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Legit Buyer? Please advise

S

superspiffy

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Feb 6, 2007
740
0
I'm selling my MBP for 2000 and I found this buyer who apparently, will buy it for 2100 if I ship it to somewhere in Alaska. The buyer will be making the payment via US postal service. I've never done a transaction that involves mail or anything, but does this sound fishy or no? Is there any possible way I'll get screwed? Seems like this buyer really wants my full name, address and phone number. I'd rather make a face to face transaction, but this deal seems good. PLEASE ADVISE!

Thanks for getting back to me with the condition of the unit as well as the asking price for it. I would love to come in person to confirm again if it's in perfect working order before paying in CASH for my Son who's studying in a college but can only take place if you are nearby Anchorage, AK because work at the Charity home looking after the ORPHANAGE kids at the Alaska Children's Services.

If you are not nearby, it's is advisable i send you a postal money order through my US postal service account which will arrive at your residence OR mail box while i make arrangment by on how the unit will be shipped directly to my Son via Fed Ex account # so it can be billed.

If you wish to compromise with my mode of payment, kindly email back with your full name, mailing address likewise your phone # just to know where payment will arrive after confirmation has been received via email on your item for proof of payment. Will look forward to your mailing informations inorder to finalize on payment immediately. Thanks.

I will make an offer of $2,100.00 just for correct packaging material such as crumpled paper, bubble wrap and/or styrofoam "peanuts" arround the unit just to avoid shifting after it's in transit to it's destination. My advise for you as a seller is to delete the posting off craigslist so as not to allow other buyer to bid on it.

Facility Name : Alaska Children's Services
Address : 4600 Abbott Road
City, ST Zip : Anchorage, AK 99507
 
Absolutely positively a scam. Think about it - there are Apple dealers in Anchorage Alaska... why does he need to buy from a local craigslist 3000 miles away? He implies that there is some form of US Postal Service money account which will protect you. No. You are going to get a forged money order which your bank will charge you back on in three - four weeks when it bounces. Bad English grammar is also fishy (yes, yes I know - unfair to new Americans, etc. But it's a common factor among offshore scammers to use overly formal and ungrammatic English trying to pass as a US resident)

When it comes time to ship it, the shipping address will be some other place.

DO NOT do any transactions from craigslist that are not face to face.
 
Almost certainly a scam. Why else would he capitalize "ORPHANAGE" and keep going on about is son? His English isn't brilliant either "it's is advisable".
 
My scam-o-meter just hit 11 while reading that. Most noticeably, he overcomplicates the transaction process, has atrocious english, and capitalizes words that may be appealing to you as a seller or human being.

As a further point, craigslist themselves recommend to avoid all non-local craigslist transactions.
 
scam.

orphanage?? who writes that??!!

i think it states right on craigslist that you should not accept/cash any money orders as they will lead to financial ruin...
 
jsw said:
I dunno.

I don't get a good feeling about it.

You could call the children's center and ask for the guy as at least a partial step.
Click to expand...

I just called the number on that site and asked if a Gloria Williams (which was the name that appeared in the email) works there, and she doesn't! Furthermore, after inspecting my mail box a little bit more, I found two more women that were willing to give me the exact same deal and who all wrote in bad English:

This one is from "Angela Wills"

I'm high impressed and very satisfied with the condition of this item and the condition of the item has movitated me to offer you $2,100.00 for this item of yours.

I will be making my payment through my Bidpay account in which the money will be delivered to your contact address without being stressed.

For the whole shipping process, all will be done by me via my fedEX account as soon as the payment gets through which you won't be charge. Kindly get back to me with your full name, address and phone number, so we can proceed with the transaction as soon as today.

I look forward to hear from you.

Warmest Regards,
Angela

This one from "Jessica Bailey"

Thanks for your email I find your item much irresistible so i feel
the need to negotiate with you on the sale of this item or more unit if
available. i am sorry to say that i am new to craigslist.org and i never
shop online this is my first time of being here. I need the item urgently so
i can meet the sales targetted for the year 2007. I have an offer that i
hope you will grant. I am ready to pay for the item immediately with an
offer of $2100 for it plus your buy it now price/reserve price without
delay. I will handle the shipping charges with the companys' FedEx discount
account. For faster transaction and immediate payment, do provide your info,
name, address and phone number. I will be making payment via United Staes
Postal Order (USPS) . and as soon as you are 100% confirmed of your money i
will then send for the pick up immediately..you can reach me at 559-316-4862
so i will be waiting for your reply as soon as possible,i will be expecting
your email soon.

All these emails from different people are being highlighted blue by Apple Mail. Hmm... same person? Also you get a strange feeling that these names are "too generic" and I think female names were chosen specifically to "let my guard down." Notice the bad English, and the urgent if not desperate tone.

I'm getting chills because I already gave this bastard my full name and phone in previous emails, prompting him to gimme a call to clarify the deal a little bit more. No calls thus far. But with a full name and number, is there anyway I can get screwed?
 
I used to live in Anchorage, so this piqued my interest!
From his address on Abbott Road, head up Rt 1, left onto Tudor and you are at the Apple Store.
There has to be something wrong with this "deal". Why would anyone want to make it more complicated?!
You are safe, your name and number are in the phone book anyway!
 
jsw said:
Just a name and number?

No... it's in the phone book, presumably. I think you'll be fine. Did you give any other more secure info?
Click to expand...

Nope.

I would never do that unless it's an addy of a restaurant I'm willing to go to make the trade. But honestly, are they really expecting that somebody's actually gonna give them their address?
 
So I guess we've all established that this is a scam. Question is, what to do about it?

P-P-P-POWERBOOK anyone? :D
 
Yeah, this seems a lot like the "my daughter is in school in Nigeria, I will gladly pay $3000 for your $2000 laptop if you could ship it out today, I will get a money order in the mail right away"

Only difference is that is more local, at least in the 50 states. But that maybe because they know people are catching on (slowly, but surely) I would ask to do the transaction via paypal, if they say no then forget them.......
 
Absolut Fraud!

it stinks of a fraud !! check out .. there is a thread somewhere in this forum describing such frauds!!!! :apple:
 
synth3tik said:
Yeah, this seems a lot like the "my daughter is in school in Nigeria, I will gladly pay $3000 for your $2000 laptop if you could ship it out today, I will get a money order in the mail right away"

Only difference is that is more local, at least in the 50 states. But that maybe because they know people are catching on (slowly, but surely) I would ask to do the transaction via paypal, if they say no then forget them.......
Click to expand...

If the buyer has compromised a paypal account and pays, paypal may withdraw the funds out of your account once this comes to their attention. I've had this happen to me before on some minor design work (one has to wonder why they even bothered).
 
synth3tik said:
Yeah, this seems a lot like the "my daughter is in school in Nigeria, I will gladly pay $3000 for your $2000 laptop if you could ship it out today, I will get a money order in the mail right away"

Only difference is that is more local, at least in the 50 states. But that maybe because they know people are catching on (slowly, but surely) I would ask to do the transaction via paypal, if they say no then forget them.......
Click to expand...
My ebay account has been hit by many scams like this I had sold 2 laptops to people who said they were in the US and were in other counties...AVOID!
 
I received the exact same email a week ago.

My instinct then was this is a scam.

My advice in an age of cancelling credit card payments, fake bank drafts & cheques, etc., Deal locally and in cash.

I have sold a bunch of things through the years. eBay is basically dead for this type of transaction. Craigs list is the way to do it, but meet in person in a public place and GET CASH.

Legit people will have no problem with this.
 
LOL, tell them to send the checks/money order anyways and sit on it for 2 months. Then keep telling them you've sent it. For the person who would pay with his own fedex account just package bricks and send it off.

I was selling something and i got similar offers. They were going to have Fedex do a package pickup so I went to home depot and bought 3 cinder blocks for $3.xx. Packaged each one in a box and sent them as Fedex came to pick them up. I gave them the tracking number and everything (not cashing the three "money orders") when it showed as being delivered they never contacted me again.
 
without a doubt 2 of the 3 letters you got were scams! That Angela Wills seems like a trustworthy young lady..send her your laptop.


JUST KIDDING!

No doubt this is scam. Money orders are so easy to copy if the receiver doesn't know what to look for. As a matter of fact, our local news ran a piece about money order fraud.
 
mainomega said:
LOL, tell them to send the checks/money order anyways and sit on it for 2 months. Then keep telling them you've sent it. For the person who would pay with his own fedex account just package bricks and send it off.
Click to expand...

The only problem with this is that it makes you complicit in mail fraud as well. A federal offense. You could try and report your suspicions to authorities in Alaska or better yet, just walk away and forget about it.
 
Its a scam. I've sold stuff on Craigslist before, and you should always follow the advice they give you -- NEVER sell out of your local area. If you have to ship it so they guy can send you some weird, unsecure "money order"...you can't trust it. Not to mention the fact that your letter is nearly a carbon copy of a letter I got recently while selling an iPod Nano on Craigslist. Don't send it to him, just ignore it.

Its pretty funny if you do actually follow through on one of them though. They send you this email with flying dollars all over the screen that says something to the effect of "Your moneys has been recieved," trying to make a less-than-computer literate person believe that somehow this email amounts to a "US postal order."

Craigslist tips:
1) Always sell locally, and always meet the seller/buyer IN PERSON.
2) Try not to arrange a meeting in the middle of the nowhere at midnight or somesuch -- suggest meeting at either of the person's business or somewhere similar. No need to get mugged by a couple of heavyweights who want your money. Legit people will have no problem with this.
3) If selling, always request that the buyer pay you in cash. Legit buyers understand your concern and will have no problem with this. Checks are bad; your bank won't tell you they've bounced for about a week, and then you'll probably be out of luck.
4) Try and talk to the buyer/seller over the phone, so you can be sure it isn't a scam.
5) When in doubt about an offer, your best bet is to not go with it. There'll usually be someone else with an offer rather than risking your items getting lost to an out-of-country scammer.
 
mainomega said:
LOL, tell them to send the checks/money order anyways and sit on it for 2 months. Then keep telling them you've sent it. For the person who would pay with his own fedex account just package bricks and send it off.
Click to expand...

I'm very tempted to pull a M-M-M-Macbook P-P-P-Pro on this bastard, but ya I think it would be incriminating myself and I sure as hell still don't wanna give him my address.
 
surprised we have never heard of people mailing mail bombs or chemicals to these p***ks!

Can picture the greedy little ***** opening their package they think is a laptop they have just stolen and BOOM!!! ..... won't be doing that again....

BTW MODS: You might wanna add that swear word (line 1) to your filters, it didnt stop me posting it :)
 
Tip: when you receive an email like this, does it mention the specific item for sale? None of these do, because they're automatically generated or cut'n'pasted - they have to mail a LOT of people to find one sucker.

Only handle mails where the person explicitly discusses the item you're selling in the initial email contact.
 
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