My mom isn’t very good at doing stuff online, so I helped her to sell her car on Craigslist. It was a really nice car, but not many people can afford to buy a new car right now.
The first response I received was a scam. She was excited and thought she was selling her car, even though I read her the email I got in a very skeptical tone.
She would have gotten scammed if I wasn’t helping her, so I figured I would share the email and what tipped me off to help others spot scams on Craigslist.
Thanks for the mail…I will appreciate more pictures..I am ready to buy it now for my son as a surprise promise gift,And due to the nature of my work,phone calls making and visiting of website are restricted but i squeezed out time to check this advert and send you an email regarding it.i would be glad to pay for it as soon as possible though i will not be available to come for an inspection due to my tight schedule.Kindly get back to me with the following questions below to this email address xxxxx@xxxxx.com1) What is the condition?2) Are you the Owner?3) Pick up Location?4) Your Registered PayPal Name and Registered PayPal Email Address For Me To Proceed With The Payment?I would be glad to make the payment immediately through PayPal so kindly get back to me with your Registered PayPal Name and Registered PayPal Email Address For Me To Proceed With The Payment. You need not to worry yourself about title transfer and shipment,i will instruct the shipping company to handle that therefore in order to complete the transaction do get back to me with your Registered PayPal Name and Registered PayPal Email Address and total cost so that I can make the payment asap. I will be waiting for your reply
Really? Normally, I’m very suspicious (maybe even paranoid), so quite a few things struck me as odd.
#5 Don’t worry yourself about transferring the title? Of course you wouldn’t need to since this isn’t a real transaction.
How do you spot scams when buying or selling things on Craigslist?
There are always so many scams! It’s ridiculous.
Michelle recently posted..Stay Frugal This Winter
It really is.
Jen Perkins recently posted..Getting the Most From Your Life Altering Moments
I read this post in my email and could not resist commenting!
That scammer had some audacity! Made me laugh.
Thanks for sharing
Christine recently posted..Review + Giveaway: [sic] by Scott Kelly
lol Yeah, they should probably just get a job instead of trying to screw people over all day.
Jen Perkins recently posted..Getting the Most From Your Life Altering Moments
Pretty much anyone who wants to buy without seeing the item is a scammer. Also, anyone who will give me thousands more than what I am asking for it or needs to have it shipped someone is a scammer. Sadly, when I sell on Craigslist, 90% of the responses I get are scammers. And for the ones that aren’t, I make sure to meet them in a public location because I don’t want them coming to my house!
Jon @ MoneySmartGuides recently posted..The Round Table – November 23, 2012
That’s actually a good idea, I never thought about just meeting them somewhere. I guess it depends on if you’re able to move/transport whatever you’re selling.
Jen Perkins recently posted..Things I Didn’t Expect About Buying Our First House
I’ve read that scammers deliberately use bad grammar and poor punctuation because they want to catch people who might be a bit naive or inexperienced or who may not think too hard about inconsistent little details.
CF recently posted..Being evil to save money
That’s really interesting and it actually makes a lot of sense. Crazy stuff.
Jen Perkins recently posted..Schools Letting Kids Spend Parent’s Money Without Permission
The first clue for me is the way the email is worded. Bells and whistles would have gone off like crazy for me before the second line. I definitely would not trust anyone who does not want to either come look at what I am selling, speak to me over the phone or send an agent for them. I agree with the other poster, if they are offering much more than I’m asking, there is a scam coming. For the most part, we stay away from Craigs List and go through the paper and word of mouth.
Kelly Blackwell recently posted..Thrifty Tips for November 15, 2012
That’s definitely a great way to avoid those losers.
Jen Perkins recently posted..Getting the Most From Your Life Altering Moments
Ugh. The grammar tipped me off right off the bat. My in laws got excited around this time last year when they got a text telling them they had won a $1,000 Best Buy gift card. Was obviously a scam where someone was fishing for information and identities. It’s heartbreaking to be the one to tell them it’s not for real.
femmefrugality recently posted..Suburbanites: Buy Your Tree in the City
That’s so sad, they were probably really bummed.
Some people enter tons of contests and giveaways, so it’s gotta be hard to keep things straight.
Jen Perkins recently posted..Bloggers Using BackUpWordPress Plugin Beware!
Those are always scams. Just avoid anything having to do with shipping overseas and Paypal when the emails are in broken English.