Craigslist Scammers

slakjak1215 · 07-24-2014, 11:41 AM

So I put something up for sale on CL and in 1 week I have had two scammers try to use the old send me a check scam. Here is my question. What is the purpose of scammers who send people checks claiming they won the money? Lets say I get a check in the mail saying I won 1500$ and I cash it in. The check then bounces in about 3 - 4 weeks and then i'm possibly in trouble. So what does the scammer get out of that? I understand CL where I would get the check, cash it, send them the item and then the check bounces so they get my item for free basically. But those other scams make no sense to me.

2010SLVRBULIT · 07-24-2014, 12:05 PM

..from what I've heard, the scammers claim some portion of money from the victim, prior to the fake check being cashed.

slakjak1215 · 07-24-2014, 12:33 PM

And how is this not traceable at all? Don't they need to have a bank to make the check?Don't they need to have a bank to deposit the check? even if they cash it. the bank has a record of the victims check being cashed and at what bank.

Scalded Dog · 07-24-2014, 01:17 PM

I think it works like this: You receive your "winning check," but the scammer wants you to either pay a fee up front in order to receive it, or, they require that a portion of it be returned to them ("Oops, we made the check out for too much, please return $500 of the $1500...").

They cash the check that you send to them, using fake IDs or some other means of cashing it without being traceable. In, in a couple of weeks, you are out the "winning check" amount, and the amount that the scammer has vanished with.

At least... I THINK that's how they work.

What I want to know is how the phone calls I get are benefitting anybody: Even though I am on the Do- Not- Call list, my phone still rings off the wall every evening... a LOT of the calls I get are from unfamiliar numbers (spoofed numbers, I'm sure), but when I answer, there is silence for a while, eventually followed by a robot voice that simply says, "Good- bye." Then the line goes dead. Calling the number back (which I do from the office phone) always yields a message saying that this is not a valid number, or that it's been disconnected. Fine... scammer of some sort... but how does ANYBODY profit/ benefit from calling me, only to disconect? Hell, they didn't get my credit card number, they didn't fool me into pressing any digits, they didn't even get me to log in to their website and transfer money to them. How did they benefit?

07-24-2014, 11:41 AM	#1
slakjak1215 Drives: 2014 1LS Join Date: Jun 2014 Location: Derby CT Posts: 409	Craigslist Scammers So I put something up for sale on CL and in 1 week I have had two scammers try to use the old send me a check scam. Here is my question. What is the purpose of scammers who send people checks claiming they won the money? Lets say I get a check in the mail saying I won 1500$ and I cash it in. The check then bounces in about 3 - 4 weeks and then i'm possibly in trouble. So what does the scammer get out of that? I understand CL where I would get the check, cash it, send them the item and then the check bounces so they get my item for free basically. But those other scams make no sense to me. __________________

07-24-2014, 12:33 PM	#3
slakjak1215 Drives: 2014 1LS Join Date: Jun 2014 Location: Derby CT Posts: 409	And how is this not traceable at all? Don't they need to have a bank to make the check?Don't they need to have a bank to deposit the check? even if they cash it. the bank has a record of the victims check being cashed and at what bank. __________________

07-24-2014, 12:05 PM	#2
2010SLVRBULIT Drives: G5(LLT) & C6(LS3) Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: MARS Posts: 7,525 View My Garage	..from what I've heard, the scammers claim some portion of money from the victim, prior to the fake check being cashed.

07-24-2014, 01:17 PM	#4
Scalded Dog Drives: 2011 1LT Join Date: Mar 2012 Location: Crestline, CA Posts: 3,029	I think it works like this: You receive your "winning check," but the scammer wants you to either pay a fee up front in order to receive it, or, they require that a portion of it be returned to them ("Oops, we made the check out for too much, please return $500 of the $1500..."). They cash the check that you send to them, using fake IDs or some other means of cashing it without being traceable. In, in a couple of weeks, you are out the "winning check" amount, and the amount that the scammer has vanished with. At least... I THINK that's how they work. What I want to know is how the phone calls I get are benefitting anybody: Even though I am on the Do- Not- Call list, my phone still rings off the wall every evening... a LOT of the calls I get are from unfamiliar numbers (spoofed numbers, I'm sure), but when I answer, there is silence for a while, eventually followed by a robot voice that simply says, "Good- bye." Then the line goes dead. Calling the number back (which I do from the office phone) always yields a message saying that this is not a valid number, or that it's been disconnected. Fine... scammer of some sort... but how does ANYBODY profit/ benefit from calling me, only to disconect? Hell, they didn't get my credit card number, they didn't fool me into pressing any digits, they didn't even get me to log in to their website and transfer money to them. How did they benefit?