Craigs List scammer

I am selling a mirror on Craigs List, got this email from "veliya sandisky" <[email protected]>

i will like to purchase this lovely item kindly get back to me if you still have it available..

I sent my name & phone number, but got this email in return:

Thanks for the prompt response, I am quite satisfied with the condition .I am also interested and I will like to make an instant purchase, so kindly end the advert on Craigslist, I do not mind adding an extra $25 for you to close the advert on craigslist so that I can be rest assured that I am the prospective buyer, I would have loved to come take a look but I am a very busy woman I am very sure you understand. I will also want you to know that I will be paying via Certified Check, and it will be sent to you via courier service due to the distance. You don't need to bother about the shipment, as that has been taken care of...... So I will need you to provide me with the following information to facilitate the mailing of the check.

1. Full Name on the check
2. Address where payment will be sent to not p.o.box (because my courier service does not deliver to p.o box)
3. City
4. State
5. Zip Code
6. Phone Number

Once again, I will like to remind you that you will not be responsible for shipping as I will have my mover come over as soon as you have cashed the check .

Have a nice day.


So, none of this makes sense to me. I looked it up online and it seems many of these exact words have been used for scamming since at least 2008. I don't know what the purpose of the scam is, but I will not be giving all this information to a stranger who lives who-knows-where. I hope my posting this along with other will be helpful to folks in the same position.

Welcome USA,

I'm glad you have avoided this scam.

What the scammer wants to do is send you a check for over the cost of the mirror. He will ask you to forward the extra money by Western Union to his "shipper" who is actually him or an accomplice.

The check will be fraudulent, but may be good enough that your bank doesn't recognize it right away. In 5 days, if the fraud hasn't been detected yet, the bank will give you the cash as required by law, and the scammer will be harassing you to send the cash to the shipper. However, the check processing will continue. Days or even weeks later, the bank will discover the fraud, and they will come after you, taking the entire amount of the check back, plus fees for the fake and any checks that bounce as a result of the withdrawal. They may even press charges for check fraud.

In the meantime, the scammer has disappeared with the cash, which is all he ever wanted in the first place. No shipper will ever arrive for the mirror, because he never actually wanted it.

This posting was extremely helpful! I just received this EXACT email and I didn't feel comfortable giving out all of my information. Thank goodness I found your post and didn't fall for the scam, it was too good to be true. Thanks for making people aware of this!

I just got an email from this person per a craigslist ad and googled their name just to see if there were any scams attached to it. Glad to see this posted, thanks!!!

I sell Scentsy and had the same scam attempted on me. They answered and requested $900 in merchandise but wanted me to send them all of that info so they could send a check for it and said that they would come to my house in AR from FL to pick it up. I replied with I do not accept checks from people I do know or from out of state. He has left me alone. Oh he wanted me to know he was a "model". I guess so that I would be more willing to "let him pick it up from my house." Pffft whatever loser.

Well guys...I have to thank yawl for being here...I got the same exact email from the same scammer...thank you very much for your help..Here is the crop of crap they try to sell me.

Hello,

I want you to understand that I would have loved to call but I
am Hearing Impaired, and I am still very much interested in the item,
so kindly get back to me with your information for the mailing of the
check.

> Hello veliya and a pleasant day to you as well...Would love to chat with
> you about this a bit before I send personal information if that's ok...?
> Do have a phone number I can contact you? Mine is 978-388-6956. Would
> love to chat with you for a while.
> Scott
>
>
> On 10/12/2011 8:59 PM, veliya sandisky wrote:
>> Thanks for responding in earnest, I am indeed exhilarated with the
>> condition. I am also interested and will like to make an immediate
>> purchase, so kindly remove the ad. on Craigslist, I will not mind
>> adding an extra $30 for you to close the advert on craigslist so that
>> I can guarantee I am the potential buyer, I would have loved to come
>> take a look but I am a very busy woman I am very sure you understand.
>> I will also want you to know that I will be paying via Certified
>> Check, and it will be sent to you via courier service due to the
>> distance. You don't need to bother about the shipment, as that has
>> been taken care of...... So I will need you to provide me with the
>> following information to facilitate the mailing of the check.
>>
>> 1. Full Name on the check
>> 2. Address where payment will be sent to not p.o.box (because my
>> courier service does not deliver to p.o box)
>> 3. City
>> 4. State
>> 5. Zip Code
>> 6. Phone Number
>>
>> Once again, I want you to be rest assured that you will not be
>> responsible for shipping as I will have my mover come over as soon as
>> you have cashed the check.
>>
>> Have A Pleasant And Gorgeous Day Ahead

>>>> How are you doing? i will be happy if you can get back to me with the
>>>> condition of this item because i will like to buy it... hope to read
>>>> from you soon


-- Hello i will be happy to be the new owner of this item you posted...please do get back to me if its available..

They almost always refer to the "item" so they can send the email in bulk to a batch of advertisers.

I got the same kind of spam from a J Frank with email address [email protected].
"Thanks for your response. I'm going on a vacation to London but I will instruct my assistant to prepare and mail your payment which I'm sure you will get in about 4 - 6 business days. I'll add $20 extra for the delay. I'll pay by M O or cashier check so send me your info (i.e full name, mailing address and your phone number) so payment can be mailed out immediately. I will also make arrangement for pick-up which will be after you must have received and cashed the payment."
Thanks very much for posting your info. I will not respond. However, I am bothered by the domain name "tmainn.com". This is a very valid Google system. Also I checked on the email header using eMailTrackerPro and it says that the email came from Mountain View, CA, from inside Google.
Is it worthwhile to tell Google that either someone is using their domain name without their knowledge or some Google employee is a scammer? I can't find a way to contact Google and I don't know if it is worthwhile to do so.
Thanks, LarryEdwards

Welcome to Scamwarners, LarryEdwards!
I believe that tmainn.com. is related to google. An app?
I will bring this to the attention of our site killers.
Thanks for posting!

Sorry for the late reply, only just noticed this thread!

tmainn.com is just a domain that uses Google apps to send emails. It's normal that google's servers show up and does not mean that one of Google's employees is involved in fraud. It's similar to using a gmail address. If you trace an email sent from a gmail address you can find google's servers in the headers, but this obviously doesn't mean that google is an accomplice. The scammer just purchased that domain name and is using Google Apps to send emails.

If you can post the headers we can get the domain closed down for you

1st email)
hello,

i saw your ad on craigslist let me know if its available and the
present condition.


2nd email
Thanks for the prompt response.. I am ready to buy it as a surprise
which i dont want anybody to know about and i am not in town at the
moment because i work with the Military and have been in camp for some
time and due to the nature of my work, It's hard to make a phone calls
and visiting of website are restricted but I squeezed out time to
check this advert and send you an email regarding it. You can text me
on 619-500-8663. PLEASE DO NOT CALL,AM NOT ALLOWED TO RECIEVE OR MAKE
CALLS. Please include your name. I insisted on PayPal because i don't
have access to my bank account online as i don't have internet
banking, but i can pay from my PayPal account, as i have my bank a/c
attached to it, i will need you to give me your PayPal email address
so i can make the payment asap for it and please if you don't have
PayPal account yet,it is very easy to set up, go to www.paypal.com and
get it set up,after you have set it up i will only need the e-mail
address to make the payment or send me an invoice.please do send me
some pics as well.... I have some questions for you;

Are you the first owner of it?
where do you live?
When have you been using it?
How much will you be taking off your price for me?

Hope to read back from you soon.....

Like who is this guy kidding? Watch out guys

Welcome to Scamwarners, FED UP!
Please post the email address and name that the scammer is using. It will help other potential victims using google.

same emails as FED UP

first email from marvinwolter8@gmail.?com
second email from [email protected]

We just got the same guy trying to buy our "item" on Craigslist. He is now saying that he is in the military and is unable to accept calls. He wants people to use a paypal account for the transaction and he is going by the name Peter Pane. I have had someone try to do this before with auto trader and I turned the check into the FBI and saved a man that did not even know that his account was stolen. If you get more info from these people take it to the police....if no one tells them or helps them then they will continue to scam. Some of the scams hurt real people because they steal account information! Lets stop these people with the power of technology!

Email addresses: 1st was peter joe [email protected] 2nd was [email protected]

We just got the same guy trying to buy our "item" on Craigslist. He is now saying that he is in the military and is unable to accept calls. He wants people to use a paypal account for the transaction and he is going by the name Peter Pane. I have had someone try to do this before with auto trader and I turned the check into the FBI and saved a man that did not even know that his account was stolen. If you get more info from these people take it to the police....if no one tells them or helps them then they will continue to scam. Some of the scams hurt real people because they steal account information! Lets stop these people with the power of technology!

Email addresses: 1st was peter joe [email protected] 2nd was [email protected]

We just got the exact same email! he now says he's at Edwards Air Force Base. [email protected]