Scammers replying to WTB ads?

[txlonghorn1989]

I posted a WTB ad in the Wanted section on Sunday for a swivel base for my new to me 2" Wilton baby bullet. I immediately got a reply from a new GJ user (0 comments) saying "Johnny Joe" has one for sale. Contact him at [email protected]. The sender had their location as Texas but the swivel base was supposed to be in NC. Looked fishy to me so I figured it was a scammer.

Today, two more replies. Both from brand new accounts. One was exactly like the one above. The other was of the form "I have a swivel base. Don't reply if you're not willing to buy." I think all 3 of these are scammers.

I think this is my first use of the Wanted section. Is it normally this bad? The resourcefulness of scammers is amazing. Actually, this has to be one that could work for them. Find sites where people are really into X hobby and look for WTB ads. Promise them you've got what they're wanting to buy using pics found on the internet and there you go. I wonder how these scammers were going to request I pay for the item?

Really just wanted to give folks a heads up. Sad times we are living in.

Stay vigilant folks!

 

[LB-1911]

I posted a WTB ad in the Wanted section on Sunday for a swivel base for my new to me 2" Wilton baby bullet. I immediately got a reply from a new GJ user (0 comments) saying "Johnny Joe" has one for sale. Contact him at [email protected]. The sender had their location as Texas but the swivel base was supposed to be in NC. Looked fishy to me so I figured it was a scammer.

Today, two more replies. Both from brand new accounts. One was exactly like the one above. The other was of the form "I have a swivel base. Don't reply if you're not willing to buy." I think all 3 of these are scammers.

I think this is my first use of the Wanted section. Is it normally this bad? The resourcefulness of scammers is amazing. Actually, this has to be one that could work for them. Find sites where people are really into X hobby and look for WTB ads. Promise them you've got what they're wanting to buy using pics found on the internet and there you go. I wonder how these scammers were going to request I pay for the item?

Really just wanted to give folks a heads up. Sad times we are living in.

Stay vigilant folks!

Your not the 1st.



Are we supposed to report scammers?

 

[CR888]

Should get the mods to check IP address location, if they are from Nigeria....hit with the ban hammer.

 

[engineer2]

It would be nice if you needed X number of posts before you could reply to a want ad.

 

[paulsomlo]

It's been happening with regularity, generally the scammers are new members, zero posts. Just a few weeks ago, a new member posted a wanted ad for Snap On wrenches - a scammer w/0 posts answered and now that member is out $100; I believe he used Paypal friends and family option. Beware of anything that doesn't seem right. If you haven't already done so, you should report the three new members that responded to your ad.

 

[txlonghorn1989]

It's been happening with regularity, generally the scammers are new members, zero posts. Just a few weeks ago, a new member posted a wanted ad for Snap On wrenches - a scammer w/0 posts answered and now that member is out $100; I believe he used Paypal friends and family option. Beware of anything that doesn't seem right. If you haven't already done so, you should report the three new members that responded to your ad.

I've been trying to figure out how to report them but no luck so far.

Edit: Found the 'Report' button in the messages and used that to report them. Sorry for adding to the clutter on GJ.

 

[Taco Truck]

I've never gotten anything but scam replies from a WTB ad.

 

[winlinmac]

Almost every forum I go to has instances of scammers, I got private messaged once from the Great Wall of China asking me to write a fake review on Amazon in exchange for free products; message instantly got reported and deleted.

Best forum rule for new members is a minimum post count before being able to put stuff up for sale in the classified section of the forum

 

[WinMod21]

I posted a WTB ad in the Wanted section on Sunday for a swivel base for my new to me 2" Wilton baby bullet. I immediately got a reply from a new GJ user (0 comments) saying "Johnny Joe" has one for sale. Contact him at [email protected]. The sender had their location as Texas but the swivel base was supposed to be in NC. Looked fishy to me so I figured it was a scammer. ~
Really just wanted to give folks a heads up. Sad times we are living in.
Stay vigilant folks!

Thanks for the heads-up! That's always disconcerting.

A small aside here; we've been selling a deceased Aunts' estate household items & furniture &c, mostly on craigslist, and so far all the sales have gone great, and we've met a lot of seemingly real nice people.
Nonetheless I know that craigslist has always had tons of scammers, but lately, every time we list a new ad or renew an ad, we almost immediately get an CL routed email—which is supposedly safe from revealing any of your personal email addys—typically with notable brevity, saying "is this still available??"
But upon answering the CL routed email—which again, is supposedly safe to do—no one ever answers back. :~\

And if it's supposedly safe to reply via the CL generated email....which we regularly do....then what would the scammers purpose be in emailing us....if they can't see our email addy? :~\

 

[mikebaker1129]

I just got a bite on my WTB ad written in broken English from a new member with a zero post count.

 

[The Cobbler]

always report suspicious PMs like that

 

[DMAR]

I just got a bite on my WTB ad written in broken English from a new member with a zero post count.

I’d jump right on that one before it gets away!

 

[Speed-Racer]

Appreciate you sharing, would have thought they would be looking for larger audiences. What a shame.

 

[The Cobbler]

^^ any unsuspecting person is enough I guess , especially if they send money

 

[The Cobbler]

I just got a bite on my WTB ad written in broken English from a new member with a zero post count.

that user has been banned.

 

[Davefr]

Yep, similar thing almost happened to me. Scammer responded to my WTB ad but his mistake was stealing an image of the widget I wanted from Ebay.

I asked for more images and detailed info but he just regurgitated the same info and images.

Beware!!!!

P.S. The BOYD forum at OWWM.org doesn't seem to have this problem but over there the moderator reviews all BST posts.

 

[jeepnut24]

Happened to me last month too, sadly still looking for the wrenches. I was excited for a moment though, but they both had zero posts and wanted to deal through email only.

 

[kenc184]

This happens to me on CL. I advetize say, a table saw, and I get a reply "Hey! I like your item and want to buy it" contact me at [email protected] or something like that. They never specify WHAT it is they are replying to, and always try to take the email out of the CL relay system.

 

[RTM]

This happens to me on CL. I advetize say, a table saw, and I get a reply "Hey! I like your item and want to buy it" contact me at [email protected] or something like that. They never specify WHAT it is they are replying to, and always try to take the email out of the CL relay system.

I wouldn't even respond. Most sellers put stuff like "quote my title"
or mention some oddball key word like "ostriches", and always include a cell number to know you aren't spam.