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I smell a scammer

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Basil

Basil

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I'm selling a Camera on Craig's list and, like with the last camera I sold there, I have indicated in my ad that I will only sale locally with a face-to-face meeting in a public place.

Got a text from someone in Florida (at least with a FL phone number) who asked what condition the camera was in (that was clearly stated in the ad). Then, they reply they will pay me $200 more than my asking price to ship it to their cousin's address. It might take me a little longer to sale if I restrict it to local, but it's a little harder to get scammed when you meet in a public place and do a cash transaction. This guy just set off all kinds of alarms.

scammer.jpg
 
LOL, that has Scammer written all over it! Of course, it might be an honest scammer! :devilgrin:
 
Yep, I agree…. Scammer!
 
If you didn’t smell scammer I would suggest seeing a doctor for your nose :ROFLMAO:
 
Back home the police department has rooms that buyers and sellers can meet up. It keeps things “legal”
 
Better safe than sorry! (but something I've noticed more and more, people's cell phone numbers can have area codes from all over the country, regardless of where they live. You can pretty much request any area code you want these days.)
 
NutmegCT said:
Better safe than sorry! (but something I've noticed more and more, people's cell phone numbers can have area codes from all over the country, regardless of where they live. You can pretty much request any area code you want these days.)
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Notice in my text to him, I ask specifically if he was in Albuquerque - he didn't answer that question.
 
On a related note, I've seen dozens of online (and paper) ads for services, like house cleaning, lawn care, snow removal, renovations, etc. The phone number given is often hundreds (or thousands) of miles from me. Like there's a "central clearing house" for small jobbers - or a central clearinghouse for scammers.
 
NutmegCT said:
On a related note, I've seen dozens of online (and paper) ads for services, like house cleaning, lawn care, snow removal, renovations, etc. The phone number given is often hundreds (or thousands) of miles from me. Like there's a "central clearing house" for small jobbers - or a central clearinghouse for scammers.
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Probably the latter.
 
On the other hand...

We live in East Tennessee. Do not have a land line; only our two cellphones, bought when we lived in middle Tennessee - different area code. Such are the times, as we are a noble lot. Many of the folks who do jobs like outlined above are independents, and operate their business with cell phones. Ask for local references.
 
Mickey Richaud said:
On the other hand...

We live in East Tennessee. Do not have a land line; only our two cellphones, bought when we lived in middle Tennessee - different area code. Such are the times, as we are a noble lot. Many of the folks who do jobs like outlined above are independents, and operate their business with cell phones. Ask for local references.
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I asked if he was in Albuquerque- he didn’t answer that question.
 
Basil said:
I asked if he was in Albuquerque- he didn’t answer that question.
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Living in Uzbekistan the scammer doesn't know where Albuquerque is :devilgrin:
 
So, probably not many watchers of the original "16 & Pregnant" and "Teen Mom" series on MTV... but one of the girls got scammed out of her car in exactly this way, and the producers let it happen. She got a "cashier's check" (forged) for more than the asking price with a request to pay transport costs and pocket the difference. At that point the scam had been around long enough to have warnings posted on eBay, Craigslist, and most auto message boards with a "For Sale" page.

I will never forget (looking over my then-girlfriend's shoulder) watching them load her car on a transport, watching her pay them to rob her of her only valuable material possession, and wondering why on earth nobody was stepping in.

In their defense, she was/is the archetypical Little Miss Can't Be Wrong (oooh, another MTV reference) -- literally anything that anyone told her, she would argue with. Especially if it came from someone who clearly had more knowledge and experience than she did. If a producer had told her that he had been taken in the same scam, her reply would have been "that's because you're stupid, I know what I'm doing."

Small surprise her next career move was an "adult" film.
 
JHaydon said:
So, probably not many watchers of the original "16 & Pregnant" and "Teen Mom" series on MTV.
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I'll go out on a limb and guess that's probably a fair assessment :p

JHaydon said:
She got a "cashier's check" (forged) for more than the asking price with a request to pay transport costs and pocket the difference. At that point the scam had been around long enough to have warnings posted on eBay, Craigslist, and most auto message boards with a "For Sale" page.
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It's a common scam, sadly. As soon as the person offered (with no prompting from me) to pay more than I was asking - the red flags went up - way up!
 
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