Most scams involve one or more of the following:
- Inquiry from someone far away, sometimes in another country
- Western Union, Money Gram, cashier’s check, money order, shipping, escrow service, or a “guarantee”
- Inability or refusal to meet face-to-face before consummating transaction
Examples of Scams:
1. Company offers you a job receiving payments from customers, then wiring funds / sends you additional funds in error or for “purchases/donations”.
- This kind of “position” may be posted as a job, or offered to you via email
- Position titles may include: Personal Assistant, Warehouse Manager, Child/Pet Sitter, Home Health Care, Tutoring, Vehicle Wrap/Advertisement or Secret Shopper positions
- Check may include your “salary” with additional funds to send for purchasing or sending to vendors/charities
- Company advises you they sent “too much” and states they trust you to return the funds via money transfer service or wire
- Company claims it is unable to receive payments from its customers directly & offers a percentage of payments received
2. Distant person offers a genuine-looking (but fake) cashier’s check
- You receive an email (examples below) offering to buy your item, or rent your apartment, sight unseen
- Cashier’s check is offered for your sale item, as a deposit for an apartment, or for your services
- Value of cashier’s check often far exceeds your item – scammer offers to “trust” you, and asks you to wire the balance via money transfer service
- Banks will often cash these fake checks from Craigslist AND THEN HOLD YOU RESPONSIBLE WHEN THE CHECK FAILS TO CLEAR, including criminal prosecution in some cases!
- Scam often involves a 3rd party (shipping agent, business associate owing buyer money, etc)
3. Someone requests wire service payment via Western Union or MoneyGram:
- Popular Craigslist money order scam “bait” items include apartments, laptops, TVs, cell phones, tickets, and other high value items
- Often claim that an MTCN or confirmation code is needed before he can withdraw your money – this is FALSE, once you’ve wired money, it is GONE
- Common countries currently include: Nigeria, Romania, United Kingdom, Ukraine, Spain, Italy, Netherlands – but could be anywhere
- Apartment listing may be local, but landlord/owner is “travelling” or “relocating” and needs you to wire money to them abroad
- Deal often seems too good to be true, price is too low, rent is below market, etc
4. Distant person offers to send you a money order and then have you wire money:
- This is ALWAYS a scam, in our experience – the cashier’s check or money order is FAKE
- Sometimes accompanies an offer of merchandise, sometimes not
- Scammer often asks for your name, address, etc for printing on the fake check
- Deal often seems too good to be true
5. Distant seller suggests use of an online escrow service.
- Most online escrow sites are FRAUDULENT, operated by scammers
- For more info, do a google search on “Fake Escrow” or “Escrow Fraud”
6. Distant seller asks for a partial payment upfront, after which he will ship goods
- He says he trusts you with the partial payment
- He may say he has already shipped the goods
- Deal often sounds too good to be true
7. Someone claims that Craigslist will guarantee a transaction, certify a buyer/seller, OR claims that Craigslist will handle or provide protection for a payment.
- These claims are fraudulent, as Craigslist does not have any role in any transaction
- Scammer will often send an official looking email that appears to come from Craigslist, offering a guarantee, certifying a seller, providing payment services — all such emails are fakes!