NBC: be careful shopping on craigslist
St John
but in the selling of the previous boat I recieved many, many, many, (note multiples) requests for 'scammers' to 'buy my item', send me a 'cashiers cheque' (note spelling) for mucho dollars more than the asking price "to include the shipping costs to be paid to the 'pickup broker' by me", etc., ad infinitum......most of these scammers couldn't even tell me what the 'item' was when I emailed them back....not only do they ask some of the stupidest questions about the product (ex. "who is the previous owner?"....wha?...) they also asked for allllll kinds of personal information about sellers...DON'T GIVE IT OUT!!.........
however I DID sell it to a nice guy here in SoCal, and got the asking price in cash w/no problems....and became friends with the guy !....so it DOES work fairly well and I have sold many items there....just sort thru the b.s. and be careful what kind of information you give out over the internet.....also there are some good musicians making contacts of all kinds there....and have you ever read the column entitled "rants and raves"?...some really goood entertaining stuff there too......take care....STJ
One of the truest axioms in life is this; If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is....followed closely by the sage old advice buyer beware. The last few days I have been watching craigslist like a hawk trying to pickup a good 2nd vehicle. Along the way I have found a few deals that really sounded great, but the one that I am going to share was so far over the top, red flags immediately went up (and I do mean up). Anytime someone is offering a RAV4 for about $7,000 less than the 10K market value, you know there's something rotten in Denmark (or in this case Utah). One immediately wonders why, to begin with, is he advertising a vehicle on the Dallas craigslist when he's in Utah (a fact not disclosed in the ad, btw), and then why he can't sell such a great deal on a car locally? It's simple, he/she is a scam artist...no ifs, ands, or buts. I decided to play along, just for grins, and answer his ad. Here's the exchange so far. Btw, if he
does bait me into coming, I am seriously thinking about going, and taking a local cop with me as "my brother, the pilot." It'll cost me a couple or three days of work--but teaching an ahole a lesson, well, that's priceless. (I have done a little research, and this scamming problem is rampant on craigslists everywhere, so be careful the next time you're temted by that "too good to be true" ad, there or anywhere else). ------------------------------------- Utah? That's no problem my friend, my brother has his own small plane and said he'd be glad to fly me up there. We'll rent a car and drive to your place (and will have cash with us). I'd like to do this in the next day or two. Please send me your phone number so we can set things up. Regards, chuck ----- Original Message ----- From: "Alexander Swartz" <alexande...@gmail.com> To: "chuck" <runte...@sbcglobal.net> Sent: Sunday, September 23, 2007 7:15 PM Subject:
Re: Toyota RAV4 2001 SUV - $2950 > Hi there, > Thank you for contacting me regarding my car. > First of all I want to tell you that the car is in perfect condition, > and the price includes all the shipping costs and insurance so you > will not have to pay any extra charges.The car has a Clean Tittle > which will come along with it.I am at my son here in Utah , Ephraim. > The car is with me here and is in a perfect condition. > It's a great car. > I am devastated that I have to sell it but i really need money for my son > because he is in the hospital,so I decided to sell it. > Tell me if there is anything else you would like to know about the car. > If u want to see more pictures of the car please ask me that ! > Thank you for the interest you have shown in purchasing the car. > Please reply, > Regards
~the DEFROSTERZ blues band~
www.thebluesuniverse.com
www.myspace.com/stjohnzblues
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Stan Erhart
site and embedded in the ads you post. If you're the seller, and
craigslist forwards you an email from a potential buyer, half the email is
full of Craigslist scam artist warnings. If you want to see how the
scammers pounce on stuff, just advertise a digital camera. You'll get all
kinds of offers from people wanting to send you money orders for the
asking price or more. All you have to do is send them the merchandise and
you'll get paid. Not!!! Evidently there are software tools available to
monitor Craigslist ads as they're posted and the scammers automatically
send you bogus offers that look like they're coming from a human being.
However, it's a pretty cool service as long as you use good sense and
don't overly trust everyone who contacts you. If you buy and sell
locally, you'll find yourself talking to musicians you already know, and
meeting a few new ones in the process. If I'm selling a small item to a
person I don't know, I usually meet them in a public place to make the
transaction. It provides a reasonably safe environment and the buyer
doesn't learn my home address unnecessarily.
-Stan
Blues Music List <BLU...@LISTS.NETSPACE.ORG> wrote on 09/26/2007 10:40:12
AM:
Blues-L web site: http://www.netspace.org/~blues-l/
Dick Waterman
> However, it's a pretty cool service as long as you use good sense and
> don't overly trust everyone who contacts you. If you buy and sell
> locally, you'll find yourself talking to musicians you already know, and
> meeting a few new ones in the process.
>
I bought tickets for Lucinda Williams in Memphis and was promised "front row
center seats at face value."
I ended up sitting in the front row directly in front of Ms. Williams so . .
. uhhh . . . no bad report from me . . .
Dick Waterman
Oxford, MS
www.dickwaterman.com
**************************************
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Stan Erhart
Craigsist) and ended up 20 feet from the end of the walkway where they
setup their small combo-like stage for the middle of the show. Best seats
in the park for the money. Fun show, too, with Cheryl Crow riding on
Mick's back singing harmony on Honky Tonk Women. Maybe the Stones are too
big to be true bluesers, but they have blues cred to me and I enjoyed
seeing them again. I didn't like the Stones until I saw them in K.C. in
1972 with Stevie Wonder opening for them. It opened my eyes a little. The
old saying of having an audience in the palm of their hands was a huge
understatement at that show. Their story about Muddy Waters painting at
Chess Studios when they first met him is funny. Not sure how true it is.
Blues Music List <BLU...@LISTS.NETSPACE.ORG> wrote on 09/26/2007 11:23:46
AM:
> In a message dated 9/26/07 1:19:41 PM, stan_...@pcworld.com writes:
>
>
> > However, it's a pretty cool service as long as you use good sense and
> > don't overly trust everyone who contacts you. If you buy and sell
> > locally, you'll find yourself talking to musicians you already know,
and
> > meeting a few new ones in the process.
> >
>
> I bought tickets for Lucinda Williams in Memphis and was promised "front
row
> center seats at face value."
>
> I ended up sitting in the front row directly in front of Ms. Williams so
. .
> . uhhh . . . no bad report from me . . .
>
> Dick Waterman
> Oxford, MS
> www.dickwaterman.com
Blues-L web site: http://www.netspace.org/~blues-l/
Jimmy Jacobs
camera and a laptop there. Finally was successful in selling the camera,
but gave up on the laptop. I had "winning" but fraudulent bids of up to
$3400 for a computer worth around $300. Really frustrating since there were
legitimate bidders that I missed out on.
jaywatt...@comcast.net
Jay
-------------- Original message --------------
From: Stan Erhart <stan_...@pcworld.com>
> I bought Stones tix a few years ago for PacBell Park (at face value off of
> Craigsist) and ended up 20 feet from the end of the walkway where they
> setup their small combo-like stage for the middle of the show. Best seats
> in the park for the money. Fun show, too, with Cheryl Crow riding on
> Mick's back singing harmony on Honky Tonk Women. Maybe the Stones are too
> big to be true bluesers, but they have blues cred to me and I enjoyed
> seeing them again. I didn't like the Stones until I saw them in K.C. in
> 1972 with Stevie Wonder opening for them. It opened my eyes a little. The
> old saying of having an audience in the palm of their hands was a huge
> understatement at that show. Their story about Muddy Waters painting at
> Chess Studios when they first met him is funny. Not sure how true it is.
>
> Blues Music List wrote on 09/26/2007 11:23:46
> AM:
>
> > In a message dated 9/26/07 1:19:41 PM, stan_...@pcworld.com writes:
> >
> >
> > > However, it's a pretty cool service as long as you use good sense and
> > > don't overly trust everyone who contacts you. If you buy and sell
> > > locally, you'll find yourself talking to musicians you already know,
> and
> > > meeting a few new ones in the process.
> > >
> >
> > I bought tickets for Lucinda Williams in Memphis and was promised "front
> row
> > center seats at face value."
> >
> > I ended up sitting in the front row directly in front of Ms. Williams so
> . .
> > . uhhh . . . no bad report from me . . .
> >
> > Dick Waterman
> > Oxford, MS
> > www.dickwaterman.com
>
Steve Ahola
Great advice on using craigslist! I found craigslist to be particularly
handy when I needed to replace my cell phone (you would think that the
"5 second rule" would apply to dropping a cell phone into the toilet but
I guess not). While my wireless carrier offered me killer deals on a new
phone, I would have to sign a new contract which would cost me 60%
more for 25% fewer minutes. To buy a new phone from them at full price
didn't make a lot of sense, either. So I checked craigslist and found
someone selling a Razr phone at a decent price, thus allowing me to
sidestep my wireless carrier (or "sticking it to the man" in colloquial
terms).
FWIW I think that craigslist is not really like eBay but more like the
classified ads in newspapers, only without the fees involved which can
be prohibitive.
Here's a humorous ad I ran across on craigslist last month...
> to the rookie scammers who've been answering my piano ad (boulder
> creek)
>
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> Reply to: mailto:sale-39...@craigslist.org?subject=to the rookie
> scammers who've been answering my piano ad (boulder creek) Date:
> 2007-08-16, 1:22AM PDT
>
>
> Dear Pillars of the CL Community,
>
> Thank you so much for your mass generated replies and requests for
> all of my personal information, and for your questions which are
> either completely nonsensical, unnecessary, or already answered
> plainly in my ad!
>
> Here are the specs you asked for, minus my "full and complete details
> including exact location and all phone numbers please" :
>
> 1) the foster upright piano "car" has had three owners that im aware
> of, all of whom mistreated it horribly, never ever taking it out for
> a spin or even bothering to change the oil.
>
> 2) the reason i am selling it is because, as previously mentioned, i
> am moving and cannot take it with me... plus it has no steering wheel
> and makes a lot of noise.
>
> 3) its "recent conditional" is: disassembled into 45,863 pieces, all
> of them individually wrapped in sandwich bags and buried under my
> house.
>
> 4) the "mostost currently asking prices" are either the $150.00
> already stated in the ad, or i will accept $15,000 dollars worth of
> broccoli. (organically grown and crowns only, please. thats where the
> vitamins are.)
>
> Thank You and Best Regards to you as well, "Doctor/Pastor/Mrs" !
>
> To one of you in particular: I would be especially interested in
> accepting your payment of $150.00 by way of helping you cash that
> $3000.00 fake money order from a "third party who owes you"...sounds
> great! Just for fun can we throw in a secret knock or a password, or
> maybe meet in the middle of a busy fair when i give you the
> remainder? You wear a red baseball hat on backwards so I can find
> you. I'll be the one with "SUCKER" written on their forehead, not
> that you can read.
>
>
Steve Ahola