said. Be prepared to spend a lot of time reading about the ebola monkey man...it is hilarious...

 

[4Tigers]

`To bad we couldn't block Nigeria from the Internet seams like their government doesn't have any interest in solving the problem

 

[action fab]

Let me fix that for you...

Nigeria; Their government doesn't have any interest in solving the problem

There we go

It's fawking nigeria... the land of greed. Do you REALLY think they want to stop this.

Go watch the movie Blood Dimonds... or better yet Lord Of War. Pretty clear depiction of how fucked up people in Africa think/are. It is this reason that they are always at civil war with each other. Once anything of value is found... ivory/gold/dimonds/oil...Ext. They go ape **** crazy. (pun intended)

"AFRICA" Too busy fighting with each other over money and power to do anything productive... Hmmmmmm. Good thing the nice people of the US-of-A are able to send money and food drops for "aid".

I have a friend I went to school with from south africa. Which is about as civilized as anywhere on the contenent... maybe not egypt (before the overthrow). Anyway, he and his family left because of the greed and "thug" meantality that africa has. He said that that everyone there was "out to get his"... No mater the cost to others.

Look at what is posted on ebolamonkeyman.com. It's socialy excepted there to be a scamer... and I'm sure the "gov'ment" sees their fair share.

 

[StinkyBunny]

If you're not computer savvy it's really not a good thing to go screwing with people in the internet. Best thing to do is to write in bold caps CASH IN PERSON AT PICK UP. Since I started doing that it's just about eliminated the scammers. In the odd instance I do get one I tell them to reread the ad.I never hear from them again. I'd still like to send a .45 acp hardball through the internet line to deal with them though.

 

[5lima30]

Then there are the Craigs List Flakes that insist on texting you despite my posting NO E-Mails or TEXTS. (I don't text.) I know I am a dinosaur. I have gotten to the point where I will ignore an ad if there is no PX listed. The CL E-Mail is a PIA to go through and is not worth it. YMMV.

 

[Mmfh]

I told this last guy that I wanted CASH ONLY!!!!!!!!. He said he wanted it for a surprise for his dad.

So, I said we will make it a big surprise for your Dad!!

He right away came back and said I was trying to make it difficult for him to surprise his dad for his birthday. I haven't done anything after that.

Mm

 

[Burn1]

Great tips and as a new member to the forum would add getting a free google phone number along with the other posters sugg about a secondary email address for all other transactions. Works great for craigs list and other transactions. Meet at a public place like a bank parking lot or somewhere security cameras are on 24/7

Should you need to have someone come to the house, place items in driveway and shut garage door before the come. Do not let anyone inside your home to use the restroom or any reason what so ever! Couples working as team where the nice wife is viewing their next mark. Sad but that is where we are in today's world.

If you do need to have funds mailed on out of state transactions, request a US postal money order. Harder for crooks to fake as there are various watermarks on the postal one.

Using these tips all my transactions have gone smooth and gives real buyers a piece of mind as well.

 

[NitroPress]

Even as someone who likes to get even and hates spammers/scammers with a white fury - I'm in favor of the death penalty for them - I'd say just delete and ignore these responses. There are far too many of them and most are PROS working in very sophisticated boiler room operations. Spit a few curses, delete, move on. You can't fix it, can't stop it and can't hurt them.

Unless you're so stupid or naive as to fall for their offers, they really haven't hurt you, either.

 

[TWX]

I insist on cash only too and have only sold locally. If I were to sell out-of-state, via mail, their local agent would handle the financial portion.

I haven't been quite so worried about people at the house for bigger things like large auto body parts, but anything particularly hand carryable goes to a coffee shop that I'm familiar with. I have enough cash with me to break a twenty, generally no more.

In my state, here's the best policy to follow for buying and selling automobiles, regardless of CL or other:

1. Parties meet so buyer can inspect the vehicle.
2. If desired, seller brings vehicle to buyer's mechanic for eval at buyer's expense.
3. Buyer and seller go to buyer's bank and seller watches buyer obtain bank check.
4. Buyer and seller go to Motor Vehicle Department and deal with the title in person, and exchange payment at this time.

The reason for going to MVD together is to ensure that the seller didn't take out a loan against the vehicle putting a lien against it, making the title nontransferable.

A friend of mine had to fight with a seller when he tried to buy a car that turned out had a lien against it. Unfortunately short of going to an MVD office, I can't think of a good way of verifying that there isn't a lien.

 

[csargents1546]

Good tips. I put in my ads no shipping, If requested your email will not be responded to. If someone does ask for shipping, I just delete and block that email address. One of the scammers that sent me an email, the english was so horrible it was funny. Wished I would have saved it just for future amusement.

 

[flatfourfan]

They are mainly from South africa, according to the SS dept.

serious? South Africa? Usually most of the dodgy bastards from the African continent are from Nigeria.........they even try to rip a new one for the locals........they like the honey badger...............they just don't give a sh#t.

 

[Motown 454]

I just had some one try this with me. I flagged them and sent the info to Craigslist.