Is this a scam and how could it be? I have a esp guitar for sale on craigslist and i got this email.?

Question

Is this a scam and how could it be? I have a esp guitar for sale on craigslist and i got this email.?

Answer 1

Yep...its a scam...stay well away from it...dont even reply

Answer 2

Don't agree to this deal. Do not give this person your personal information.



It is a common scam procedure to offer to write a check for more than the amount. Then when you cash the check (even if it is supposedly certified or cashier's) after about two weeks it will bounce and you will be out the money and the merchandise.



Never take a check for more than the amount and when in doubt, ask for PayPal as an added layer of protection or go with your gut instinct and don't make the deal.

Answer 3

Obvious scam.

Answer 4

That's a generic Russian or African scam email. I get at least 1 for every CL add I ever have. The money orders are real like $3 bills.

Answer 5

This is a scam. Ignore this buyer and find someone else.

Answer 6

It is a scam, and a really old one at that! Here is how it breaks down.



The "buyer" sends you a check that isn't even worth the paper it's printed on. You deposit the check in your account. 5 days later the check automatically "clears" and you can withdraw the funds. You send a money order (real, worth money) to the "shipper" (accomplice to the buyer) and arrange to have the guitar picked up.



Here is where you get screwed!



Package is on it's way, money order sent to the shipper. NOW your bank notifies you that the check you deposited isn't worth a dime and takes the money back out of your account.



You don't have the guitar anymore, the money you supposedly made for the guitar is gone (because your bank discovered the check was fraudulent) and the "buyer" and the "shipper" split the profits from the money order you sent them ... and the sale of the guitar (when they sell it to someone else).



Most flavors of this scam use a check drawn on a bank outside the USA (takes longer to actually clear the check). If you decide to go through with this, get ready for a negative balance in your accounts.

Answer 7

SCAM - I don't know why people choose to ignore Craiglist's very clear scam warnings, especially these points http://www.craigslist.org/about/scams

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



FAKE CASHIER CHECKS & MONEY ORDERS ARE COMMON, and BANKS WILL CASH THEM AND THEN HOLD YOU RESPONSIBLE when the fake is discovered weeks later. "





It can take up to 4 weeks for a fake check or money order to bounce, but it will look like it clears after 3 days so you think it's good then send off your guitar



Remember YOU are the seller and YOU dictate the terms of the sale, not the buyer. ONLY deal with people who can meet you in person in a public location and pay you in cash or you will always get scammed and lose your item and your money



Write back to say that you accept cash only and if they can't meet you tomorrow at Starbucks (or wherever) with cash that you have another buyer

Answer 8

100% scam.



There is no buyer.



Notice how the scammer doesn't call what you are selling by name? He uses the generic word "item", that is because he sends the same stock copy/paste email to anyone selling everything that he can find and he has no idea what you are selling and doesn't care.



There is only a scammer trying to steal your hard-earned money.



He is not interested in your identity or bank account, only your cash.



The next email will be from another of the scammer's fake names and free email addresses pretending to be the "secretary/assistant/accountant" and will demand you cash a large fake check sent on a stolen UPS/FedEx billing account number and send the money via Western Union or moneygram back to the scammer posing as the "shipping company". When your bank realizes the check is fake and it bounces, you get the real life job of paying back the bank for the bounced check fees and all the bank's money you sent to an overseas criminal.



Western Union and moneygram do not verify anything on the form the sender fills out, not the name, not the street address, not the country, not even the gender of the receiver, it all means absolutely nothing. The clerk will not bother to check ID and will simply hand off your cash to whomever walks in the door with the MTCN# and question/answer. Neither company will tell the sender who picked up the cash, at what store location or even in what country your money walked out the door. Neither company has any kind of refund policy, money sent is money gone forever.



When you refuse to send him your cash he will send increasingly nasty and rude emails trying to convince you to go through with his scam. The scammer could also create another fake name and email address like "FBI@ gmail.com", "police_person @hotmail.com" or "investigator @yahoo.com" and send emails telling you the job is legit and you must cash the fake check and send your money to the scammer or you will face legal action. Just ignore, delete and block those email addresses. Although, reading a scammer's attempt at impersonating a law enforcement officer can be extremely funny.



Now that you have responded to a scammer, you are on his 'potential sucker' list, he will try again to separate you from your cash. He will send you more emails from his other free email addresses using another of his fake names with all kinds of stories of being the perfect buyer, great jobs, lottery winnings, millions in the bank and desperate, lonely, sexy singles. He will sell your email address to all his scamming buddies who will also send you dozens of fake emails all with the exact same goal, you sending them your cash via Western Union or moneygram.



Do you know how to check the header of a received email? If not, you could google for information. Being able to read the header to determine the geographic location an email originated from will help you weed out the most obvious scams and scammers. Then delete and block that scammer. Don't bother to tell him that you know he is a scammer, it isn't worth your effort. He has one job in life, convincing victims to send him their hard-earned cash.



Whenever suspicious or just plain curious, google everything, website addresses, names used, companies mentioned, phone numbers given, all email addresses, even sentences from the emails as you might be unpleasantly surprised at what you find already posted online. You can also post/ask here and every scam-warner-anti-fraud-busting site you can find before taking a chance and losing money to a scammer.



If you google "fake check buyer scam", "fake Western Union buyer fraud" or something similar and you will find hundreds of posts of victims and near victims of this type of scam.