somewhat relevent; Craig's List Follies again (For entertaiment purposes only)

[marc rosen]

Hey all, Yesterday I posted and itme for sale on CL and I got the following two responses. Some people never give up. I have to give them credit on their originality. (Links deleted for your safety - and no, I did not bother to check them out). I thought if I did reply I would send them a link to a Youtube broadcast of a similar machine (mortiser). Read you all later and have a fun weekend. Marc (Off to Tenon- ville today)

Gday,

saw the AD you posted on craigslist and I'm very interested in purchasing your item but I am not too sure if its the same type that my cousin is after. Obviously I want to make sure before I commit myself to buying it. Anyways here is a video link that I copied from my son's computer "LINK" (if not work try "LINK"). Can you please confirm its the similar type and reply back to me ASAP. Im willing to pay more than what your asking for as long the item matches the video description and you can reserve it for me.

Thanks for your time. Cheers!

Jessica.

Gday,

saw the AD you posted on craigslist and I'm very interested in purchasing your item but I am not too sure if its the same type that my cousin is after. Obviously I want to make sure before I commit myself to buying it. Anyways here is a video link that I copied from my son's computer "LINK" (if not work try "LINK"). Can you please confirm its the similar type and reply back to me ASAP. Im willing to pay more than what your asking for as long the item matches the video description and you can reserve it for me.

Thanks for your time. Cheers!

Julie.

[tom]

=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0Marc (Off

Yep, scammer time. I always omit my email address when posting to CL, and that seems to weed out the undesirables. Tom

[SBH]

Yep, scammer time. I always omit my email address when posting to CL, and that seems to weed out the undesirables. Tom

I do the same and rely on the default CL reply email, but I've received a scam twice about a person who is overseas and wants to purchase for his son. He'll send me more money than my asking price to cover the cost of shipping and hassle. I'm sure it works for some, which is why they continue to use that scam.

[Artemus]

I'd be suspicious. How do you know that link will not take you to some site that will install a virus or malware on your computer? Art

[David Nebenzahl]

On 2/20/2010 4:08 PM Artemus spake thus:

?>>

Well, *duh!* That's kinda the whole point, no?

So for the uninformed and uninitiated, here are my rules for Craigslist postings, no matter where in the world you are:

1. NEVER GIVE YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS! Never! Use CL's anonymization feature, which works wonderfully well. Readers of the listings get an email link that they can use to respond, which forwards their response to your inbox, which they never see, so you're safe.
2. NEVER GIVE ANY PHONE #s, ADDRESSES OR OTHER SPECIFIC LOCATION INFORMATION. The most location info I give is putting my listing in a "neighborhood" category, which is close enough for gov't work but vague enough not to give possible scammers (or outright thieves) a clue where I am.
3. Keep your bullshit meter well-adjusted. You're going to need it.

[marc rosen]

Just to clarify my earlier post- which I see was not as clear as I had intended it to be - I would never have clicked on their link but I thought since they wanted to make sure it was the same type that their cousin was after I would reply with a Youtube video of a hollow chisel motiser in action just to tease them. I refrained from that as well, not wanting to send out my email address any more than necessary. Good news is that the mortiser sold to the eighth respondent which was the first legitamate response I got. Marc

[David Nebenzahl]

On 2/21/2010 3:46 PM marc rosen spake thus:

From that it would appear that Craigslist responses are running 7:1 in favor of scammers ...

[crane763]

What is the nature of the scam. I don't quite follow.

Larry

[Doug Miller]

There are numerous scams. This particular one involves inducing the seller to click on a link in an email message that will download some piece of malware to his computer -- possibly a 'bot, or a keystroke logger.

[tom]

I've always found the scam to be "My agent will pick up the _ $$$ item_, but first I will send you a certified check for $$$$$ and have you send the difference of $$ to an account, keeping a "little extra" for your troubles". The good-looking check is a forgery, leaving you with less $$. Tom

[Doug Miller]

My brother got several of those a few years ago when he was selling a car. After about the third one, he replied with "How's this scam work, anyway?"