Members Fred Fartboski Posted September 7, 2012 Members Share Posted September 7, 2012 I sold a couple of guitars to honest buyers on craigslist, using it for the first time, over the past year. But one of the typical, scam email responses I'd get when I'd reply to an "interested" buyer was this: Your warm response is appreciated think the asking price is fair, you can send me some close up pictures of listed item so as to speed up sales ASAP.I will arrange for it to be picked up by a mover who will be coming for the pick up once the payment clears because I will not be able to come for inspection due to my disability but the mover will do that when he comes for the pick up so shipping is excluded and I hope I wont be disappointed. Your money will be send to you through Paypal which l believe is safe and secured for both of us, I will also be responsible for the transportation charges. All I need from you now is to hold the item while I make preparation for the payment to be issued.Please forward to me the following information so I can effect the payment for it to get to you soon then we can arrange for pick up at your own convenience. Your full name and your Paypal email address if you do have an account and if not you can set up one at WWW.PAYPAL.COM it takes little time to register. Can you please let me know if you are the first owner and why you are selling it? Looking forward to read from you.....Many Thanks. I'm sure anyone who has ever sold anything on craigslist has seen this. There a few variations to this generic response. Sometimes the "interested" buyer is "out at sea", or "in a wheelchair" and needs to send an "agent" to come pick up the guitar. Do people actually ever fall for this? Are these kind of responses all from the same scammer or have many scammers just cut and pasted the response in hopes of cheating someone? Anyway. LOL! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Chad4751 Posted September 7, 2012 Members Share Posted September 7, 2012 "in a wheelchair" Please please please tell me you were selling a pogo stick or something similar. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Stringbender11 Posted September 7, 2012 Members Share Posted September 7, 2012 Yeah as amazing as it seems some people are so niave I guess they fall for obvious scams like these. I'm always immediately suspicious of people that call whatever you're selling 'your item'. Misspellings are always a dead giveaway to me, too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Opa John Posted September 7, 2012 Members Share Posted September 7, 2012 In the past four or five years I've sold two guitars, three violins, three mandolins, one accordion and a host of non-musical items. I think I've gotten at least four of those type replies. Whether people fall for it or not, I have no idea. The first time it happened to me (with the accordion....about 5 years ago) I got a reply from a "girl" in Oregon who said she had to leave in just a couple of days......business in Europe, she said. I was only asking for $275 for the squeezebox, but she offered to send me a money order for $4,000. She said I could take an addtional $200 for my trouble and I was to send her the balance back by return mail. She said an agent of hers would stop to pick up the accordion at a later date. This was also the first time I'd ever had any experience with this sort of thing, but it only took me about two minutes to figure out that it was a scam. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members TN.Frank Posted September 7, 2012 Members Share Posted September 7, 2012 This one is simple enough to defuse. Just tell em' to have the Mover bring cash with him when he comes to pick up the "item" and then they can reimburse the Mover for the funds he used to buy the "item". If they're on the level then great, a guy will show up at your door with cash and you can give him the "item" you listed for sale. If they're not on the level then you'll probably not get a reply. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Fred Fartboski Posted September 7, 2012 Author Members Share Posted September 7, 2012 It's just newer version of the old "Liberia" scam. Someone claiming to be from Liberia says they're in dire trouble and will transfer millions of dollars into your bank account, and share it with you, if you provide them with account #, SS#, DOB and other personal info. I've gotten hand-written letters and emails regarding that one. lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members rickjes Posted September 7, 2012 Members Share Posted September 7, 2012 It's just newer version of the old "Liberia" scam. Someone claiming to be from Liberia says they're in dire trouble and will transfer millions of dollars into your bank account, and share it with you, if you provide them with account #, SS#, DOB and other personal info. I've gotten hand-written letters and emails regarding that one. lol love that name......Fred Fartboski Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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