[wannabeabonedoc]

I've got my wife's roadbike posted in the classified section here on RM and I got this email today: names taken out for privacy or whatever

"Hello, i am ******,i came across your advert on the website and i am highly interested in buying your (Trek 1500 WSD roadbike) for my son,and also i will like you to give me your last price and the present condition of it.Further more i will like to inform you that my mode of payment will be money order.Plaese get back to me with the last price,and also any pics you can forward it. thanks and regard....."

Am I to believe this is a scam?

 

[Tattooo]

sounds fishy to me.
I'd ask for a contact number, and a working email off of something like cox.net, something that has to be varified.

Then take nothing other then Postal Money Orders or Paypal.

 

[drt_jumper]

+1 on the postal money order....just sounds like the guy is mildly retarded or something.

 

[wannabeabonedoc]

Thanks for the insight

 

[Westy]

I got the exact same message today about my Gemini. That is one spoiled kid. How many "sons" want a WSD bike?

I thought it was a scam, now I see that you got the same message I know it is a scam.

 

[wannabeabonedoc]

Oh even better. I was excited about selling too......bugger!

 

[mud'n'sweat]

I've got my wife's roadbike posted in the classified section here on RM and I got this email today: names taken out for privacy or whatever

"Hello, i am ******,i came across your advert on the website and i am highly interested in buying your (Trek 1500 WSD roadbike) for my son,and also i will like you to give me your last price and the present condition of it.Further more i will like to inform you that my mode of payment will be money order.Plaese get back to me with the last price,and also any pics you can forward it. thanks and regard....."

Am I to believe this is a scam?

Definite scam, I get this EXACT same email for every item I post on craigslist for sale.

 

[BIRDMAN111]

get a number, check the number. read the entire warning list on pinkbike. its very help full because if you switch it to pinkbike they can look into him and stuff if you email them

 

[SK6]

Ask for the money first, in the meantime, sell it to the first buyer.

 

[Transfer]

Yeah, I get this same email all the time for any type of item. I went along with it once, here's my story...

It's the standard cash a big check, send some through money order, blah blah blah. They offer to send you a $10,000 check for a $1000 item or something and you have to wire back let's say $7500 of it and their agent will pick up the item. They send you the "cashier's check" which is a fake from a real bank and LOOKS real. I got it FedEx'ed to me, looked up the bank on the net (from CT), called them and they said this was an issue they were trying to deal with.

Turns out the FedEx was international from Nigeria (home of the worst scum in the world, no joke), and when I didn't wire the money, they were out the $100 or so to FedEx me the fake check. So I get an international call at like 2:30am and it's the weirdest call ever. An operator was relaying a typed message. Sort of like I.M. with someone narrating. ha! Anyway I tell the person he's a jerk and I'm not sending any money and he says (through the operator of course) F*** you, my children are starving. I say too bad and he says he's going to kill me. THROUGH THE OPERATOR. So I tell the operator who is kind of laughing, hey I'm going to hang up now and she says ok bye. I called the secret service the next morning because they're in charge of these kind of things and they said they can't really do anything about it and that people are indeed getting scammed by this same thing.

So anyway, that's my crazy story.

 

[wannabeabonedoc]

Yeah, I get this same email all the time for any type of item. I went along with it once, here's my story...

It's the standard cash a big check, send some through money order, blah blah blah. They offer to send you a $10,000 check for a $1000 item or something and you have to wire back let's say $7500 of it and their agent will pick up the item. They send you the "cashier's check" which is a fake from a real bank and LOOKS real. I got it FedEx'ed to me, looked up the bank on the net (from CT), called them and they said this was an issue they were trying to deal with.

Turns out the FedEx was international from Nigeria (home of the worst scum in the world, no joke), and when I didn't wire the money, they were out the $100 or so to FedEx me the fake check. So I get an international call at like 2:30am and it's the weirdest call ever. An operator was relaying a typed message. Sort of like I.M. with someone narrating. ha! Anyway I tell the person he's a jerk and I'm not sending any money and he says (through the operator of course) F*** you, my children are starving. I say too bad and he says he's going to kill me. THROUGH THE OPERATOR. So I tell the operator who is kind of laughing, hey I'm going to hang up now and she says ok bye. I called the secret service the next morning because they're in charge of these kind of things and they said they can't really do anything about it and that people are indeed getting scammed by this same thing.

So anyway, that's my crazy story.

For the win!!

 

[Shortbus]

I make a basic rule that anyone asking me about my "advert" gets thrown into my spam folder

 

[TDN]

the reason the scam works is that a cashier's check, even from an international bank, will clear in 1 business day. but the US bank where you cash or deposit the check won't get their money for several days. meanwhile, the bank clears the check so you think it's all good. you send the items(s) and/or money order (which of course is cleared funds) and by the time the cashier's check bounces it's too late. then the bank charges you for the bounced check plus a fee. and of course you're SOL.

 

[mud'n'sweat]

The only thing I bother doing with these emails is to take the email address, and sign up for a bunch of porn sites with it. I also take the address and use it to reply to all of the spam emails I get in my spam email account. Within one week the person will no longer be able to use that email address.

 

[Del]

I've noticed that anytime an email starts with, "I saw your advert" it is a scam.

 

[skatetokil]

i got 2 of the same emails for my ridemonkey ad. there is a dedicated scumbag on here now so beware.

 

[dhphoto]

I've noticed that anytime an email starts with, "I saw your advert" it is a scam.

I totally agree! I've gotten a very similar email for almost a year now after I posted my Subaru on craigslist. But what I really love is emailing them back, and just to f*** with em, tell them I have their IP address and that I'll send the cops after them. I've never had anyone email me a second time after hearing that.

 

[Transfer]

They're not in the country.

 

[skatetokil]

then i tell them i have the nigerian death sqads after them.