Someone Explain the Scam

They want your email, phone number, paypal and bank info!
Or they want you to send a deposit to hold it or just send the money so they get your cash and you get no camper!
Lots of people fall for scams! A local guy I know well was sending thousands a month to a woman in Russia for 4 years because she said she loved him online! He just sold me his big block Z28 because she took him for everything he had!
 
pigpenracing said:
They want your email, phone number, paypal and bank info!
Or they want you to send a deposit to hold it or just send the money so they get your cash and you get no camper!
Lots of people fall for scams! A local guy I know well was sending thousands a month to a woman in Russia for 4 years because she said she loved him online! He just sold me his big block Z28 because she took him for everything he had!
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I guess P.T. Barnum was correct.
 
I interacted with one of those locally a couple of weeks ago - high-end DSLR asking about 20% of value. Sent texts and emails (from throwaway accounts). Eventually got responses to text saying "It's my sister's, send me your email so she can send details." I kept responding "I have cash and am ready to buy - when can we meet?" and, no surprise, no response. But nothing at all with the email (though it went through Craiglist's anonymizer).
It was certainly too good to be true, and also too good to ignore.
Your Airstream ad has lots more details and is much better written. The camera ad was both barely literate and did not seem a native American English speaker.
 
They do the same thing with tractors. Pristine tractor with all the attachments for $2,600. Usually comes with a story about it being at his mother’s house and then him requesting your info.
 
Website duplicator scams are getting pretty good, too. Almost got me for some furniture recently, a piece off Wayfair was about 1/3 the cost on paticos.com and got me all the way to PayPal. When I noticed I would be sending money to a firstname/lastname/lotsofnumbers@gmail.com my spidey senses finally kicked in. A quick google of 'paticos scam' set me straight.
 
Sometimes the scammers want enough info to compromise your security and steal your cash. Sometimes they want you to send money via an unsecured route so they can steal your cash. I've had ones recently who wanted me to get a gift card. presumably so they could get its info and steal the cash. Simple rule of thumb, if the deal looks too good to be true it probably is. You really can't cheat an honest man.
 
Because there really are people stupid enough to send a deposit to hold sight unseen hoping for that amazing deal.
 
Sometimes it is stolen. It's not uncommon to use these sites to quickly flip stolen vehicles for less than market prices.
 
I'd suspect its phishing for email addresses that can be sold. Craigslist ads cost nothing to place. If they can create a list of real email addresses to real people who have shown some interest in purchasing a camper, they now have something companies would be interested in buying.
 
Juliet Hotel said:
Craigslist ads cost nothing to place. If they can create a list of real email addresses to real people who have shown some interest in purchasing a camper, they now have something companies would be interested in buying.
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Actually there is a $5 listing fee now for things like vehicles and trailers.
 
Lindberg said:
Sometimes it is stolen. It's not uncommon to use these sites to quickly flip stolen vehicles for less than market prices.
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Had two situations where the seller couldn't produce the title... one was you need to get that the from my ex-wife's attorney and the other was my cousin will get it to you... walked on both.

Shawn said:
Actually there is a $5 listing fee now for things like vehicles and trailers.
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I was wondering when they were going to monetize their listings..
 
Ventucky Red said:
I was wondering when they were going to monetize their listings..
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They always had in the job postings section where they had made their $$ from and the rest of the free listings just built their base...with the increased online job site competition that stagey is now less viable and CL less relevant in that market.
 
I see scam sale ads in every Craigslist category where it doesn't cost money to post ads. Look at the boats section especially. Around here I'd guess 2 out of 3 are obvious scams, and half the remainder are less obvious. Housing too. Before I even had a chance to post our latest rental house for rent... some scammer swiped pics from the listing on Zillow and posted it for rent on CL for $200 per month less than I listed it for. I contacted the scammer to see what the angle was. He wanted a deposit of a few hundred bucks before showing the house... of course it's FULLY refunded if you don't rent... yadda yadda. Everything was via text messages, he ignored repeated requests for an email address and of course no one ever answered the phone number. I set up a time for him to show me (MY) house... but of course he kept insisting on a "deposit".

I finally asked him how exactly he intended to show me the house when I was the only one who has keys for it, since it's MY DAMN HOUSE. Radio silence after that. of course. Craigslist has no way of reporting anything like this, of course. They don't care and take zero responsibility for anything their site is used for. If ever a business was ripe for a massive class action lawsuit...

Edit: Mistakenly referred to eBay, I meant Craigslist.
 
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Boone said:
They do the same thing with tractors. Pristine tractor with all the attachments for $2,600. Usually comes with a story about it being at his mother’s house and then him requesting your info.
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There is a "thing" about tractors: many people are selling them very cheaply right now, because they owe a bunch of money on them. But they aren't paying off the note, and there's a UCC lien filed on it, and JD or Mahindra or Kubota or whomever it was financed through may just stop by your house some day and take it back.
So if it doesn't have a title, check the UCC filings in any state it may have been purchased from. You won't win against a perfected lien.
 
DaleB said:
I see scam sale ads in every eBay category where it doesn't cost money to post ads. Look at the boats section especially. Around here I'd guess 2 out of 3 are obvious scams, and half the remainder are less obvious. Housing too. Before I even had a chance to post our latest rental house for rent... some scammer swiped pics from the listing on Zillow and posted it for rent on CL for $200 per month less than I listed it for. I contacted the scammer to see what the angle was. He wanted a deposit of a few hundred bucks before showing the house... of course it's FULLY refunded if you don't rent... yadda yadda. Everything was via text messages, he ignored repeated requests for an email address and of course no one ever answered the phone number. I set up a time for him to show me (MY) house... but of course he kept insisting on a "deposit".

I finally asked him how exactly he intended to show me the house when I was the only one who has keys for it, since it's MY DAMN HOUSE. Radio silence after that. of course. Craigslist has no way of reporting anything like this, of course. They don't care and take zero responsibility for anything their site is used for. If ever a business was ripe for a massive class action lawsuit...
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dot org. You get what you pay for.
 
When I listed my plane for sale, I got a response almost instantly.

I'm interested in your Meyer Little Toot. I have been looking for Meyer Little Toot. I've done research on Meyer Little Toot and I feel you're asking a fair price. Please send me more details on Meyer Little Toot and an address where I can send you a deposit for Meyer Little Toot.
 
Lowflynjack said:
When I listed my plane for sale, I got a response almost instantly.

I'm interested in your Meyer Little Toot. I have been looking for Meyer Little Toot. I've done research on Meyer Little Toot and I feel you're asking a fair price. Please send me more details on Meyer Little Toot and an address where I can send you a deposit for Meyer Little Toot.
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Aren't automated scripts great? :rolleyes:
 
Lowflynjack said:
When I listed my plane for sale, I got a response almost instantly.

I'm interested in your Meyer Little Toot. I have been looking for Meyer Little Toot. I've done research on Meyer Little Toot and I feel you're asking a fair price. Please send me more details on Meyer Little Toot and an address where I can send you a deposit for Meyer Little Toot.
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Funny, the same guy tried to buy my 18 year old Subaru Outback.

He is currently deployed, but his agent will forthwith advance the requested funding using a 100% secure escrow service and his shipper will come and pick up [item].
 
Lowflynjack said:
When I listed my plane for sale, I got a response almost instantly.

I'm interested in your Meyer Little Toot. I have been looking for Meyer Little Toot. I've done research on Meyer Little Toot and I feel you're asking a fair price. Please send me more details on Meyer Little Toot and an address where I can send you a deposit for Meyer Little Toot.
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I hope you sent him your address.... PO Box toot toot tooty two....
 
Shawn said:
Actually there is a $5 listing fee now for things like vehicles and trailers.
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IMO the $5 is worthwhile. I sold my travel trailer within a week of posting it, at asking price, on CL. RV Trader starts at $35.

Bonus, messing with scammers is fun.
 
Ventucky Red said:
Had two situations where the seller couldn't produce the title... one was you need to get that the from my ex-wife's attorney and the other was my cousin will get it to you... walked on both..
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Not surprised. I've been looking for used SCUBA gear. Most of the listings fall into three categories: 1) sketchy ads where the seller doesn't seem to know anything about the gear and is asking way too little; 2) like-new equipment where the seller was convinced to pay full retail for gear he was only going to use once, and he thinks he's going to get his money out of it; and 3) gear that was old when Sea Hunt was still on the air and would probably kill you. I have yet to see a single ad with good pictures and a good description where the seller was asking a fair price.
 
lots of people selling things they dont have. just to try and get a deposit. I got a call one night from a guy asking about my beach condo that I rent out, he saw it on craigslist and wondered about it. I said, "i hope you didn't send him any money as we do not use craigslist" he said, "no it sounded to good to be true so I looked up the owner and called you". I found the ad and called the guy asking about renting it and he was pretty smooth. the worst part was I contacted the police in atlanta where he was and they didn't want anything to do with it. the scumbag had copied the entire web page from my agent and put it up on craigslist.
 
Lindberg said:
Not surprised. I've been looking for used SCUBA gear. Most of the listings fall into three categories: 1) sketchy ads where the seller doesn't seem to know anything about the gear and is asking way too little; 2) like-new equipment where the seller was convinced to pay full retail for gear he was only going to use once, and he thinks he's going to get his money out of it; and 3) gear that was old when Sea Hunt was still on the air and would probably kill you. I have yet to see a single ad with good pictures and a good description where the seller was asking a fair price.
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Where are you based? I've got some tech diving gear for sale in northern NJ, and it doesn't fall into your three categories. An old listing is here: http://thedecostop.com/forums/showt...ckplate-wing-argon-inflation-system-and-more) About half of that is sold, I'm flexible on price for the rest. Photos available.
 
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