Craigslist classified for used car: Cheque fraud scam

i got the following email from this guy and at first i have to admit i thought he was ok but then things got weird!

RE: Opel Astra
From: Perry Clark (perry.clark1960@yahoo.com)
Sent:03 September 2008 19:51:51
Reply-to:perry.clark1960@yahoo.com
I have just contacted my fiduciary agent to pay for the car by bank draft for 8350euros which will be from an Irish bank and it will only take 2 to 5 days to clear into your account,the draft will gets to you by this week and . inspection will be done on the car by Mid next week. I need this car for my family and i need to act fast in buying it,i will need you make available all the relevant documents for the car .

The Following details will be needed by the Bank to issue out the draft to you:

1, Full Names

2, Full Address

3, Phone Numbers

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

so i googled his phone number...along came this website...what an ass!

Flag this messageI am responding to your posted item on craigslistSaturday, September 13, 2008 3:41 PM
From: This sender is DomainKeys verified "Richard Williams" Add sender to Contacts To: xsaneone@aol.com
-----Inline Attachment Follows-----

Hello over there,

How are you today and how is work over there? I saw your item
you posted on craigslist and i am interested in buying the item.
Please let me know is the item is still available for sale and the
present health condition.I will like to tell you that i will be paying
with a Bank Certified Check in US dollars.I live in California and i
will be responsible for the shipping, And as for the shipment my
shipper will come for the pick up at your location upon your
confirmation of receiving the payment and I want you to keep the item
for me and don't want you to look for any other buyer.My address is
11750 WILSHIRE BOULEVARD WESTLOS ANGELES , CA 90025 United States

I would have love to come down for the pickup, but i do not have
chance to do that now due to my job but am satisfied with your
discription of the item i will like you to give me your contact info
for me to mail your payment.

1....Your full name to be on the check
2.....Your full contact address to send the payment to (Not PO Box)
3....Your zip code
4....Your mobile or home phone no to reach you.

Have a nice day and hope to hear from you soon.

Richard Williams

Whatta fucked up Dude...

EMAIL 1
Hello,
I would like to make an enquiry on the vechile you wish to sale.
Please do let have all necessary details about this vechile if it is still available for sale,such as the condition of the vechile .
Your urgent response would be highly appreciated .
Best Regards And God bless.
Graham . G

E-MAIL 2
Hello ,
Thank you very much for your mail.
Please do send me the following information which will help value the vehicle more :
1. Are you the original owner?
2. How long have you owned the vehicle?
3. Do you have repair receipts I can look at? Where did you usually take the vehicle for service?
4. Where did you buy the vehicle?
5. Is there anything I'd need to do to put the vehicle in tip-top condition?
6. Are there any liens on the vehicle? (If so, the owner still owes money on the vehicle )
7.What's your last asking price for the vehicle ?
Then we can make arrangement for inspection at your own convenience.
Get back to me and let me know your decision.
Thanks

E-MAIL 3
Hello,
Thank you very much for your mail.
My wife is so much keen in buying the vechile at all cost.
Since you settle for this then we can make arrangement for inspection .
But at the moment my wife is on business trip to Eastern Europe and would be back 2 weeks time. I would really love her to come down for nspection . I really cannot make much decision until she arrives.
I would advice if you could keep the vechile until then.
But if you prefer I can make a non refundable deposit for the vechile to hold it down for the 2 week and remove the vechile off the market .
You could confirm to me if you are okay with the
arrangement.
I would have my business partner to send you the
payment .
Forward your details :
YOUR FULL ( name the cheque should be endorse on )
YOUR CONTACT ADDRESS
TELEPHONE NUMBER.
For payment to reach you.
I look forward to reading from you,
Thank you.
Regards,

THIS SCAMMERS E-MAIL is feedback316@ymail.com

On Sat, Sep 27, 2008 at 10:55 PM, Daniel Stephen wrote:

Sounds good, I would like to purchase it from you as soon as possible. (I am intrested and ready to buy it now) The easiest way for me to pay is probably E-Check from my Bank(Bank Of America). I know there are a lot of scams so I have no problem with you waiting for the E-Check to go through at your bank or anything. Here is a thing from the E-Check. You will probably need to Purchase Business Check Paper, at any store below in your area,

(1) Shopping Mall
(2) Stationery Store
(3) Office Depot
(4)Office max

For $20 and it will be added to your asking price with an extra offer of $100 for the stress and strain. Once you purchase the business check paper. I will email you the check and you will have it printed. Then proceed to your bank and cash the check. So i will need your your Full Name and Address with a Valid Email Address to send the simple step on how to print the check to your email which you can print and cash within 2 hours after you must have purchased the business check paper. Kindly get the posting deleted if you are ok with my mode of payment. I will await your email. Please Email me back and let me know if this helps Regards.

Daniel Stephens
407 Kenwood Drive
Jacksonville, NC 28540

I've come across the same situation when dealing with a buyer. I know it's a scam but what are they hoping to gain if the check is bogus?

Craiglist scam:
Hello, I am a fairly new craiglist user/seller and I recently posted about 5 items. I read up on the craiglist scams, but came across a new one. The buyers suggestion emailing me an e-check payment where I could print a check and cash it seemed odd to me so I began to research
e-check. E-check does exist but not in the way that he/she explained. I researched the potential scam and only found this site that described a similar scam. Attached is the email conversation between the buyer and myself.

Buyer's email:
From: smilesinme4@aol.com [mailto:smilesinme4@aol.com]
Sent: Monday, September 29, 2008 2:47 PM
Subject: Re: Outdoor Patio Table, Chairs & Umbrella w/Stand - $500

Hey

Will you accept E-check Payment?
I will handle the pick-up arrangement of the furniture once fund's has been received.Can't get around to mail a check to your door.E-check is E-Check is simply a check delivery service that endorse and guarantee check delivery through E-mail that can be printed and cash in any branch Bank on the check.
You will probably need to purchase a Business Check Paper for printing of the check,it's sold for ($30) at any Stationery store's,Office Depot or Staples.I will re-reimburse you for the cost of supplies to your asking price.Kindly purchase the Business Check Paper today.Email me your Name,Address and valid E-mail address for the E-Check Payment with steps to print it.

I will await your response.

Thanks.

My response:
Hello,

I can accept an e-check via paypal by sending you an invoice from my paypal account, once you receive the email, click a link in the email to make a payment.…I believe it is similar to or the same as the e-check scenario you refer to in your email. With the paypal email payment I do not need check paper and you wouldn’t need to reimburse for it. I can also take payment via credit card, as I also have a propay account for my handbag business. Please let me know which option works for you.

Buyer's email:
From: smilesinme4@aol.com [mailto:smilesinme4@aol.com]
Sent: Monday, September 29, 2008 5:14 PM
Subject: Re: Outdoor Patio Table, Chairs & Umbrella w/Stand - $500

Echeck works for me ...so u can print out the check and proceed to have it cashed.

I feel this one needs to be put out there on more posts so the casual craiglist seller doesn't get scammed. Thanks for listening!

You are just wasting your time, because no reasonable person will ever read those message and believe on it, unless you are a gready person, so live people with there life, if you are not gready you will not fall for this trap.
no thanks

Here is the garbage email from yet another Linda Brenda. The idiots don't even publish a valid email address in the email. Imagine...How dumb do you think they think we are by publishing an email from France for an idiot in Nigeria? I surely hope the mom and dad don't see this thinking they can make the kind of money these fraudsters admit. Maybe Yahoo.fr caught on quickly to their scam and is trying to prevent the gullible Americans from falling for this stupid trick. When you hit the reply button, the email address that is used is mrs.lindabrenda11@yahoo.fr. I can't believe this crapola. They probably would not be doing this if their email wasn't free.

Here is the original email:

OFFICE OF THE SENATE HOUSE
FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF NIGERIA
COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN PAYMENT
(RESOLUTION PANEL ON CONTRACT PAYMENT)
IKOYI-LAGOS NIGERIA
E-mail: sendavidmark2000@yahoo.fr ***(This is an invalid email address!!!)

Our Ref: FGN /SNT/STB.
Your Ref.

Attn:Beneficiary

THIS IS TO OFFICIALLY INFORM YOU THAT WE HAVE VERIFIED YOUR INHERITANCE FILE AND FOUND OUT THAT WHY YOU HAVE NOT RECEIVED YOUR PAYMENT IS BECAUSE YOU HAVE NOT FULFILLED THE OBLIGATIONS GIVEN TO YOU IN RESPECT OF YOUR CONTRACT/INHERITANCE PAYMENT.

THIS CARD CENTER WILL SEND YOU AN ATM CARD WHICH YOU WILL USE TO WITHDRAW YOUR MONEY IN ANY ATM MACHINE IN ANY PART OF THE WORLD, BUT THE MAXIMUM IS TWENTY THOUSAND DOLLARS PER DAY, SO IF YOU LIKE TO RECEIVE YOUR FUND THIS WAY PLEASE LET US KNOW BY CONTACTING THE INTERNATIONAL MONETARY FUNDS DEPARTMENT CARD PAYMENT CENTER LINDA BRENDA ON HER EMAIL ADDRESS:mrs.lindabrenda11@yahoo.fr AND ALSO SEND THE FOLLOWING INFORMATION:

1. YOUR FULL NAME
2. PHONE AND FAX NUMBER
3. ADDRESS WERE YOU WANT THEM TO SEND THE ATM CARD
4. YOUR AGE AND CURRENT OCCUPATION

THE ATM CARD PAYMENT CENTER HAS BEEN MANDATED TO ISSUE OUT USD6.3MILLION AS PART PAYMENT FOR THIS FISCAL YEAR 2008. ALSO FOR YOUR INFORMATION, YOU HAVE TO STOP ANY FURTHER COMMUNICATION WITH ANY OTHER PERSON(S) OR OFFICE(S) TO AVOID ANY HITCHES IN RECEIVING YOUR PAYMENT. FOR ORAL DISCUSSION, EMAIL ME BACK AS SOON AS YOU RECEIVE THIS IMPORTANT MESSAGE FOR FURTHER DIRECTION AND ALSO UPDATE ME ON ANY DEVELOPMENT FROM THE ABOVE-MENTIONED OFFICE. NOTE THAT BECAUSE OF IMPOSTORS, WE HEREBY ISSUED YOU OUR CODE OF CONDUCT, WHICH IS (ATM-822) SO YOU HAVE TO INDICATE THIS CODE WHEN CONTACTING THE CARD CENTER BY USING IT AS YOUR SUBJECT.

KINDEST REGARDS,

SEN. DAVID MARK.
SENATE PRESIDENT.

I've gotten the same kinds of emails. Recognized as a scam I play them for the sucker they think I am. I also ask them if I can sign them up for a free laptop. They always say yes. I go to Iwantmyfreelaptop.com (an email name collector and sign them up for spam). Their mailboxes fill with so much spam they have to sort through the mess. Plus it keeps them busy. When they send the check... When the send me the check, I write back that the check won't print. Error code on the computer says the origin is Nigeria instead of (where they say they're from) and the printer software won't work unless they tell the truth. I tell them I'm running the new Vista and it can detect lying. At the end of the email, I say, The Quran states that if you cheat a brother you must die. My relatives in your country will be visiting you in the next week. Sleep well.

Hi'ya people! I myself am also in the present being scammed by a guy who claims to be from Lanzorote! But I belive he is afican after ringing him... I posted my car for the sum of 2900 he offered to send me 7500 to cover cost of shipping and 200 pounds more to me for the inconvence of going to " western Union " this is just to make people awear that these people are out there and now Ive had my first experiance of fraud ( luckly not )!!! Thank god for my friend who had seen the advert not to trust " western Union " that made me research scamers, and if it sounds so too good to be true it proberly is! because in a few days I would have been 7500 in debt! Ive scammed the scammer and laughing at him now because as soon as the cheque comes I will be of to the police station with all his e-mails phone number and his fruaded cheque and hopefuly the fraud team will catch him!
a*!h!*!..

PLEASE BE CAREFUL PEOPLE!!!!!!!!!

Here is his e-mail to me :-Hi ,

Thanks soo much for the mail and yea just to let you know that i am not in the position to make call right now cos my phone dont have the permit to make an international call.So you dont need to worry once we conclude on everything i will locate a local pay phone station to give you a call.But am really okay with the details i got from the web site and its really my taste.

Really just to let you know that as for the payment,i will be paying with a Certified Bank Draft drawn from a local bank in the United Kingdom,regards shippment i'll handle that myself by contacting my international shipping agent so that they can handle that for me.

We are based in Lanzarote here in Spain and i speak spanish were work in the construction business as a dispatcher but originally from Wales (Dad if from Wales and mum from Lanzarote Spain).As for the price i will want you to let me know the last price so that the payment can be sent,i'm really eager and wanting to buy it from you because my wife has been dying to get one ever since i sold my old one.

If you are okay with me,then you can mail me back and let us conclude on everything today.

Thanks soo much.

Allan...

Wow thanks soo much for the mail am so sorry for getting back to you late bcos i was out of office when you reply and yea i its really my taste,i cant wait to see it.As for the payment i will ask my Bussines Accosociate to issue a Certified Uk Bank Draft of £7,500 and once u get the cheque u are to get The Cheque deposited into ur bank account and once it clears u deduct the cost of the Alfa Romeo 156 T-SPARK which is £2,750 u deduct £200 am willing to give u for ur efforts and the western union .U are to help me wire the balance inform of a cash via western union the same day u get the cheque to my shipper and in just 3 or 4 days after my shipping agent will come down to ur location for the pick-up right thre at ur location.

Pls i will need the following ful datas from u.
Name....(to be on the cheque)
Full Address.....
State....
Postal Code....
Country.....
Telephone number...(Cell,Office,Home,)

Pls i will really be glad if u could get the balance wired the same day the cheque clears ur account cos am highly sure that once my shipper get the balance from u is going to come down to ur location in just 3 or 4 days after for the pick-up.

Thanks soo much and i look up to ur email today ..
Allan...