Thread Number: 35321
/ Tag: 50s/60s/70s Vacuum Cleaners
Warning - Craig's list Scam!!! |
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Post# 380041   10/20/2017 at 14:49 (2,350 days old) by sptyks (Skowhegan, Maine)   |   | |
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Hi all, I was Scammed on Craig's List so this is a warning. I'm not sure if this scam is common or not but I have never heard of it before and they got me good.
I will be moving soon so I decided to sell two of my Kirby's and a few other items on Craig's List. I got an email from a gentleman in CA who said he wanted to buy all of my items. He said he would send a cashier's check via FedEx. He told me the check would be in excess of my selling price. The excess amount was to be sent to his moving Co. who would arrive at my home within 2 days after the check clears and to notify him as soon as the check cleared my bank.
Two days later the check cleared and the money was in my checking account. I notified him via text that the check cleared. He told me to deduct my selling price from the money and send the rest to his shipping company. I wired the money via Western Union to the account he specified and was waiting for the shipping company to arrive and pick up the 2 Kirby's and other items at my home.
The next morning I logged into my online banking account and noticed in horror that my account was overdrawn by well over $700. It turns out that the Cashier's check was being drawn on a fictitious bank that didn't even exist so of course the checked bounced. The check looked 100% authentic but the bank still removed all of the money from my account leaving me quite far in the hole.
So hopefully this will serve as a warning that not all cashier's checks are good! And only accept cash in hand for any items being sold on Craig's List.
~Stan
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Post# 380043 , Reply# 1   10/20/2017 at 15:41 (2,350 days old) by human (Pines of Carolina)   |   | |
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I had a similar experience several years ago when I was trying to sell a car. I had it advertised on Auto Trader, not Craigslist. A couple came to look at the car, liked it and agreed to my asking price. They said they'd pay by cashier's check and that since their bank was kind of far away, they'd go get the check and meet me at a funeral home across town to complete the transaction. We met, exchanged the title for the cashier's check, and they drove off with the car. I deposited the check the next day and a week later got a letter from my bank, stating that the cashier's check had bounced. What? Bounced? Cashier's checks don't bounce. That's the whole point of a cashier's check!
It turned out the check was fraudulent. I called the bank on which it was drawn and was informed that a stack of blank cashier's checks had been stolen from them and they were looking for the perpetrator. I went to the police, reported the car stolen, and they recovered it six hours later. It had a 10-day temporary paper tag on the back that had obviously been stolen off of another vehicle and the title was in the glove compartment. I spoke with a detective a few days later, who told me the same people had stolen three cars that day, using the same M.O. and two of the three cars had been recovered but the perpetrators had not yet been caught. Since the title that I had signed over had not been processed, it had a close encounter with my shredder and I just ordered a duplicate title to be able to sell the car. I've sold a couple of cars since then, but now I always insist on cash. The only way I would accept a cashier's check anymore is if I could go with them to the bank and watch the check being cut. I would likely then cash the check before leaving said bank. |
Post# 380066 , Reply# 4   10/21/2017 at 11:25 (2,349 days old) by fan-of-fans (USA)   |   | |
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I sometimes go on Craigslist, but haven't bought or sold anything on there. The cars on there so often seem to be scams - they won't show or list the mileage or say it's in great condition when clearly it's not. Even have seen cars listed as being the TOL trim level when again, clearly it's not.
Also for some reason Craigslist cars are often modified with all the aftermarket crap attached to them, I'm not sure why that is, with dealerships you usually see cars kept more pristine. Anyway, back on topic sorry you all experienced scams. Scammers have really gotten sophisticated these days to where you really don't know what's real and what's not anymore. |
Post# 380067 , Reply# 5   10/21/2017 at 11:29 (2,349 days old) by KirbyClassicIII (Milwaukie, Oregon)   |   | |
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My early 1985 Stark Deluxe (Royal) 880 was found via a Craigslist ad, but it wasn't a scam! It was all cash only, and the seller even accepted my 50% off suggestion.
~Ben
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Post# 380068 , Reply# 6   10/21/2017 at 12:01 (2,349 days old) by human (Pines of Carolina)   |   | |
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Post# 380158 , Reply# 7   10/22/2017 at 22:06 (2,348 days old) by Dch112 (Concord, CA)   |   | |
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This type of scam has been going on Craigslist for way more then 10 years. You should have known this. Craigslist has warnings regarding this. You must be a Craigslist newbe. |
Post# 380168 , Reply# 8   10/23/2017 at 04:16 (2,347 days old) by huskyvacs (Gnaw Bone, Indiana)   |   | |
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