[ortizm74]

This may not be the place ot post this, and if it isn't, please let me know, but I was selling a BB on Craigslist and I was wondering where would be the best place to file a complaint with since I was trying to be scammed. I'll list the details in here just so my fellow CB fans can be aware.

Posted a BB on sale on Craigslist, had a woman contact me about buying it. She asked all the common questions, and even asked for more pics. I thought all was good, and she asked for Paypal account email to forward me payment. She also told me she would pay for Fedex through her own personal account, so shipping wasnt an issue I had to worry about. I get a few emails on my BB from "Paypal" saying payment had been made and that all I had to do was enter the tracking number for the shipment and the funds would be deposited. This sort of threw up a flag, so I went to my PP account and there was no notice of a pending transaction. I contacted her and she told me that all I had to do was enter the tracking # after I shipped it and the money would be deposited in my account. I nicely explained to her that until I had the money in my account, the device would not be shipped. She also told me at this point that she was having "issues with Fedex" and that she included and extra hundred bucks in the PP transfer to cover shipping to Nigeria. Yeah, I don't think so. Havent heard from her again. lol

All I ask is when making arrangemements, be careful of faked emails from Paypal. Always ensure your paypal account reflects the statuses accurately. Also, the email included links for Paypal. I am almost certain they were a phishing attempt to get my password. Just wanted to let you all know about this and to please be careful. The name of the woman, as she presented herself was "Shine Johnson" at [email protected]. Just be careful guys. Seeing an email that the amount was deposited plus another 100 bucks might prompt you to run out and ship the item; just take a sec to make sure it's all legit. Be easy.

O.

[itsdollar]

Thanks for putting that out there. Lots of scammers out there preying.

[detman101]

Wooow...thanks for the heads up.
That's a tricky one!! And a first too...


Thanks,
Dm

[Reed McLay]

craigslist | about > scams

DEAL LOCALLY WITH FOLKS YOU CAN MEET IN PERSON - follow this one simple rule and you will avoid 99% of the scam attempts on craigslist.
...

I posted an add to Craigslist and got several replies, all wanted to prepay a substantial amount, all from out of country.

When it does happen, there are agencies that do compile complaints:

Who should I notify about fraud or scam attempts?
FTC toll free hotline: 877-FTC-HELP (877-382-4357)
FTC online complaint form
Canadian PhoneBusters hotline: 888-495-8501
Competition Bureau Canada: 800-348-5358
Internet Fraud Complaint Center
Software Piracy (http://www.siia.net/piracy/report.asp)
Non-emergency number for your local police department.
...

[durandetto]

I had the same thing happen to me when I was selling my digital camera.

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[Mrluky]

This may not be the place ot post this, and if it isn't, please let me know, but I was selling a BB on Craigslist and I was wondering where would be the best place to file a complaint with since I was trying to be scammed. I'll list the details in here just so my fellow CB fans can be aware.

Posted a BB on sale on Craigslist, had a woman contact me about buying it. She asked all the common questions, and even asked for more pics. I thought all was good, and she asked for Paypal account email to forward me payment. She also told me she would pay for Fedex through her own personal account, so shipping wasnt an issue I had to worry about. I get a few emails on my BB from "Paypal" saying payment had been made and that all I had to do was enter the tracking number for the shipment and the funds would be deposited. This sort of threw up a flag, so I went to my PP account and there was no notice of a pending transaction. I contacted her and she told me that all I had to do was enter the tracking # after I shipped it and the money would be deposited in my account. I nicely explained to her that until I had the money in my account, the device would not be shipped. She also told me at this point that she was having "issues with Fedex" and that she included and extra hundred bucks in the PP transfer to cover shipping to Nigeria. Yeah, I don't think so. Havent heard from her again. lol

All I ask is when making arrangemements, be careful of faked emails from Paypal. Always ensure your paypal account reflects the statuses accurately. Also, the email included links for Paypal. I am almost certain they were a phishing attempt to get my password. Just wanted to let you all know about this and to please be careful. The name of the woman, as she presented herself was "Shine Johnson" at [email protected]. Just be careful guys. Seeing an email that the amount was deposited plus another 100 bucks might prompt you to run out and ship the item; just take a sec to make sure it's all legit. Be easy.

O.

yes i have had the same trouble. never deal with nigeria.scam capital of the world

[ortizm74]

Yeah, she was really smooth and had I not checked my PP account, and been in a hurry, she would have got me. I almost sort of assusmed, "Oh, Paypal, it must be good to go..." lol Glad I checked. But these guys are getting sneaky. Please be aware.

[DatdudeKG]

A lot of scammers on craigs list period. Anything from africa in my experience has always been a scam. Like someone already suggested, it's best to deal with local people or use ebay.

[Big-Droid]

This person has been trying to scam like this for months. I like to mess with them and tell them I have my own means of shipping and soon as they figure out how to transfer the money to my PayPal account I would be happy to ship their product. That will usually shut them up. There are some who will say they will report you to the police because they sent the money to you and you better ship their product. I then respond with nice try I just reported you to PayPal as a scam.

[aznhomieboi1689]

This may not be the place ot post this, and if it isn't, please let me know, but I was selling a BB on Craigslist and I was wondering where would be the best place to file a complaint with since I was trying to be scammed. I'll list the details in here just so my fellow CB fans can be aware.

Posted a BB on sale on Craigslist, had a woman contact me about buying it. She asked all the common questions, and even asked for more pics. I thought all was good, and she asked for Paypal account email to forward me payment. She also told me she would pay for Fedex through her own personal account, so shipping wasnt an issue I had to worry about. I get a few emails on my BB from "Paypal" saying payment had been made and that all I had to do was enter the tracking number for the shipment and the funds would be deposited. This sort of threw up a flag, so I went to my PP account and there was no notice of a pending transaction. I contacted her and she told me that all I had to do was enter the tracking # after I shipped it and the money would be deposited in my account. I nicely explained to her that until I had the money in my account, the device would not be shipped. She also told me at this point that she was having "issues with Fedex" and that she included and extra hundred bucks in the PP transfer to cover shipping to Nigeria. Yeah, I don't think so. Havent heard from her again. lol

All I ask is when making arrangemements, be careful of faked emails from Paypal. Always ensure your paypal account reflects the statuses accurately. Also, the email included links for Paypal. I am almost certain they were a phishing attempt to get my password. Just wanted to let you all know about this and to please be careful. The name of the woman, as she presented herself was "Shine Johnson" at [email protected]. Just be careful guys. Seeing an email that the amount was deposited plus another 100 bucks might prompt you to run out and ship the item; just take a sec to make sure it's all legit. Be easy.

O.

I recently was almost scammed also, go to: Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) | Home to file a complaint/report.

[ortizm74]

Thanks azn. I guess if i go throught he trouble of filing a complaint, I want the best possible result, even if it's just them posting the issue for people to read. Thanks again.

[JRSCCivic98]

Always Nigeria... lol

[bduschel]

The same happend to me when I was selling my Storm. They actually create a PayPal page saying the funds are being transfered. I send that along witht he other email communications to [email protected] They quickly got back to me saying this was scam of course.

I love how its always to Nigeria or Kenya.

[DaveInPhilly]

You local Police Department likely already has some form of internet fraud task force. I would make them aware, as well as making Craigslist aware of what happened.

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[mdude85]

Thanks azn. I guess if i go throught he trouble of filing a complaint, I want the best possible result, even if it's just them posting the issue for people to read. Thanks again.

There is no possible result. These people are like ghosts. Here one day, gone the next. It's not even worth your trouble to file a complaint. Just deal locally!!!

[bduschel]

There is no possible result. These people are like ghosts. Here one day, gone the next. It's not even worth your trouble to file a complaint. Just deal locally!!!

Aaaaaamennnn to that!!! Its always buyer beware!!! I just had a guy come into my shop last week. He bought an unlocked Tour from Craigslist and wanted to use it on TMO. Sorry to say that the phone was a fake.

[hondateg91]

This is why I will only meet in person on CL or wont ship anything until I actually see the money in my back account.

[cenloe]

WOW. I used to sell quite a bit on eBay, so I've just about heard and seen all the scams, including fake emails from Paypal. With that said, this one takes the cake. I have never received fake emails from Papal telling me that funds would be deposited if I provided the tracking number. Quite sneaky.

[strunke]

Forward to paypal and forward to mail.com's administration for abuse of e-mail account illegal action. You will likely need the header info.

Other then that.... This happens thousands of times a day every day.
It's a variation on the nigerian 419 scam.

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[jlsparks]

Right, and speaking of headers it isn't a bad idea to be in the habit of viewing message source, particularly if you're selling something.

I don't use Craigslist any longer for anything other than looking for houses for rent. It's way too dicey and, IMO, Craig hasn't done enough to protect sellers. That's just me though. I sell exclusively through ebay now, and only accept payment via PayPal. In my listings I specifically BLOCK bids from any country other than the US (sorry to my friends in the UK and France). By doing so I've seen a big drop in ghost bidding that ultimately ends up in no transaction and lost posting fees. The downside is, as you are all aware I'm sure, that if you're selling technology (which is pretty much all I sell) or "high value" items as determined by ebay, ebay will ask PayPal to enforce a hold on the buyer's funds once they hit your account. I sold a notebook a couple of months ago, have perfect feedback, no complaints/disputes/claims, yet my sale was flagged and the money (which was a fair chunk of change) was frozen until after the buyer signed for the item. They can actually hold for 3 days AFTER the buyer signs, but I must have moaned and groaned enough to the PayPal supervisor that he had it released the day it was signed for. Nonetheless, unless you're willing to suck up overnight/2nd day shipping, and depending on the day of the week, you could be frozen out of "your" money for up to a week. I understand the buyer protection needs, but ebay has sort of started to screw sellers.

Back OT, good catch by the OP and good post. It's an unfortunate reality in a globally connected world, and we all need to be cautious. BTW, I'm from Nigeria.

[thejgeffect]

I agree, craigslist is best to be used locally. I'm sure that stuff happens all the time I wouldn't even file a complaint.

[ilovemileyyy]

This almost happened to me too! With the whole tracking number thing. But the people at the post office were kind enough to TELL me it was a scam. Gotta love the USPS!

[fabuloso]

Lol, so much for making an honest living. I hate these types of scams. They are doing that now with tax returns in sending you an email th phish for your SSN.

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[oasissux]

These scams are so common, I'm surprised some people are still unaware of them. Any time I post anything on Craigslist, I get bogus replies from scammers. It's routine. I don't even bother to reply to them, unless it's to tell them to get a job. Legitimate buyers don't offer overpayment, they don't reside in some foreign locale and they don't offer unorthodox payment methods.

The best advice is meet people in person in a public place and take cash only. Odds are, if you're selling something worthwhile, someone in your city will want to buy it. You don't need to send it to someone halfway across the globe and hope for payment.

[Plazmic Flame]

I didn't read past the first 5 post but DUDE!!! If someone sends you a fake email representing another company, you should be reporting to that company!! In this case you should report it to PayPal and even send them the email or a screenshot.