I think that craigslist scams are very prevalent now, esp. among ads for Macs. And although there are threads about scams in these forums, they're not stickied and the information is scattered. Therefore, I think it is worthwhile to start a thread meant specifically to advise people about purchasing macs on craigslist and how to spot a scam.
Most of it sounds straight forward, but people nearly fall and probably do fall for them everyday.
The has anyone heard of Paysafe thread is a great thread but unfortunately located in the marketplace where less users read and I think a thread belongs here that needs to be stickied.
As posted on the Craigslist About Scams Page, the best way to avoid scams is to deal LOCALLY with people you can meet in person.
But many ads don't initially mention a) where the machine is located and b)how a local transaction would proceed. Therefore an e-mail correspondence must be initiated.
How to tell from E-mails that this is a scam
Tactics
The person is in a foreign country!
Unfortunately, this was not revealed until 2-3 emails in. The seller also claimed the machine was in local storage and that I could gain access and see it before making the purchase.
They use a fake address in the UK, for example:
The "seller" address is in a commercial district, not at all residential and the latter goes to Mulberry home, according to user flyinmac, our resident Agent Mulder.
I had also received the same seller address but a different agent adress:
What to do about it
Hopefully most people don't ever actually complete the transaction.
Unfortunately, the names addresses are fake. So reporting to the police probably won't go far.
The emails are also fake, like hotmail accounts.
UK Police won't do anything. If you want to file a report with the U.S. police, you have to walk into a station to file a report.
User Keebler suggests reporting it to the Internet Crime Complaint Center here:
http://www.ic3.gov/
You can also report to Craigslist, but usually those listings go up and down really quick.
Samples of Correspondence from Scammer
Response from scammer as transaction proceeds further
Please add to this "guide" in progress and not just flood it with comments. If someone could get a mod to sticky this, that would be great!
Most of it sounds straight forward, but people nearly fall and probably do fall for them everyday.
The has anyone heard of Paysafe thread is a great thread but unfortunately located in the marketplace where less users read and I think a thread belongs here that needs to be stickied.
As posted on the Craigslist About Scams Page, the best way to avoid scams is to deal LOCALLY with people you can meet in person.
But many ads don't initially mention a) where the machine is located and b)how a local transaction would proceed. Therefore an e-mail correspondence must be initiated.
How to tell from E-mails that this is a scam
Tactics
- The price is too good. Examples: A Macbook Pro for $900 or a Powermac and 23" for less than $2000 or a Mac Pro and 30" for $2400.
- Person won't give you his phone number.
- Seller claims to use an escrow company and/or storage companies, many of which are reputable, including TNT Shipping.
- Payment should be sent using:
- Paysafe
- Moneybookers
- WESTERN UNION
The person is in a foreign country!
Unfortunately, this was not revealed until 2-3 emails in. The seller also claimed the machine was in local storage and that I could gain access and see it before making the purchase.
They use a fake address in the UK, for example:
The "seller" address is in a commercial district, not at all residential and the latter goes to Mulberry home, according to user flyinmac, our resident Agent Mulder.
I had also received the same seller address but a different agent adress:
What to do about it
Hopefully most people don't ever actually complete the transaction.
Unfortunately, the names addresses are fake. So reporting to the police probably won't go far.
The emails are also fake, like hotmail accounts.
UK Police won't do anything. If you want to file a report with the U.S. police, you have to walk into a station to file a report.
User Keebler suggests reporting it to the Internet Crime Complaint Center here:
http://www.ic3.gov/
You can also report to Craigslist, but usually those listings go up and down really quick.
Samples of Correspondence from Scammer
Response from scammer as transaction proceeds further
Please add to this "guide" in progress and not just flood it with comments. If someone could get a mod to sticky this, that would be great!
