There are SOOO many scams on Craig’s list now, from buying to selling, to simply robbing you when you go for an exchange. I have seen this grow since Craig’s list and other older electronic bulletin board and community eboards first came about. An elderly but not “senior citizen” friend approached me with this problem. We will call him Bob and here is the story.

Bob posted an local ad for some antique furniture on Craig’s list and hours later had 2 inquiries. They agreed to a sale with the first person. That buyer was out of the area and could not pickup, but they had a shipping company they wanted to use. (Red Flag)
The buyer then tells Bob he will send him an extra $20 if he holds furniture and if Bob will coordinate with the shipping company to come pick it up. (RED FLAG)

Buyer sends Bob what appears to be a bank check. but it is a personal check that instead of having the buyers name in upper left hand corner has a bank’s name and address. Hence giving the appearance of a bank check. (the bottom line is no matter what this check says it will bounce).
That check that Bob gets will be for $500 or more above the cost of the chair(RED FLAG)
The buyer tells Bob to cash the check and go get a MoneyGram or Wal-Mart money gram and send it to the shipping company ( giving Bob the particular info) (Red Flag)
It doesn’t matter what you type in money gram, anyone with the info can pick it up no matter what it says on payable to.

Here is where there can be a couple variations in buyer’s story. Sometimes they will say shipping company only does electronic or MoneyGram’s, sometimes the buyer will say that he owes the shipper some other money from a prior shipment and will not ship without paying off past bill and then prepaying or this shipment. The most common story is that the shipper is shipping numerous things to the buyer and this extra $500 or $1k is the TOTAL cost of shipping the container of furniture, not just the 1chair.

DON’T GET CAUGHT UP IN THE STORY, that is all part of the scam, misdirect your focus.
Lets pause and reflect.
A. You are selling a $200 chair or ANY ITEM, you have found a buyer that is going to pay $200 then pay $1000 to have it shipped???
B. Your buyer can’t send money to shipper, so you have to do it for them? But don’t forget, they can send a check to you?
C. They want you to send payment to the shipper, In the form of a money order that has no FREEZE, pause, undo, HOLD or any control once you send it.

Lets take a look at the icing on the cake. The emails texts or communications will most likely have some reference to God, church, religion, faith or will provide some sort of story that would convince an average victim that the unknown party is somehow a better person than what you would normally believe from just reading an email or text. They are trying to get your confidence by telling you a lovely fluffy bunny story.
If you happen to speak with them on phone, they will NOT have English as a first language, or will pretend not to at all. As a society we have become introverted and lazy, most people do not want to communicate by phone anymore, everyone seems to prefer text or emails. This is to our detriment both as a society and when doing business, but that’s another blog.

Back to the story…
Bob cashed the check, sent the MoneyGram to the shipper.
The check bounces, the MoneyGram is GONE and the shipping company never calls to pickup chair.
Your buyer is gone but at least you still have a $200 chair that is now worth $1200.

Here are some basic rules for Craig list.
#1 NO MONEY GRAMS or Wires or Wal-Mart payments, do not take gift cards as payment. ACCEPT CERTIFIED BANK CHECK or Cash. Heck even PayPal is NOT even safe ( it takes NOTHING for a buyer to file claim against you and Paypal protects the BUYER not the seller) !!!
#2 Do not post your address, phone number or email. Get a disposable email address that y use for JUST Craig’s List selling.
#3 Block your phone number if you have to call someone from Craigslist
#4 Never meet alone, do not go to their house alone and don’t invite them over alone. ( some police departments now even promote mewing at police station ( just make sure there is a cop at the station)
#5 Have a friend review the deal to make sure it make sense
#6 When it sound too good to be true it most likely is.