Another scam via Craigslist: offering more than asking price

From: scott smark [mailto:smarkltd00@gmail.com]
Sent: Wednesday, September 30, 2009 3:13 PM
To: xxxxxxxxx

Hello,

I appreciate your response to my inquiry.I am interested to
purchase it and i am ok with the description,i mean the info as well and i
am also satisfied with the price.I would have love to come and check
it myself but am presently out of state,because I just got married and am
presently on honeymoon trip with my wife and Pls do withdraw
it from the website with immediate effect,as i don't mind adding
$40 for you to do that for me, so i can be rest assured that
is held for me,I will be making the payment to you via a Certified Check
in us dollars which my secretary in the state will mail across
to you and as for the pick up, i will know how to handle that with my
mover that as been helping me to move the item all over will come for the pick
up once the Certified got clears in your bank,If this arrangement is ok by
you kindly send me both your name and full address to post the payment
immediately and i would appreciate you to include your phone#,i.e.... (1)..
Your full name ,(2)..Your full home address or your office address,
(3)..your zip code, (4)...your phone number to contact you and please
i don't want a P.O BOX address because i want the payment to get to
you at your house or your office address to make the transaction
fast.Thanks and get back to me with the full info as soon as
possible.Thanks

My mother and I received an identical message from a "Daryl Rodwell" drod1044@gmail.com about our antique vanity set:

"Thanks for the quick response, I am so delighted that it is still
available. I am pleased with the current situation of the item as
provided at craigslist. Please do withdraw the advert from craigslist
as I don't mind adding $50 for you to do that, so I can be rest
assured that the item is held for me. I will be leaving for Hawaii
with my wife for our Honeymoon, we just got married and I would want a
surprise inclusion in our home on our arrival.
I will be paying via certified check and I wouldn't know if that is
acceptable by you, if you concur with me on my mode of payment kindly
provide me with your full name and physical address (not P.O Box)
along with your phone number to issue out the payment. I'll be
picking the item from you with the aid of a mover who will be coming
over for the pick-up once the Certified Check has been cashed so you
don't have to worry yourself about the shipping."

"Good Morning to you and how was your night? This is just to let you
know that I got an update from my secretary that the check will be
delivered to you today (AM) via UPS so you should be at home
awaiting the delivery of the envelope to you. However I was informed
that there was a little error on the check, the check she sent you was
for $2,550 instead of the actual amount for the bought item. I
believe we can still salvage the situation.
Once the check has been delivered to you, you are to have it cashed
at your local Bank, deduct the cost of the item bought with additional
$50 for taken down the ad down and have the excess funds wired to my
mover via WESTERN UNION MONEY TRANSFER;

Here is my mover's information to have the funds wired to via WESTERN
UNION Money Transfer;

Name.....Daniel Sparks
City.........Ottawa
State........Illinios
Zip-Code...61350

You are to deduct the MONEY TRANSFER charges from the excess funds and
also deduct $50 for your GAS used for running around during the
transaction.
I will want you to have the excess funds taken care of today so that
my mover can contact you to schedule for the pick up.
You are to get back to me with the details of the money wired once
done. I will need the MTCN #, amount sent, name and address of the
sender."

"How has your day been? This is just to inform you that I was told
my mover had an accident and now in Hospital receiving treatment. What
I want you to do for me now is to go to Western Union Outlet and have
the $1250.00 sent collected back then go to MONEY GRAM MONEY TRANSFER
OUTLET at any Walmart Store and have the funds sent to the information
below;

Name.. Tracy Van Daley
City......... Austin
States.... Texas
Zip Code.... 78753

You are to deduct the Money Gram sending fees from the $1250.00 and
have the remaining funds wired at Money Gram. You are to get back to
me with the Reference number and the amount sent. I need you to please
have this taken care of for me now. Please!!!"

This was our first time selling anything on craigslist, and we fell for it. We are now $2800.00 in debt and our bank account has been frozen. Please do NOT let this happen to you.

Upon reposting the vanity set, I received a very similar email, but after I insisted on money gram or western union instead of a cashier's check, he or she discontinued replying. This email was as follows, by a "Mark Scott" markscot147@gmail.com --

"Hello,
I appreciate your response to my inquiry,Actually am so sorry for
delay response.I am interested in
buying the ITEM and am ok with the
description and condition. I
am satisfied with the price$.I would have love to come and check
it myself but am not chance now,because my wife Just put to bed and we
are relocating to our new home and Pls i would love it if could
withdraw the item from CL, so i can be rest assured
that the item is held for me.I will be making the payment to you via a
Bank Certified Check from local bank issue by my Bank manager and as
for the pick up, i will know how to handle
that with my mover(Alachua Moving Service) that as been helping me to
move my belongings will
come for the pick up once the Certified
Check has been cashed and i will like to complete this transaction
soon. I'll need you to provide me with the following
information to facilitate the mailing of the check.
full name on the check.
Full Physical address to post the check
City, State and Zip Code
Home & Cell Phone to contact you.
Note that the payment will be shipped to your address via UPS NEXT DAY
AIR SERVICE and I will like you to know that you will not be
responsible for shipping i will have my mover to come over as soon as
you have cashed the check
N.B UPS does not deliver to a P.O box addresses.Thanks"

The first time, the "certified check" was supposedly legit, according to the bank we had it cashed at, yet it did not go through after we had already received money, and they took it from our account -- money we did not have. Again, please do NOT let this happen to you.

watch out for shina.ayo008@gmail.com
or shinaayo0011@gmail.com

They are ruining Craigslist ... I think I am gonna take these emails and sign them up for different mailing lists.
I have a laptop on Craigsliat and I get NOTHING but scams for this item. I haven't even gotten one real bite.
jonathon.pedrol@gmail.com ---
Nice hearing from you,My name is Mr Jonathan Pedrol from Tacoma (Washington),am a business man,am very happy to came across your craigslist item.,and i like the condition of the item,so if is still available,i will like to buy it from you,am shipping this international to my fiance, and please do know that you will help me to do that, am ready to pay you the total amount of $600,for the item including the shipping fees ,via USPS EXPRESS MAIL INTERNATIONAL(EMS) and i will pay you via paypal,and if paypal is accepted,so kindly get back to me with your paypal e-mail address for the payment.so when i made the payment i will give you the full address.
Thanks and hope to hear from you

jane baily (bammy008@gmail.com)
I really appreciate the quick reply.I am buying this item for a sonof mine schooling overseas and i will be adding $100 for the shippingand handling.I would have made this transaction locally but ampresently out of town so kindly get back to me with your PayPal emailaddress for me to remit the funds ASAP and once payment is beingreceived from PayPal you can be able to ship this item. i am doingthis very fast because i have promised my son that the item will bethere soonest kindly get back to me as soon as you can as for us totransact very fast, Hope to read from you soon.Regards

marry white maryw9@gmail.com
Hello seller,Thanks for the mail, am so glad to hear from you, Well i want you toknow that am highly interested in buying this item for my daughter inWashingtonDc, but she is not in the state right now,i will not ableto see the item or pick it up my self due to my work, she went tovisit her friend in nigeria and she really need this item so much, Iwill be offering you $570 for the item and shipping cost to nigeriavia local post office usps global express mail service(ems), i willlike you to help post this item to be, .let me know if you can acceptmy offer? if you do, kindly get back to me with your paypal id so thati can proceed the payment as soon as possible or set up an account atwww.paypal.com, it's fast and secure online payment Thanks Hope to hear from you soon, Sent from my Wireless BlackBerry

Almost the same thing happend to.me except his name was jeff preston from lakeport ca

I received pretty much same email

Thanks for the reply, yes the check will be mailed out to your address soon...And the check will come inform of Certified Check and there is going to be an excess funds on it which you will send to the mover after you have deduct your money for the item plus the $50 i offer you for the stress and running around to the Money Gram/Western Union Outlet to send funds once the Check had been cleared with your bank...So now i want you to delete the ad from craigslist and make sure you mark it sold...Once again the rest funds on the check will be sent to the shipping mover via Western Union or Money Gramm after the Check has been cleared with your bank, so they can come over and pick up the item at your resident immediately cause the mover will need the money upfront...And they will also be responsible for the packaging too. Hope to hear back from you soonest.
the email and name that this came from is Jeffrey Higgins jeffreyh569@gmail.com
He stated he was to busy to come in person due to his work-- was buying a electric wheelchair that i am selling after death of grandmother.
It really has me freaked out that i was stupid and gave this man my name phone and address. I have sent him an email telling him no cash no chair
Thank God I found this site

From scammer: "glitter lovlin"; frankiway@gmail.com; called himself "Frank". After his initial inquiry of my dinette set for sale:

I'm ready to proceed with making the payment. I will be making the payment with a certified check. This I will mail out to you via a courrier service and get to you with the tracking # and I will be responsible for the pick up. I will have my shipping company contact you for the pick up as soon as you verify the fund I send to you. All I need you to do now is get back to me with your full name and address for me to mail out the payment to you as soon as possible. I will be waiting to read from you asap. Thanks.

what about jthom027@gmail.com he sent me an e-mail