Yep. What he said.

 

The thing that screamed Scammer to me was the up front offer of $50 to "Hold It" as well as the Check part. Just tell him you will wait for him to call when he has the cash and you'll meet him at the local PD. I doubt you'll even get a reply

 

Similar question...yes, this does SCREAM scam to me but what do the scammers do once they get your name, address and phone number?

 

Already delt with this guy. He's spanish, in the US, probably an immigrant from Mexico, scamming on ebay and Craigs List!!! Don't even deal with anybody unless they are gonna pay cash at your front door....Scam......Stay away.....

 

Give them the address of the local police station and the name of the top cop :-)

 

I can't believe people buy and sell with Craigslist - I've done ebay almost since it started and have bought and sold many items for hundreds or thousands, usually guitars. But compared to Craigslist Ebay is so safe and hasssle-free I just can't see the advantage to going to Craigslist. What's the fascination?

 

Craigslist is pretty much local as opposed to eBay. I've used Craigslist and eBay, advantages to both. Scammers are actually pretty easy to spot and all of the scam-spotting info included in this thread is true, sadly including the "......thanks and God Bless You."

 

I gotta say i generally reply to craigslist stuff with an email and dont give my number in the first reply.Ive gone and bought stuff from just emails.

OK im a simpleton....but wtf do you do with someone else email address anyway?

 

This one has been around for a while, it's a typical check laundering scam. If you give him your personal info, they will confirm you're going to hold the item and they'll send you a check and arrange someone local to come and pick it up at a later date. Shortly after, they'll follow up with a comment like their secretary mistakenly added and extra "0" to the check and their sending $5.050 instead of $550, so please cash, keep an extra $1000 for your trouble and give the balance to the person they're going to send to pick up the wheels. The checks are not personal, they come from legitimate businesses and have been either duplicated or altered by your craigslist buyer. Most of these scammers operate out of the US.

 

Sell it. Believe it or not valid e-mail address are worth money to other scammers. It can even be worth it to these folks to try and scam you over and over again with different scams. After all, they have a good e-mail address now and someone who may not be on to their schemes. In addition, they can now use your e-mail address as a "buyers" address to help run other scams. They use your e-mail address to make the e-mail they send to someone else look more legitimate by using it to "mask" their actual e-mail address. When was the last time you actually looked at the e-mail address you were sending to when you just hit the reply button?

That's what they can do with your e-mail address.

"...thank you. God Bless." Sadly, this is a very routine red flag. Now, on it's own it's not but when combined with other red flags, it is.

In this scam, let's break it down. Sure you have the somewhat poor english which is always a red flag but there are much more. First, the scammer leads off by saying he's comfortable with the condition of the item but then, much later in the e-mail, asks for pictures of the item because he hopes it is in good condition. These two statements contradict one another. Either he knows or doesn't care the condition of the item but then wants pictures to confirm it is in good condition. Red Flag One.

Second, he's already making an offer and asking for personal information from you even before he makes the request for pictures. No one I know who is a legitimate buyer makes offers and requests for that kind of information unless they've already made their buying decision. Red Flag Two.

Next, why does he need a phone number for payment? If he has already made up his mind to buy it and is asking where to send the money to, why get a phone number? Now, it may be an honest question from some buyers but considering this e-mail already has a couple red flags, make this one the Third. Red Flag Three.

I'll pick it up after payment is received. Here's a thought, why not just pay cash when you come to pick it up? It would be different if you were shipping it but if he's picking it up why not offer $50 to hold it and then pay the balance when he arrives to get it? Red Flag Four.

He says he's away on business giving an excuse as to why he can't come see it and has to arrange for all these "conditions". Again, may not be a red flag on it's own but considering the others we already have...it is. Red Flag Five.

Repetitive. How many times does he repeat he'll arrange for a pick up after you have received payment? Three. He asks for your Name, address, and phone number twice. Red Flag Five.

The Check. This is the big one. He wants to pay by check. Sadly there are way too many ways to get swindled by a check. It could just flat out be a bad check, it could be a fake check from a fake account, or it could be a laundered check like mentioned above. Usually they're not after your item, they are after cash so like was mentioned they'll "accidentally" write it for substantially more than the agreed upon amount. He offered you $500...check will probably be for right at $1,000 or less. Most banks will hold funds for any check over $1,000 to verify it clears. They'll take your wheels, have you give them the "extra" money back maybe letting you keep some for your troubles, then when the check comes back as being bad your on the hook for the full amount of the check AND are out your wheels. This isn't a red flag, it's a ****ing parade of them along with red banners, red marching bands, and big *** red parade floats!!!!

So a total of at least 7 things in this e-mail that are scam warning signs. Yea, run.