Craig's List Fun, scams

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matts

Smoking Fanatic
Original poster
Apr 13, 2010
468
43
Central Illinois
If you are a frequent CL watcher then I am sure you see those scams all over the place with a pretty new ATV, Camper, Car or anything expensive that is listed for a 1/4 of the retail price.  It's always listed in your area, but when you reply to the ad the item is sitting in a shipping yard in some random state.  Personally I see these and no matter what the item is, I always email them.  I think it is fun to see how far I can take them and how much information I can pull out of them.  All of these auctions have many things in common.  They all involve a divorce, husband/brother getting shipped out to war or someone died and they need to get rid of this item quick.  Also the seller will ship the item right to you at no cost and you have 5 days to review and return it at the sellers cost.  The latest thing I have noticed is the seller is saying that they will use ebay to make the transaction so it will be insured.  I don't know how this is supposed to work because ebay doesn't allow transactions that don't involve an auction done threw ebay.  I think the next scam I find I will try and get that info out of them.  Anyway, just thought I would make sure everyone knew about these and to keep an eye out.  I need to get back to trying to buy a completely decked out 2009 Polaris Sportsman 800 for $2k and they will ship it right to me, I can't wait.
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I flag every one of those posts myself. I despise a crook/thief with all my heart. I bet I flag 30 to 50 a day. These days, people need help, not scammed.
 
I can afford to pay retail, after all I'm getting 50 million from some sheik of nonnynonnybooboo.
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A friend of mine is a law dawg and a frequent visitor to CL.  He likes to check out the vehicles that are for sale. He looks for vehicles that match the discription of vehicles that have been stolen in the surrounding areas.  He'll set up a meeting to see the vehicle and when he finds a stolen car he'll call into dispatch and tell his "wife" that she really ought to swing by and check out the "hot" looking car he found.  Within a couple of minutes the place becomes "cop central" and the car is recovered and the "seller" is hooked up with a room with no view at the County Graybar Hotel.
 
A friend of mine is a law dawg and a frequent visitor to CL.  He likes to check out the vehicles that are for sale. He looks for vehicles that match the discription of vehicles that have been stolen in the surrounding areas.  He'll set up a meeting to see the vehicle and when he finds a stolen car he'll call into dispatch and tell his "wife" that she really ought to swing by and check out the "hot" looking car he found.  Within a couple of minutes the place becomes "cop central" and the car is recovered and the "seller" is hooked up with a room with no view at the County Graybar Hotel.
LOL---I love it !
 
A friend of mine is a law dawg and a frequent visitor to CL.  He likes to check out the vehicles that are for sale. He looks for vehicles that match the discription of vehicles that have been stolen in the surrounding areas.  He'll set up a meeting to see the vehicle and when he finds a stolen car he'll call into dispatch and tell his "wife" that she really ought to swing by and check out the "hot" looking car he found.  Within a couple of minutes the place becomes "cop central" and the car is recovered and the "seller" is hooked up with a room with no view at the County Graybar Hotel.
Classic!!!
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My friend recovers 5-6 stolen cars a month doing this and his boss want him to work in auto thefts. He comment is "why take the fun out of it and turn it into work?
 
My friend recovers 5-6 stolen cars a month doing this and his boss want him to work in auto thefts. He comment is "why take the fun out of it and turn it into work?
LOL---Gotta love them law dawgs:

I have a lot of buddies that are cops or X-cops. My Dad had a law dawg buddy when I was a teenage driver. One time I was driving through town (small town), and all of a sudden flashers behind me, and a siren. Scared the Sh_t out of me. I pulled into the swimming pool parking lot, wondering, "Now what did I do this time?". The squad car took a big circle so the driver's window was next to mine, and I hear---"Did you and your Dad get your deer yet?"  My heart slowly dropped from my throat, back to my chest, where it belonged. "Good God Jim, you scared the Hell out of me!" He laughed, "What--You got a guilty conscience or something?"  That was all he wanted !!!!

Cops---ya gotta luv 'em !

Bear
 
Wonder what some scammer would say/do if you insisted on a personal inspection at the items location.  And if by chance the item was as described, you offered cash right then and there?
I have tried that and they get all pissy and quit talking to me.  This last one I told her I would send her a cashiers check for triple the amount, I would just need her to cash it and give 90% of the balance to my cousin who lives in the area that the item is being sold. That is a real old scam as well.  I haven't heard back since that offer.
 
Did any of you ever think that the ads like that were just another way to harvest email addresses so that they can spam you?
 
I have never got any more spams than I usually get after acknowledging these ads.  But then again, when I reply to these I use a junk account that I use for this stuff and general sign up sites. 
 
Some folks are just born to take the bait though. It's a shame. Here's a response that I saw today..

http://phoenix.craigslist.org/cph/zip/1971211753.html

I'm trying to figure this one out but someone now has their phone number and they are more than likely using the code to make calls or something. Folks be real. I don't even bother with ads that don't have a local phone number. I want to call ya, meet ya with the goods and go from there...
 
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