Craigs list scam attempt

[ronparise]

For those of you that havent seen what a scammer looks like on Craigs list here is a series of emails thats typical

first the headline of my ad

$750 / 1br - a Spring week in New Orleans...​.may 11-18 (Jean La Fitte House)

(Im not trying to rent this....this is not some backhanded way to slip an ad by you guys.....so no need for mods to get excited...This is just an example)


**********************************************************
Then the inquiry....Ive learned to just toss something like this. But this time I responded to see if they had any new tricks that they were trying.


Hello
I will like to know if my husband and i can spend some nights at your place.We will like to know if you have APRIL 1st to 7th available,so i will like you to get back to me with the cost and available dates.


Thanks

(note no reference to the actual ad)

and my answer


The dates I have available are as I stated in the ad...May 11-18 (payment via PayPal)


Let me know if thats ok..
**********************************************************
and today I got this


Hello,
Sorry for the late response and i am interested in the rental.I will
be coming on this vacation with my wife from United Kingdom,our trip
will be sponsored by my wife's employers in the states and the payment
will be done by US certified check,so pls let me have the following
information so that the payment can be made to you :

1. Full Name to be on the check
2. Mailing Address(not P.O Box)
3. City
4. State and Zip Code
5. Your mobile phone number (For easier communications).
6. Total Deposit

Kindly get me the above requested information as soon as possible.


Thanks in Advance
Regards

 

[DeniseM]

Did you click on the link in their email that allows you to report it? Clicking the link will get them banned from CL.

 

[hypnotiq]

Ah, you gotta love Craigslist. :ignore:

 

[djs]

They forgot to tell you that the check will be for more than the rental and could you kindly wire the excess $2,500 to them once you deposit the certified check.

 

[simpsontruckdriver]

Not to mention, the "British" writer has bad grammar. I mean, spelling is iffy (many USA citizens can't spell), but a British or American should have more knowledge on how to put together a simple sentence! That is ALWAYS my "red flag". If they have bad grammar, and claim to be from an English-speaking country, they're lying somewhere...

TS

 

[Sandi Bo]

Sadly these have to be effective some times or they wouldn't keep doing it.

I've been helping my mom and dad downsize and sold quite a few things on craigslist. I insist that the emails come to me and I screen them. I don't even bother with the generic inquiries 'do you still have the item', or 'yes, i want the item'.

And still laugh at the 'we don't smoke and we have no pets'. And gotta love the last names being president's (Lincoln, Washington, etc).

And I rarely bother to report them, another thing you notice is the email address having numbers on the end, they just increment the numbers....

 

[korndoc]

I received the exact same email from the "UK" earlier last week through CL and posted it (along with a nearly identical message from Canada) on a different TUG thread in this same Renting and Selling category.

I was wondering what the scam might be. Why would your scammer and my 2 scammers first send an email that offered to rent a week that was clearly not offered. Reading other TUG threads on scams, this seems to be very common. If all they wanted was to send a bogus certified check, why not agree to the week we are offering right away? The only answer I came up with is they want us to reply to their initial email so they can get our email addresses. Perhaps they sell the list to spammers. Perhaps they want to ultimately send malware. Not sure what their ultimate goal is.

Of course, if all they wanted was our email address, why bother to reply to my letter letting them know their choice of week was not what I was offering.

Jeff

 

[falmouth3]

Yeah, I got pretty much the same response. Apparently they still catch people because they still are running the scam.

A lawyer I worked with a couple of years ago thought he was selling his car to someone, but it was also a classic scammer. Luckily he mentioned it to me and I informed him that it was a scam and how the "certified check" was not worth anything. He was disappointed, but happy that he didn't get sucked in.

 

[simpsontruckdriver]

I think I can see why they are asking for a week you are not offering: FORM LETTER!

TS

 

[stevedmatt]

Yeah, I got pretty much the same response. Apparently they still catch people because they still are running the scam.

A lawyer I worked with a couple of years ago thought he was selling his car to someone, but it was also a classic scammer. Luckily he mentioned it to me and I informed him that it was a scam and how the "certified check" was not worth anything. He was disappointed, but happy that he didn't get sucked in.

I was vacationing with a friend a few years back while she was corresponding with a scammer to buy her car also. She was clueless to the bad check scam and only stopped corresponding after I insisted it was bogus.

 

[carl2591]

what is amazing to me to this day is how many "smart" people fall for this blatant scam. they get the fake certified check and send the excess money via western union and in a couple week the fake check returns as NO GOOD, they start crying the blues..

when are people going to figure out you can not trust the internet scumbags especially when selling stuff on craigs list or other sites.

at least craigs list has lots of warnings and info about scams so the ones that loose money have no one to blame but their GREED.. plain and simple.

 

[GeraldineT]

Heres another!

Heres another one;

Hi,

This is ANN. I am replying to your Craig list ad. I am interested in your property. Is it possible to come over and see your place? Please reply me with your phone number so we can discuss it.


Thanks,
ANN.

And the best was the email subject;
YOUR VOCATIONAL RENTAL PROPERTY

 

[Rent_Share]

Heres another one;

Hi,

This is ANN. I am replying to your Craig list ad. I am interested in your property. Is it possible to come over and see your place? Please reply me with your phone number so we can discuss it.


Thanks,
ANN.

And the best was the email subject;
YOUR VOCATIONAL RENTAL PROPERTY

Just pHishing for a valid email address behind the ad