I just got scammed for the first time this week and it was no fun at all. I have been selling products online for over 10 years now and I guess luckily never had a bad transaction with anyone.
Well as luck has it, a nice gentlemen approached me through email about a Craigslist ad I placed. He was very cordial and polite. Asked about my day, mentioned about his. Asked about my product and made me an offer. I told him his offer was being outbid by another bidder, so he offered more. Well, as it turns out, he sends me his cashier’s check for the product and said he’d pick the product up later in the week when he is back in town. OK, no problem, I’ve had that happen before. But for all you newbie’s about to be scammed like me, and common knowledge that I just learned, if there is more to your transaction than this….run!!!
The nice gentleman followed up the next day with an email stating that he is having a mover pick up my product. That is when I started to doubt. He said that he just sent the full check to me for my product and the mover’s fee. OK, so he wanted me to give the fee to the mover when the product was picked up. Not so fast. (Most of you reading this know what is coming next and you are probably thinking I am an idiot, which…..I accept that criticism…) But anyway, this article if for those ignorant to this particular scam, so don’t crucify me here!
What happens next you say? OK I go to the bank and tell them I want to cash the check. They look at the check funny and then take it back to the branch manager. I’m still thinking “no big deal” because any time I ever cashed a large check, this same bank handled it the same way. Upon return, the teller cashed the check without a question.
Later that day I get an email from the scammer….”My shipper has been delayed, he can pick up your product next week, but needs his fee advanced to him before now. Please (duh…) send via Money gram to help me out. Thanks very much for your trustworthiness and helpfulness in this matter.
Stupid innocent me.
So I go to the local Rite Aid to the money gram phone. All over the phone are stickers saying “Don’t send money to somebody you do not know personally”….and in my mind I’m thinking “Why not? The bank cleared the check, I have cash in hand. What is the problem?” So I go ahead and forward the shippers fees over money gram, and let the scammer know that it’s taken care of. (I didn’t know it was a scam at the time…I still thought I was helping this nice older gentleman out….dumb dumb dumb!!!) Money gram goes through. Bye bye money. Ok, the newbies at this are thinking what I was thinking…”so what, it wasn’t really your money you forwarded, what’s the problem?”
Well anyway, that night the scammer tells me, “Thanks very much, you did a good job and helped me a lot. Please help one more time…my shipper who is going to pick up your stuff had to pay my sister in Florida to cover doctor bills for my sick and dying father. Please cash this check and send it to two people I know who urgently need the money. You can keep $600 for your own commission.
OK, now I got red flags popping up in my mind everywhere. I take the check to the bank today and guess what? Yeah…worthless. I also found out the first check he sent me for the Craigslist stuff, well that was worthless also. So what happens you might ask? With the check he sent today, nothing happened. The bank simply didn’t honor the check. With the check earlier this week that the bank cashed for me, and then I later forwarded on to this guys “shipper”….well, the bank took my own money out of my account to cover that check. Yeah, how about that?
Basically, I lost $2000 in a day. Trying to be helpful. But isn’t that what scamming is all about? Anyone that has never had this happen to them, be very wary at all times….if this has happened to you, post up on here and let me know how and what happened.
I am actually writing in anger at the moment because this just happened, but hopefully any reader of this will be more informed in the future so that this won’t happen to them also.
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