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Posted: |
May 20, 2019 - 6:18 PM
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By: |
w-dervish
(Member)
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My mother owns a Casio digital piano. The keys are weighted so it feels like you are playing a real piano. It is a high quality item which originally cost her around $1,000 including accessories (purchased in 2005). Recently my dad told me that they wanted to sell it as my mother hasn't played it for awhile.
Despite never using it before, I decided to try Craigslist. The piano wasn't listed on Craigslist for long when someone calling herself "Brenda Standsfield" contacted me and said she was interested. According to her story, she couldn't come look at it herself. But she definitely wanted to buy - and at a price I inflated a little to leave some room for negotiation. "Brenda" said she'd send a check then have a "shipping agent" pick it up and deliver it to her.
I received the check but it was for $1700.00 - when the asking price was $580.00. I informed her of this "error" and she claimed it was a mistake - and that I should send her the excess back via a money order I was supposed to purchase at Wal-Mart. Obviously this was a scam. One I have no idea how she thought she could get away with, given the fact that I told her at the start of the process that we'd have to wait for the check to clear until scheduling a pickup of the piano (which applied to sending back the $1120 difference).
Additionally, when I called the bank that issued the check (and gave them the business name on the check - which wasn't "Brenda Standsfield" - plus the account number) the person I spoke with said the check was, quote, "no good". I contacted "Brenda" by text (how we had been communicating - I never spoke with her on the phone) and told her what the bank said.
Despite this she texted me again a few days later. The message just said "hello". Then, a few days later I got another that said "You will be invite by some police officer". She contacted me a 3rd time by text before giving up (I ignored these 3 texts).
Now, a month later, I got another interested party. "Karen Hamilton" sent me a phone number and said I should text her. I did and, from what she said it sounded like she wanted to come in person and look at the piano. But she wanted me to send her my Paypal email address so she could send me the money via Paypal. She said she would use the "premium service" which (as per her text) would "ensure safety between the buyer and seller".
Anyway, I told her a couple of times that she could pay in person after looking at the item. And I also asked (twice) if she lived in my area. Finally she revealed (lied) that she did live in the area but was currently in another state traveling for her job. And that she would have "movers" come and pick up the piano. "Movers" being the same word "Brenda" used after referring to a "shipping agent" once (all texts after that referred to "movers").
I strongly suspect this is the same person. I Googled the phone number "Karen" gave me to text her at, and Google says it is a number in Utah. Utah is the same address that was on the Priority Mail envelope "Brenda" sent me (with the fake check in it). When I asked if she lived in Utah that is when told me she lived in my area but was currently out-of-state.
As it turns out (I wasn't aware of this initially), CraigsList cautions against sales involving a "shipping agent". So I told "Karen" that I was sorry but that I was only willing to sell to someone who was able to come get the piano in person. So far I haven't heard back from her.
My question is... how was me giving her my Paypal address (and her sending me a payment via paypal, presumably) going to result in me being scammed out of money? I told her that any payment via Paypal would have to be with funds drawn from either (1) a linked bank account, or (2) a Paypal balance. Because I didn't want to worry about a possible chargeback (which could happen if she paid with a credit card).
So what was her plan? It is perplexing, but her initial plan (when she contacted me as "Brenda") was also flawed, in that I told her we'd have to wait until the check cleared. And I certainly wasn't going to send her the difference after the check bounced (and my bank charged me a $30 fee).
So, I contacted the USPS and gave them all the info I had regarding the attempted mail fraud (fake check sent by Priority mail). I received a response saying my report was received. But they aren't going to get back to me and say what (if anything) might come of my report.
Anyone have any idea what her plan might have been? Additionally, I contacted the Post Office and reported mail fraud - because I thought... she's probably pulling this scam on other people. And some of those people must be falling for it. So I should do what I can to try and stop her. But obviously she is still at it (if "Brenda" and "Karen" are the same person, and I'm pretty sure they are). And BRAZEN enough to try a SECOND TIME to rip me off.
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Ignore any one who says they are having " their agent/accountant cut you a check. Paying more than you asked for is an obvious flashing light that says " SCAM"
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Back around the year 2000, I knew an older man at work who got into computers and thought he was savvy. He copied his huge collection of jazz CDs onto CDRs, and sold all the originals on eBay.
Then he got a phishing email, thought it was from PayPal, and you know the rest. He lost over $3000 in his PayPal account, which was all the money he'd gotten for his CDs and all that work. All he could do was shake his head.
He's lucky nobody sent him a counterfeit cashier's check with an extra $1000 tacked on, that he should kindly refund to the buyer. He would have gone for that, too.
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I had the same person contact me twice als9.
I wrote them " if I didn't fall for your scam the first time what makes you think I will this time?"
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If person offers to send you money by Western Union it's a SCAM
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And paypal didnt guarantee some protection back then? Why didn't he withdraw his money in the first place? Granted, we use paypal alot, but I wouldn't have left that much money there.
He was an older guy, overconfident in general, and he assumed he couldn't go wrong. As for guarantees, if the scammer logged on with your ID and password and took the money, that was it. At least it was in those days. I'm not aware of their current policies.
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Craigslist, like other sites, is ripe with scammers, both contacting you and posting ads.
Good rule of thumb: Never take a check from a stranger; always meet the person and take cash only.
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Something a lot of people don't know- PayPal doesn't work like a bank. You don't have the same legal protections storing your money in PayPal as you do in a bank. Also PayPal can take money right out of your bank account even if you transfer all your money into a bank.
The Solium Warning
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Also PayPal can take money right out of your bank account even if you transfer all your money into a bank.
I didn't know that, but I instinctively never linked my bank account to PayPal. Just a credit card. I was more concerned about hackers, but it adds up the same.
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I experienced something similar a few years ago, when I was trying to sell an old (but fairly sophisticated) video camera on Craigslist.
I was contacted by someone who was interested in the camera for his wife "who is a news videographer in Africa".
This immediately struck me as suspect. Why would a professional news shooter in Africa want her husband to purchase a video camera for her in America -- especially when African countries use the PAL frame rates of 25p / 50i (whereas the Americas are 30p / 60i)?
His area code was also from another state, and he wanted to meet me "someplace" so he could "look at the camera".
I told him that wasn't convenient for me, and called-off the sale.
Then someone from another state (probably the same guy) texted me, and also wanted to look at the camera. I decided Craiglist wasn't a very good option for selling things.
Oh, and on another occasion, I saw a Craigslist ad looking to hire a videographer. I contacted the person, and it turned out to be a college girl who was looking to start a business making foot fetish videos. I said thanks, but that really isn't my scene.
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