Craigslist and Paypal Scam

73 Comments

1. 

   Joe Pedreira on June 30, 2009 at 5:46 pm

   Thanks for the great tips for the craigslist scams. My son wanted to sell his PS2 and we put on Craigslist and we received a suspicious email from a businessman in CAlifornia, that is when I decided to investigate if the email was some kind of scam before sending the paypal request and did a google search and came accross your site. Thank you for posting the examples of scam; like I said the email I received was from a “businessman from California” on your example is a “businesslady from California” by comparing the two I clearly identified the similarities. Thanks again for sharing your experience.
   Joe Pedreira

2. 

   Rachel on July 3, 2009 at 7:25 pm

   Craigslist is also unsafe for buyers as well. I search craigslist using craigspal so I can see items I want from all over the United States. There seems to be no safe way to purchase an item that you cannot pick up yourself. I posted an ad on craigslist saying “Wanted: Your collectibles.” Someone messaged me (and it was not in the form of any of the above scams) and said they had a barbie doll I would be interested in. They gave me a very good price and I paid them over paypal. I asked for delivery confirmation so that I could track the item. I did receive an e-mail from paypal with a delivery confirmation (it was a real paypal e-mail) so I thought everything was going to be ok. IT WASN’T. Anyone can print out a shipping label and it will immediately send the buyer an e-mail so they can track the item, even if the item never gets shipped. After some further research, I discovered the same barbie doll that I had just “bought” on e-bay. Same pictures, same description that the person sent me. Trust me, this was not a massed produced barbie. So I knew they had stolen the description and pictures off of an ebay listing and sent them to me. I currently have a claim open with paypal and will hopefully get my $610 back eventually. So in conclusion, sellers are scammers as well. If anyone has any information on how to purchase items safely from craigslist (without going to pick the item up, as I shop around on every state’s craigslist for the items I want and cannot possibly travel across the US just to purchase an item) please inform me! I thought paypal would be safe, but I was wrong. I am desperate for a way to safely purchase items from craigslist no matter where the item may be located, but it seems there is no way. I guess I should just fill up my car and drive all the way across the united states! No other options.

3. 

   john on July 9, 2009 at 9:29 pm

   ok i published an add on craigslist for my laptop. i asked 450 for it and i recieved an email telling me that they would like to pay for using pay pal and i was like ok cuz i have been locked up for the past few years and i remember when pay pal was like the safest thing ever so i sent them a request and asked where to ship it… guess where you guessed it NIGERIA i was like hell no! cuz i have heard pretty much that anything out of nigeria was a scam now when i got the “payment sent” i emailed them back saying basically f… off! i dont have the money and im not going to ship it… well neadless to say this upset the scammer and now im recieving stuff from paypal saying legal action is being used… well i havent got the money my paypal still says 0 dollars… now what do i do??? someone please help me out i know i have done nothing wrong im just tired of the b.s. e mails thank you

4. 

   unknown on July 11, 2009 at 3:17 pm

   Craigslist is only meant for local trades only where you can meet up with buyer. Anything other than LOCALLY is not a good idea. I suggest you guys to just ignore e-mail/request for paypal or western union. It should be dealt with in CASH only.

5. 

   Adrian on July 12, 2009 at 12:09 am

   It is sad that this goes on and there are people out there that fall for these scams. I recently posted an item to sell on ebay and I am sorry to say that the 8 responses that I have gotten 5 were like the ones above and the other 3 from different people trying to make me go to a website because I am in need of money.

   It is sad that this goes on and the people that do this are scum for trying to take advantage of peoples needs.

6. 

   Dan on July 13, 2009 at 10:11 am

   Hey! No worries, John. Those email that you receive from “PayPal” are not actually from PayPal. They are made to look exactly like the PayPal emails, but if you read at the bottom of the email it will say to send delivery confirmation to “x@web2consultant” or somthing like that. If it were a real PayPal email, it would be “[email protected].
   I’ve even received faked emails from the FBI.
   If you call PayPal, they’ll tell you everything’s fine. Eventually the scammer will leave you alone.

7. 

   Jean on August 28, 2009 at 9:17 am

   Thank you so much for posting this. I just had a similar incident when posting a student saxaphone on craigslist. I got emails from 3 different email addresses – as if they were all the same person. I told him I wasn’t comfortable sending anything to Nigeria – would he mind picking it up locally and shipping it himself. I never heard back…

   Here’s two of the emails (same subject, different email addresses):

   Dear seller,
   Thanks for you prompt mail…i will like to know if you
   still have the original box for the item cause am buying it for my
   pastors son schooling abroad as a birthday gift and i also want
   to inform you that you will be shipping the item direct to my pastor
   in Oyo.i will be paying $350.00 for the item and i also pay you
   $150.00 for the shipping cost am really in need of it urgently that is
   why i want to offer you all this amount.i will be paying you through
   international PayPal into your PayPal account direct. and i want you
   to ship the item Via ***Usps Global Express Mail International
   Ems..you will ship the item to my client immediately you receive my
   payment approval from PayPal if you agree with these term,send me your
   full name and you PayPal email address for immediate payment…get
   back to me soonest with the payment details.
   Regards.

   Thanks for your mail.. well you can get back to me with your pay pal
   id and your name so i can make the payment and i also want you to know
   that i will be paying you $150 for the shipping cost and also want you
   to know that you will be shipping the item out as soon as you get the
   payment confirmation from pay pal ok…so kindly get back to me with
   your pay pal info soonest..?

   Here is the shipping address..thanks
   Name:Taiwo Adebayo
   Address:No 26 bisimilaih street owode.
   State:Oyo
   Country:Nigeria
   Zip Code:234038

   I will alert Craigslist, as well. Thanks again for the post!!

8. 

   Loren on September 2, 2009 at 3:56 pm

   Thank you so much for posting this!
   I am currently trying to sell a laptop over craig’s list and got two emails both of which are nearly word for word to the ones you posted.

9. 

   Chris on September 10, 2009 at 4:07 pm

   Same thing here. I got three of these emails (so far) that are almost word-for-word what you described.

   I also got another from a guy telling me he’d send a check over, and after I cashed it, a “mover” would come and pick up the laptop I’m selling.

10. 

    Hugh on October 15, 2009 at 7:25 am

    I just want to inform you that i will be sending the payment once i have you paypal email id with me and once i transfer the money i will get back to you so that you can be aware, and please make sure you ship out the package the us local post office (express mail international) and get back to me with tracking number so that i can be sure am undergoing a smooth and harmless deal…Here is the shipping address below just get back to me with the total cost of everything including the shipping fee……………….
    Name: ABAYOMI WILLIAMS
    Address: No 26 Bisimilaih Street Owode.
    State: Oyo
    Country: Nigeria
    Zip Code: 234038
    +2348060064600

11. 

    jeff on October 24, 2009 at 9:40 pm

    Hello,
    > My Name is Kostantin Goldobin..I saw your post on craigslist.com
    > …I will like to know if the item is still available for sale…If
    > yes…GET BACK TO ME WITH THE FINAL PRICE YOU WANT TO SELL THE ITEM.I
    > will be making the payment through WESTERN UNION MONEY TRANSFER
    > IMMEDIATELY. kindly GET BACK TO ME WITH THE FOLLOWING information SO
    > AS TO MAKE THE PAYMENT IF YOU AGREE.

    > My final
    > First Name:
    > Last Name:
    > Address

    And here was my response

    My final price is $500.00 – thank you
    > First Name: George
    > Last Name: Bush
    > Address:1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
    > Washington, DC 20500

    & then the stupid email went back & fourth as i like to amuse myself sometimes, since i have seen this scam for yearsssssssssssss
    ______________________________________________________________________
    Have make the payment through western Union.
    here is the Information i used to send money you can go to
    http://www.westernunion.com and confirm the payment by tracking it.
    I will be expecting the tracking number as soon as possible.

    First Senders Name:Konstantin
    Middle Sender Name: B.
    Last senders name: Goldobin

    senders city: Ponte Vedra Beach
    Senders Zip code: 32082
    SENDERS sTATE: FLORIDA
    MTCN Money Transfer Countrol Number: 274-880-9947

    Kindly get back to me with the Tracking number and also I want you to
    make the shipment an express one(3day delivery)
    _______________________________________________________________________

    here isthe shipping address
    Name: Fasuba Akinsola
    No 12 Agunpopo Area

    Oyo,

    234038

    Oyo State

12. 

    Nicole on January 6, 2010 at 5:36 pm

    I got three emails saying the exact thing this was my third email, same story just different characters

    Are you sure is still in good working condition.I would love to come and
    take a look at the item, but right now i am in New York with my boss for
    work. I am getting this for my Daughter Schooling in Abroad.I will offer
    $230 for the item including the shipping via USPS(United State Postal
    Service).Hope i can trust you with this transaction?Get back to me with your
    PayPal email address or send me a paypal payment money request so that i can
    make the payment into your paypal account while you make the shipment today
    cos it is very urgent.

    This was my response to all three emails
    ok look, im sorry but this is too stupid, this is the third email i have gotten from someone stating they are out of state, the first one was for a mother for her daughter who was out of state she also wanted me to mail it to her daughter and use pay pal because she her job made her unavailable, the next story was a gentleman who was in australia for work and it was for his son in Africa studying abroad (ALSO) , he also wanted me to mail it and use paypal..hhmmmm you all three offered more than i had it advertized….sorry but you guys need to get a new job, this is ridiculous, find someone else dumb enough to scam. or i dont know think of better stories! BYE

    one story was a mother she wanted her daughter to have it as a b-day gift, the other was dad wanting to send his son who did Missionary school in Nigeria, this one didnt make sense to me
    -if he is in New York why doesnt he buy one himself and ship it?
    also my dad who is a lawyer said once you ship out of the country your screwed cuz you cant do anything about it.

13. 

    Kitesurf Instructor on February 14, 2010 at 11:00 pm

    Just a short remark, you have a great site and rad stories, I will bookmark.

14. 

    sol on April 22, 2010 at 2:14 pm

    thanks for posting this, it has really helped me a lot, i dont sell or buy online because of scammers but right now im trying to sell some jewerly and i got this email today

    Good Day, I am happy to read from you that the item is still availablefor sales and to let you know that presently am not in state am in Ukon a business trip and,I will like to purchase it from you as soon aspossible.My mode of payment will be via (paypal).Read more aboutpaypal via (www.paypal.com ) I will add $100 to yourasking price to cover the cost of Shipment,so do get back to me nowwith your paypal e-mail address and the last price you listed for theitem so that i can make the payment today and better of you can signup with paypal via http://www.paypal.com and get back to me with the emailused…Thanks…

    and after seeing your post i will definitely not do it.
    thank you again!

15. 

    Jamie Lockwood on May 31, 2010 at 4:39 pm

    It’s a year or so later and I have been receiving some of these too! Actually some of the same ones, just a little different wording.

16. 

    devii on June 15, 2010 at 10:54 am

    I was selling a camera on Craigslist and recieved the following email from a person named “Marilyn Chantel”:

    ————————————————————————
    I was just about checking for your email, thanks for your response. I
    would have come to pick it up myself but am out of town at the moment.
    Am buying this camera as a birthday gift for my niece who is in west
    Africa she works with W.H.O there, i will like you to help me deliver
    it to her before her birthday, and i will be adding $100 for shipment
    expenses through postal service express mail (USPS).

    i will be making the payment through PayPal, because of my job i can’t
    make cash transaction at the moment,just send me PayPal money request
    to this email, so i can make payment immediately and if you don’t have an
    account go to PayPal website and sign up, its free.

    —————————————————————-

    Then I was asked to ship it to Nigeria!!!! NOT!
    This was the address they provided:

    250 Ikorodu Road Shomolu
    Lagos state
    Nigeria.

17. 

    John on June 25, 2010 at 10:41 pm

    I inqiured about purchasing a $3200.00 camera from a craigslist ad in the High Rockies, CO and was told the item would be sold through Paypal and ebay. The email requested my name and email to set up the ebay account and then I could pay through paypal; the camera then would ship from his shop in NJ. I wondered why the guy just didn’t put the camera on ebay and get $600.00+ more as that was the ebay going price. It was all just too complicated so I passed.

18. 

    Leticia on July 1, 2010 at 4:07 pm

    WOW that just happen to my brother and I today!!! I sent them a paypal link for a buy now and of course they “paid” and I received the fake paypal email confirming payment and asking me to ship out right away! One of the initial red flags was the fact that they wanted my direct email I use for paypal (I was using my brothers email address to talk back and forth bc he was the actual seller I was just helping him) another red flag was the fake paypal email asking me to send the tracking number some random link and at the very top the paypal email address sending the email was written as pay.pal.com (damn fools!) But yes these low lives make it hard to trust any “potential buyer” you have to question every thing!! But thanks this only confirms exactly what I though!!

19. 

    Faith Foster on July 2, 2010 at 10:07 pm

    there are so many scams running on the internete so watch out,-,

20. 

    steal on July 23, 2010 at 11:44 am

    Thank god I saw this webpage from google search. I recieved similar email from craigs list ad. Thank you for whoever is running this website/blog. Keep up the good work.

    • 

      Dave on July 23, 2010 at 12:12 pm

      No problem…glad to help

      Dave

21. 

    Matt on September 2, 2010 at 12:34 pm

    Hi folks,
    I’ve just been approached by a scammer recently, and after all emails, I’ve managed to give him/her my fake paypal address (never existed). Per the above record, I’ve received emails from so-called PayPal telling me to ship the stuff immediately, and that the payment has been transferred into my (non-existence) paypal account. The shipping address is, of course, Africa. So I stopped communicating with the person. Now he’s online and open a chat with me, claiming that the payment has been wired, and that I need to ship it out immediately.

    I will not ship the stuff. What should I do next? I have not yet reported the person as I wasn’t sure if he’s a real scammer, but now I am rather sure. Do you also know what kind of action craigslist will take on these people? I want to keep this scammer off my back for good (accessing into my chat, emails, or social network, etc.)

    Thanks folks!

    Matt

22. 

    David on September 10, 2010 at 11:32 pm

    Matt,

    Your options are quite limited. You have not received any money so you definitely shouldn’t ship your merchandise.

    You can report the buyer to paypal at [email protected], but they will just create another account, so that won’t really accomplish much. I am sure they are out of the country, so US laws won’t even apply.

    I would just ignore him/her and block any incoming requests to discuss. They are a waste of time.

23. 

    Jayme on September 17, 2010 at 6:15 pm

    I had a listing on ebay just end. The “winner” sent me the following message:

    hello i will like to proceed with payment via paypal but i want you to ship the item to my son schooling abroad via USPS express mail international with the additional shipping charges of $150,get back to me as soon as possible via my email [email protected],if it is okay for me to proceed with payment thanks

    I would like to have the item shipped to the address below:
    maria williams
    12828 Granada Rd
    Leawood, KS 66209-2326 United States

    So… the son is schooling abroad and they want me to send it to Kansas? USPS International? Why would they pay me an extra $150 to ship it Internationally when they want me to ship to Kansas? lol

    Anyway, I said no thanks! People are crazy!

24. 

    Jaemii on September 22, 2010 at 12:07 pm

    I feel so horrible..
    I am a Biology Student in california who was in desperate need of money because I had no food or gas to get to school or pay for anything, and was in a very bad situation where I didn’t have a job or time off from school..so I went on craigslist and tried to sell almost all my valuables..the first email that I recieved, offering me more than double for my blackberry seemed like a message from heaven that would solve all of my problems..so I went through the hassle of my life to get my phone sent out to this person, without any money in my pocket (I had to borrow from my mother!) to send it immediately so I could get my money..It was the most stressful thing I had to go through, but I figured it was worth it. So once it was processed and sent, I received soooo many emails from “paypal” saying they made an error and I needed to send the client $180 in a money order because they made a mistake and “accidentally” deducted more money from her account. I then realized I made a mistake…but it was too late..they had already recieved my phone..so I felt terrible and throught, why would people do this? I didn’t go to school because I felt like a big fool.
    So I sent these people a mean message out of anger and rage, asking them why they would do such a thing, and why they like to ruin people’s life..I obviously wouldn’t expect any response from them..but they did reply:

    GO TO @^$# YOU !@#$ @#$%,LAMELIKE DUCK,IDIOT,YOU ARE SOSO STUPID nU ARE A VERY BIG FOOOOL,YOUR BB LOOK VERY FETISH CRACKED N UNCLEANCOME N HAVE IT BACK DUMP @#$%

    :'( I just feel so horrible and sad..but thank god this is all over. And well, I guess I learned my lesson..

25. 

    Morgan Parker on September 27, 2010 at 11:13 am

    there are literally tons of scam on the internet today so watch out:”-

26. 

    ann on October 1, 2010 at 12:12 pm

    just had the same thing happen to me on craigslist.. He emailed me today said will pay $800 for a purse and wanted my paypal info.. did not ask one question about the bag or condition of it . kept pushing for the paypal info . had a bad feeling.
    He said he lived in the usa while i live in canada wanted it shipped to texas. had may spelling mistakes and i called him out that it sounded like a scam and if it wasn’t then send his phone number…. guess what no number.
    go with your 1st feeling………………

27. 

    Rob Fauchon on October 5, 2010 at 8:23 am

    Just received an offer to buy my tires advertised on Craigslist. A little different twist to the usual shipping scam, goes like this:
    “Thank you very much for the response. I will be happy to buy it. Note that you will not be responsible for shipping and handling. My shipping company will come to your location for pick up. Kindly provide me your name and full address so i can forward it to the shipping company to calculate the cost of pick up for me. Do get back to me as soon as possible.” My reply asking for 1on 1 communication and cash transaction got this further response:
    “Why?? is it because of the scam online now…i want you to know that i am a legit buyer and also PayPal verified member so you have nothing to fear about and also that is why i said i will send out the payment first before you released the goods, so get back to me with your PayPal Email ID for the payment.”
    Needless to say, any further communications will be ignored.

28. 

    Constipation Remedies  on October 13, 2010 at 2:53 pm

    internet scams are very rampant and there are also lots of newbie internet users who are getting scammed`”-

29. 

    jodylynne on October 14, 2010 at 4:05 am

    Thanks for you reply,i am located in Remsenburg city in NY,i really
    need to buy this and send to my son schooling outside the state as a
    gift .I have
    been trying to buy this on ebay but its so very stressful buying on
    ebay.I will offer you $430 so as to close the auction as soon as
    possible.I will be paying through PAYPAL because i have a verified
    account with paypal.So kindly get back with
    your paypal email address so i can make payment into your paypal
    account.Once payment clears,shipment will be handled by me through my
    personal fedex account,so you dont have to pay for shipment.Get back
    to me if my approval is granted.I would like to see the pictures
    please…………………
    Thanks

    —
    SELL OR NOT

30. 

    jodylynne on October 14, 2010 at 4:07 am

    i had just told him that i only deal locally that i was avoiding any sort of scams and that i didnt have paypal and i could meet him at the boarder but he said he doesnt have a passport lol and he was trying to assure me it would be a safe transaction lol

31. 

    Craig Johnson on October 20, 2010 at 9:35 pm

    Jodylynne, I just received the exact same email from a “buyer” named lucci smith. Craigslist is so useless for anything beyond a face to face cash in hand transaction.

32. 

    Maddison Richards on December 22, 2010 at 2:44 pm

    i hate scams wheter it is offline scam or online scams, there are lots of it these days ,-,

33. 

    Joe on April 17, 2011 at 11:29 am

    I sold a microwave and a car on Craigslist. I was successful only because I was firm in stating local buyers only and cash only transactions. Never accept paypal, cashiers checks, checks of any kind, or money orders. Only cash. If you stick with local people you can meet face to face and cash the likelihood of something going wrong is minimal.

    Unfortuantely I have an expensive leather sofa set and some jewelry for sale now – and for some reason every inquiry has been from some loser scammer. Most of these guys have some sort of robo program that goes thru all new Craigslist postings and sends out a generic message like “is it still available” or “Id like to buy the item for ___-” These emails do not refer specifically to what you are selling they are generic and they are looking for a response. Once they have it, they try to reel you in with nonesense about using paypaly because they are not local or are not able to get to a phone or do not having internet banking access. Of course none of this makes sense because if they can get an internet connection for email they can make a call and can do internet banking. They also want you to be responsible for shipping – forget it. Geez – can’t believe how many losers there are out there..

34. 

    Ben Wu on April 27, 2011 at 6:30 am

    Saddly enough ive already sent off my camera…….but thank goodness i realized this today and sent it last night i have requested the item to be cancelled and sent back 😛 At one point i was trembling how could we so blindly be lead on by something so stupid,
    what i found out is that all PAYPAL emails have green check marks, theirs didn’t,
    PLUS their emails are from [email protected], not [email protected] AND they had a typo in one of the email then they sent me another one about the payment then another one about how just never mind of those emails and reply to this other email…like seriously how did i not see that coming……
    ANyone honest here want my camera? lol

35. 

    James B. on May 5, 2011 at 1:23 am

    You sure saved me from selling my iPad to a jerk! I got an email from a guy with almost this EXACT format. HE NEEDS IT ASAP TO SEND TO HIS SON IN AFRICA FOR HIS BIRTHDAY COMING UP.

    JERKS!!!

36. 

    Nate on May 18, 2011 at 6:49 pm

    Hate to say it, but these scammers are still in business with the same routine. I posted my jewelry for sale on Craigslist and immediately received 4 emails with the similar verbiage and 2 of 4 had the exact same questions (probably the same person).

    1. [email protected]
    2. [email protected]
    3. [email protected]
    4. prottio prottio <[email protected]

    Stay alert if you get a response like this (red flags): incomplete/poor English, can't speak to you over the phone for some reason, immediately want to purchase the item via PayPal money request without even physically seeing the item, multiple requests for your PayPal request account.
    .

37. 

    Ray D. on May 31, 2011 at 4:33 pm

    I almost fell for it today. They even told me that their relative was a missionary. Way to prey on a Christian by talking about serving like that. I requested the money and sent the tracking number (I had it set to ship in the morning so I didn’t get charged $100 in shipping yet) then they told me it would take 2-3 days to get the money. Thankfully my university IT job has taught me how to figure out scam and phishing emails. I was so excited to sell that it didn’t dawn on me to look for clues until then. I cancelled the shipment and I can’t even respond to their emails now, haha. I luckily found another buyer looking to buy a nook color, in America.

38. 

    lina on June 6, 2011 at 10:12 am

    Well I posted my laptop and got a response from a woman who wanted me to send it internationally. she wanted to do it over paypal and she wanted me to send it internationlly. At that time I didn’t think of it till today when I got an email from “paypal” saying that I wouldn’t have the money in my account till they had the tracking/verification number so I called paypal cuz i was confused and they said it was a scam. than another person with gmail asked if the item was still available and I said I wouldn’t do anything till we talked on the phone and they haven’t gotten back to me yet. and than a woman wanted my address so that we could send the things together at the same time. didn’t reply to that one. I’m just happy that I had a red flag go up.

39. 

    Not Scammed on June 7, 2011 at 3:18 pm

    Here is one I just sent to the Craigslist Admin. Getting so sick of scammers. It almost seems as if nobody can carry out a simple transaction without getting one or two of these. I have had a lot of luck on CL, but it doesn’t go without getting a few scumbags trying to contact you and get your info. Good luck, stay aware and never just hand over your information!

    Hello,

    I am writing to inform you of a potential scammer on CL trying to contact me regarding a watch I posted for sale. I am sure this is a pretty common one as i have received similar requests for other items posted. Just wanted to make you guys aware of it in the event you were working on measures to inform users of scams such as this one for example. I have scrubbed my contact information in the event this is posted somewhere to protect the public interest.

    Thanks,
    J

    ———- Forwarded message ———-
    From:
    Date: Tue, Jun 7, 2011 at 3:55 PM
    Subject: Re: Tag Heuer Aquaracer – $600
    To: kev ton

    Okay Kev,

    This is a $1200+ watch at half the price, and it’s in good condition. Albeit, needs to be cleaned and reset. Speaking of which, what time zone would you like me to have the watch set to?

    A few other general questions I have are where will I be shipping the watch to once the transaction is made? How would you like it shipped, and to what region will I be shipping it? Out of the US, Southeast, Northwest, Certified Mail, First Class? Since you are throwing in an extra $200, I think it is fair you get the fastest shipment. Just trying to get an idea of the logistics on my end as I want you to get the watch as requested. If you are from Montana, you know that there are some limitations on say overnight shipping and things often take a few more days to get there. If you are not able to provide answers to the above, we are probably done here. I mean no offense, but I am a tech guy, and have had many dealings on Craigslist, which is unfortunately susceptible to fraudulent activity as I am sure you are aware. Just protecting everyones interest here.

    Thanks,
    J

    On Tue, Jun 7, 2011 at 3:35 PM, kev ton wrote:

    If you are not going to be honest with me on here let me know, and i
    can cancell the transaction …… You are making me feel the watch is
    not in good condition , if you are ready to do business get back to me
    with your full name and you paypal email that i need to proceed with
    the payment , hope to hear back from you soon.

    On 6/7/11, wrote:
    > Kev,
    >
    > Forgive me for being skeptical about this, but you are really willing to buy
    > something sight unseen without pictures or description of the watches color
    > etc, and going straight to the handling of the transaction?
    >
    > Do you live in Bozeman, and travel for work? If so, will you be in town
    > again before the wedding to handle this in person? I would just like to
    > make sure you know what you are getting and I prefer to handle transactions
    > like these in person. I am willing to work with you through this, but need
    > more than just “let me have ur paypal email and full name”. I hope you
    > understand my concern. Let me know if you still want to proceed.
    >
    > Thanks,
    > J
    >

    > On Tue, Jun 7, 2011 at 12:59 PM, kev ton wrote:
    >
    >> Good , let me have ur paypal email and ir full name ,so i can proceed
    >> with the payment as soon as possible.
    >>
    – Show quoted text –
    >> On 6/7/11, wrote:
    >> > The watch is still in good condition, and I will have it cleaned and
    >> reset
    >> > for you. When is the wedding, and how soon were you looking to receive
    >> the
    >> > watch? I can go home at lunch and get some pictures in current
    >> condition.
    >> > Of course it will be shinier once it is cleaned. Is your paypal account
    >> > linked to your email [email protected]? I have used both Western
    >> > union & Paypal, but never through CL as I prefer to deal locally.
    >> Willing
    >> > to consider it for sure. Let me know how you would like to proceed.
    >> >
    >> > Thanks,
    >> > J
    >> >
    >> >
    >> > On Tue, Jun 7, 2011 at 9:56 AM, kev ton wrote:
    >> >
    >> >> Good, hope you still have it in good condition ? am on business trip
    >> >> at the moment and cant come look at it , am buying this for my cousin
    >> >> that his wedding his coming up real soon , ……… so my form of
    >> >> payment is going to be via pay pal or western union money order …..
    >> >> you can log to http://www.paypal.com and read how pay pal works before
    >> >> signing up , or if you want us to proceed with the payment via western
    >> >> union money order , this how it works i will place a order of your
    >> >> money , and your money will be delivered to your giving home address
    >> >> by western union agent in cash …..plus i will be including extra
    >> >> $200 to your asking price that will cover the shipping , i know it
    >> >> does not cost that much to ship it out for me , but i am giving you
    >> >> the amount just for the little time that you are going to use to send
    >> >> it out for me……let me know which you prefer to be paid with , hope
    >> >> to hear back from you soon .
    >> >>
    >> >> On 6/7/11, wrote:
    >> >> > Hello,
    >> >> >
    >> >> > Sorry to just get back to you. Yes, the watch is still available.
    >> Are
    >> >> you
    >> >> > local to Bozeman? We can set up a time to meet if so.
    >> >> >
    >> >> > Thanks,
    >> >> > J
    >> >> >
    >> >> > On Thu, Jun 2, 2011 at 8:27 AM, kev ton
    >> wrote:
    >> >> >
    >> >> >> ** CRAIGSLIST ADVISORY — AVOID SCAMS BY DEALING LOCALLY
    >> >> >> ** Avoid: wiring money, cross-border deals, work-at-home
    >> >> >> ** Beware: cashier checks, money orders, escrow, shipping
    >> >> >> ** More Info: http://www.craigslist.org/about/scams.html
    >> >> >>
    >> >> >>
    >> >> >> Do you have this Jewelry for sale ?
    >> >> >>
    >> >> >> I look forward to read from you
    >> >> >>
    >> >> >> ——————————
    >> >> >> this message was remailed to you via:

    >> >> >> ——————————
    >> >> >>
    >> >> >
    >> >>
    >> >
    >>
    >

40. 

    Guion on June 8, 2011 at 7:30 am

    This is the Email i just received:

    Thanks for the prompt mail, i would have love to call but i have no
    access to my phone right here. I live in Tom Berl, 50 Collingwood
    Dr., Rochester, NY 14621…but not in the State right now. I will be
    paying you through PayPal but the payment will be made before the
    shipping company come for pick up at your location. I just need your
    address to get the actual pick up and delivery cost from the shipping
    company. Get back to me ASAP.

    Who the hell doesn’t have access to a PHONE!!! LMAO!! Thank God i was born with a friggin BRAIN!!

    • 

      JN on November 12, 2011 at 8:57 pm

      I just got the same message but in french from [email protected]
      Thanks for posting this and for confirming my Thoughts-

      Merci pour l’e-mail rapide, j’aurais aimez appelé mais je n’ai aucune
      accès à mon téléphone ici. J’habite à Tom Berl, 50 Collingwood
      Dr, Rochester, NY 14621 … mais pas dans l’État en ce moment. Je serai
      Payez-vous par le biais de PayPal, mais le paiement sera effectué avant la
      compagnie de transport maritime viennent pour chercher à votre
      emplacement. J’ai juste besoin de votre
      adresse pour obtenir la reprise réelle et frais de livraison de l’expédition
      de l’entreprise. Revenez à moi ASAP.

      Best Regard

      Translation:

      Thank you for the quick e-mail, I would like but I have no known
      access to my phone here. I live in Tom Berl, 50 Collingwood
      Dr, Rochester, NY 14621 … but not in the state right now. I will
      Do you pay through PayPal, but payment will be made before the
      shipping company to come up at your location. I just need your
      address for the recovery and actual cost of delivery of the shipment
      the company. Come back to me ASAP.

      • 

        Artist on January 24, 2012 at 3:11 pm

        I appreciate you listing the scammer’s email address. I ran accross your message today, as I was doing an interenet search on [email protected]. He has been the latest, out of close to half a dozen scam emails, I have received this past year for pieces of my artwork. All have asked me to process a credit card number they will provide and a shipping company will come to my location, to ship my artwork overseas.

41. 

    basketball on June 10, 2011 at 6:18 pm

    Hi to all, if you got to this post than your instincts are correct. There are people out there who are trying to steel your stuff. Many of these posts are correct in what to look for in a scam, advising what to do and what to be careful of. Overall you must be careful just as you would out in public. More knowledge is best, I will share some of the real examples I have received on craigslist. The following are scams!!

    (starts like this)
    Okoh Rachael
    Hello,
    Is this item still available for sale?.
    National Institute of Oceanography (NIO)
    Address : 15455 Smoland Ln NE
    Bainbridge Island, WA 98110, USA
    (i reply yes)
    Okoh Rachael
    Hello
    Thanks for your prompt e-mail. it was just exactly what i wanted and can you assure me that it’s in perfect condition and i will not be disappointed buying this from you.i will be very more than happy if you can tell other buyer that the item has been sold because i would like to buy this item. like i said i will like to buy this item for the exact price listed so pls do withdraw the ad from Craigslist. I will also like you to know that i will be paying via PayPal..I will need you to provide me with the following information to facilitate the Payment

    1.Your PayPal Email Address.
    2.Your address for pick up.

    Though you will not be responsible for moving,i will have my mover come over for the pick after i have made the payment**

    Thanks

    Have a nice day.
    (i asked for their name and address and got this reply)
    My paypal email address is [email protected] so kindly send me your paypal money request for instant payment..
    (uhhhh smells like a scam)

    From: tony pet
    Hello Seller,
    Thanks for the mail, I’m seriously interested in buying this for my
    son and am okay with your selling price, I’m a Petroleum Engineer and
    currently offshore i really want this as a surprise gift for my son so
    i won’t let him know anything about this until it get delivered to
    him. You can mail me back with your PayPal email address so i can make
    the payment to you right now and if you don’t have an account with
    paypal you can set up an account today as it’s secured and reliable
    visit their website on http://www.paypal.com... i will be responsible for the
    payment fees/charges on this transaction. Do not worry about shipping
    or picking up as my pick up agent will come and pick it up from you
    once have made the payment to you and i will also need your full
    Name,address and phone number.

    Reply Forward

    (another scam)
    From: Mike Carlisle
    Hi there,

    Thank you for getting back to me. Please assure me that it’s in good condition and that i will not be disappointed with it.I’m ready to pay your asking price and to be honest, i wanted to buy this for my Friend, but the issue is i am an oceanographer and i do have a contract to go for which starts tomorrow and am leaving any moment from now.The contract is strictly no call due to the lack of reception on the sea area. But I’m able to access email anytime as we will make use of laptop so my only quickest payment option is PayPal as i can send money via PayPal anytime. Since I’m requesting this transaction to be done via PayPal, i will be responsible for all the paypal fee/charges on this transaction and if you don’t have an account with paypal, its pretty easy, safe and secured to open one. Just log on to http://www.paypal.com. I hope we can make the purchase as fast as possible? I have a mover that will come for it once payment clears and they will be handling the title for me. So i look forward to hear from you soon.

    Many Thanks…

    (here is a scam to get ur info)
    My name is Sandra Clark, Ceo of Craigslist. We’ve recently joined up with The apple company for a one-time promotional event today, we are giving away no cost Apple MacBooks to randomly selected folks who have submitted an advert on Craig’s list. You have been chosen as one of our most recent winners for today. We randomly choose numbers to match up with ads on C-list and your ad matched with our latest drawing.

    Now we have joined up with Apple to advertise their hottest product yet, the Apple MacBook. Once yet again, we are operating this promotion for one-day only. All you need to do is CLICK HERE to go to our website generated for this promotion and enter your email to obtain yours for free. Simply be sure you enter your email therefore we may locate our records to guarantee that we have reserved one for you. That is it!

    Congrats on winning a free Apple MacBook (valued at $1199). In case you could have any question or issues, feel free to email me back. However, you should claim your free MacBook 1st to guarantee one will be set-aside for you before the deadline ends. We do understand that you may possibly not receive this email until after the deadline, however, we advise you check the website and enter your email to see if we still have yours on hold, which we often-times do because others have not claimed theirs on time.

    Sandra Clark

    CEO, Craig’s list

    (just a note.. forward scam mails to the abuse department. Alrighty be carfull out there)

42. 

    Bruce on July 11, 2011 at 12:46 pm

    These scammers are relentless. I just got this response from a “buyer” to my craigslist ad for a sailboat.

    Thanks for the prompt response.. I am really interested in buying your item but i am not in town at the moment as i am a marine engineer manager and due to the nature of my work, It’s hard to make a phone calls and visiting of website are restricted but i squeezed out time to check this advert and send you an email regarding it. I really want it to be a surprise for my dad so i wont let him know anything about it until it gets delivered to him, i am sure he will be more than happy with it. will be making the payment via paypal because i don’t have access to my bank account online as i don’t have internet banking, but i can pay from my paypal account, as i have my bank a/c attached to it, i will need you to give me your paypal email address and the price so i can make the payments asap for it and please if you don’t have paypal account yet, it is very easy to set up, go to http://www.paypal.com and get it set up, after you have set it up i will only need the e-mail address you use for registration with paypal so as to put the money through. I have a pick up agent that will come and pick it after i have made the payments…
    Thanks.

43. 

    Caroline on August 19, 2011 at 7:24 pm

    Thanks so much for this information. I was selling my laptop on Craigslist and got similar emails. I was wondering how they managed to make paypal a scam.

44. 

    samantha on August 26, 2011 at 12:12 am

    I have gotten four emails today from all different email address. All of them saying the same thing.
    I told them I only do cash payment and I got this from three of them.. This is terrible!!!

    I told you earlier. I’m out of state, I’m offshore now, PayPal is reliable, secured and a fast way to pay money online moreover i don’t have the money in CASH and I’m not around now, I can only pay via my VERIFIED PayPal account because I can’t go around with such huge amount, if you don’t have an account with PayPal kindly go to http://www.paypal.com you will be instructed on how to create a new account and get back to me when that is done. . kindly send me your PayPal email address so i can pay you for the item now.
    Best Regards

    Sims

45. 

    Ginny on August 26, 2011 at 11:49 am

    I got one today from the “marine engineer at sea.” I hope he falls off his “boat” and gets eaten by a “shark.”

46. 

    joyce richardson on September 28, 2011 at 12:53 pm

    This jus thappened to a coworker. He advertised an electronic piano for $1500. He came to work telling me that a guy on a ship in the middle of the ocean just bought it, no photos, no nothing.

    Then he told me this morning, the guy wants to send him $500 extra to pay for someone to pick it up and ship it to China for the guys son. WHAT!!!!!

    SO, there are no electronic pianos in China, where they are manufactured? I urged him to call Paypal before giving this person any more info, and they told him it is a common scam.

    Glad I could help. I read this site to him, thatnks to everyone who posted.

47. 

    joyce richardson on September 28, 2011 at 12:54 pm

    OMG, GInny, that was what the guy claimed to be that wanted the piano!

48. 

    steve on October 12, 2011 at 1:29 pm

    I was selling my iphone 3g for $200 on craigslist and I got the following response:

    will offer you $250 so as to remove the item from craigslist as soon as possible.I will be paying through PAYPAL because i have a verified account with paypal and i will like you to provide me with your PayPal account ( Invoice) to enable me make the payment.
    Immediately I get the information as asked above, I will send the
    payment immediately, Please start getting the item ready for shipped
    out after you receive this email.I would like to see more pictures please.
    Thanks while I wait to hear from you soon.
    Regards.

    I said I only do face to face cash exchanges, I got this back:

    Am sorry i only deal with PayPal so if you are serious in selling this send me your PayPal account so as to make the payment into your account and PayPal is the best way to pay…and you can receive your money fast used your money to buy online easily with PayPal without exposing your credit card so let me know.
    Thanks.

    • 

      David on October 13, 2011 at 6:29 am

      Hmmm….offering more than you asked for? I bet if you followed up with them, they would have you send the item out of the country.

49. 

    David on October 17, 2011 at 3:03 pm

    I sell laptops on a regular basis on Craigslist and ebay. I get so many scammer emails from craigslist its hard to believe no one can do anything to stop them. They all are very similar in nature….they always and I mean always use the word item. They almost never mention the actual ITEM. They always use broken english, and last but not least they always offer more then your asking. I get so many I use to tell them how there not smart enough to cheat me, and I work for the FBI etc. Im at the point now where I just play along and try to anoy them and waste there time. I have one lately emailing me, and we’ve been going back and forth for a week. I keep saying what item, then the next email I say which one? I’ll keep doing this until they get it, and give up.

50. 

    James on November 3, 2011 at 5:59 pm

    I just received a similar inquiry from someone that wanted to buy my iPhone. He said he would like to see the phone but unfortunately he is leaving for Berlin in 2 days to start a new job. He wanted to buy the phone for his SON that works for the American Embassy in Africa. He asked me to send him my PayPal email address so that he could send me the money and the cost for shipping via USPS. I said that I don’t have a PayPal account but can set one up. He said again, send him my PayPal email address OR request money from him using his email address…which was a gmail account.

    I HATE SCAMMERS!!! I’m very glad that I did my research because something sounded very fishy about this persons emails.

    I’m curious though…let’s say I had given him my PayPal email address…how could he have scammed me? I saw something about Phishing but I’m not exactly sure how it works. Would he have sent the money and it would have APPEARED as though the funds were there? Would I have only gotten taken if I had sent him the phone because the funds wouldn’t have actually been there? I told him that I would have to make sure that the funds were legitimate before I sent him the phone.

    • 

      David on November 3, 2011 at 9:19 pm

      I think there are several variations to the scam.

      1- The scammer will pay you with a hacked Paypal account. When the real owner finds out, he reports to Paypal and the money is withdrawn out of your account.
      2- The scammer will send you a phish email that looks like it is from Paypal claiming that you have received payment. Following any link in the email will steal your paypal login information and then they really can start to steal your identity….especially if you are not good about having different passwords on all of your accounts. Too many people have 1 username and password that they use on all of their bank accounts and such. Getting that 1 account information stolen and they can wreak havoc on your personal identity and finances
      3- The scammer will send an official looking email claiming that you need to ship the item first and then Paypal will release the funds to you after the item has arrived.
      4- Other examples?

51. 

    CJ on November 5, 2011 at 7:28 pm

    I currently have a vehicle for sale on CL. Last night I received the one liner “did you still have it for sale?” from a potential buyer. Given that my region is highly multicultural with many residents who speak English only as a second language, I thought little of it. I replied saying that my vehicle was still available for sale, and asked whether the person had any questions. Typical initial exchange for CL inquiries when buying or selling goods.

    My response triggered a lengthy reply from a ~different~ individual (see below). Sound familiar? Methinks I just received my very first scam letter in all of my years of dealing with CL. I guess I’ve just been lucky so far…

    “Thanks for your swift response to my buying inquiry,your asking price at is quite reasonable and affordable considering others I’ve seen lately, I’ll have it .I hate doubting people’s integrity, so I believe it’s as good as you have it posted for sales. I would have loved to come check it out my self but am currently in camp as Military Seer Instructor for new recruits I won’t be able to leave the base until December.
    I however squeezed out time to check this posting as all personal dealings are highly restricted here, that’s why am arranging for a private courier agent. I’m actually buying this as Retirement gift for my Father as promised him early this year. I really want this to be a surprise gift to him so I won’t let him know anything about this until it gets delivered to him, I’m sure he will be more than glad to receive it .
    I don’t have access to my bank account online as I don’t have internet banking due to internet fraud activities but I’ve my paypal account to my bank account which makes it easy for me to make payment any where any time of the day. However, I’ll like to complete this transaction through PayPal for the safety of both. in addition, I have a private Courier Agent that will come for the pick up after payments has been made, so no shipping included and i will want you to get back to me
    with your Full Name and Pick up location or address so i can forward it to Pick up agent to calculate the shipping cost.
    PayPal is safe and secure without revealing your credit card or bank account information,PayPal is designed from the ground up to be one of the safest ways to send money online. Unlike other financial institutions, PayPal payments are sent without sharing financial information. Let me know your thought about PayPal. And if you don’thave a PayPal account, you can easily go to http://WWW.PayPal.com and sign up,its very easy.
    I’ll need your name, the pickup address or location and please include your PayPal email address for the payment and send me some recent pictures if available.”

52. 

    Jay on November 27, 2011 at 11:49 am

    Thank you for this. I just got a response identical to these for my laptop. I would have gone for it had i not read this [:

53. 

    bree on December 3, 2011 at 7:26 am

    I just got finished with dealing with a scam. Im selling an engagement ring for 4000$ obo. and the guy emails me is the item still for sale. and i kindly responded back to the guy. Me being new on CL i had no clue then i started getting suspisious after he sent me this email…..

    I want to purchase this item as a gift. Is it presentable?…I want
    you to take this item off Craigslist for any disturbance I’m buying
    the item as a gift, i will offer you $100 for the shipping and
    handling expenses Via USPS/FEDEX delivery. Get back to me with your full
    name and your PayPal Email ID for an instant payment. I will make the
    payment asap.

    1. first off no one just buys for the original amount when it says OBO!!!
    2. i asked him to call and he did not.
    then after i gave him my paypal email i recieved emails from paypal saying

    This is originated from PayPal Administrative Department Account on behalf of the transaction not yet credited into your account.This mail is to notify you that a payment for your item has been deposited into our data base by a PayPal Member [email protected] ready to be credited into your account.We told Him to deposit the money through the Service Option Secure Payment so that the transaction can be protected with adequate security measures .So all you have to do now is to ship out the item He purchased from you to the confirmed Nigerian address via (USPS/EMS) and make sure you contact us with the shipment details so that we can verify it and then credit your account.We are assuring you that this is a safe and approved transaction between you and our client
    [email protected] and your account will be credited immediately we verify the shipment details You can contact us anytime if you have any question(s) about this transaction.Once again be rest assure that you will have your Money , Once we verify the SHIPMENT TRACKING NUMBER your account will be credited.
    We are assuring you that this is a safe and approved transaction between you and our client
    [email protected] and your account will be credited immediately we verify the Shipment tracking Number details. You can contact us anytime if you have any question(s) about this transaction.

    You have PayPal 100% assurance that once we receive the Shipment tracking Number from you , your account would be credited instantly.
    If you did had any other email(s) from PayPal, that is definitely not from PayPal, they might want to get you to send them your PayPal account details, do not respond to those mails they are commonly referred to as “spoof” emails.

    Note: Do not send the SHIPMENT TRACKING NUMBER to the buyer of your item, make sure you sent it to our customer care via this mail or you can mail our customer care if you have any question via this mail your co-operation is our satisfaction so we are bound to satisfy you in any way.

    another weary thing… paypal doesnt hold payments i reported to this at [email protected]

    and then lastly the name on the email address was different then the shipping info.
    Plus they wanted me to send it to nigeria! Theres no freaking way im doing that.

    i should just send them a rock in a box 🙂 ha

54. 

    Alice on December 14, 2011 at 2:03 am

    I recently trying to sell my car so i posted ad on craigslist. I also got email from wired buyer insisting paying via pay pal. I figured out this is a scam. The scammer asking my pay pal email address and my local address to pick up my car.. I am just wondering if they can really send people to pick up my car? Different situation from most of your guys is that they did not ask me to send the item out of the country.. Funny thing is who will buy a car without check it out first…??

55. 

    charlie on January 10, 2012 at 4:42 pm

    I buy and sell many items on Craigslist and almost every item will generate at least one scam or phishing reply. These tricky people are looking to find details like addresses, etc. Who knows, some of them are no doubt technologically adept enough to link names, addresses, account numbers etc.
    The simple key to beat this is to be very alert and also to deal locally only and WITH CASH.
    NEVER give out your address or ANY account numbers on the ‘net.
    NEVER give info for these mythical “shippers” who will apparently ship old worthless TV’s to Nigeria or Outer Gambolia ! ( LOL)
    Some real clues are – 1 – people who will offer the asking price without seeing the item
    2 -‘Strange’ English -( the West African variety ! )
    3 – Claims to be somebody grandiose who is currently ‘down on his luck’ – ‘in exile’ – ‘ travelling and has no access to a phone’ – ( That one really breaks me up – I travel a LOT, and trust me – there is NOWHERE in this modern world where you can’t find a phone )

    So,- be extra wary, – be untrusting, – pay attention to ‘broken English’ – Never accept Checks, Money orders or even Paypal – it’s no longer trusted. – – if you possibly miss out on a genuine deal or two – just be glad you weren’t totally ripped off for thousands as some gullible people have been !

    Craigslist is great – IF you are very careful ! – -Good luck, fellow Graigers –

56. 

    charlie on January 10, 2012 at 4:47 pm

    PS = (This is charlie ) – I forgot to include the latest gems I received on CL –

    -Thanks for the prompt mail, i would have love to called but i have no access to my phone right here. I live in Tom Berl, 50 Collingwood Dr., Rochester, NY 14621…but not in the State right now. I will be paying you through PayPal but the payment will be made before the shipping company come for pick up at your location. I just need your address to get the actual pick up and delivery cost from the shipping company. Get back to me ASAP.

    Thanks for your response. I will be happy to buy it but i will not be able to come and view it in your place because I’m not at home right now. Note that you will not be responsible for shipping and handling, My shipping company will come to your location for the pick up. Kindly provide me your name and full address, so i can forward it to the shipping company to calculate the cost of pick up and delivery to my address

    – Yeah, like I believe those – LOL

57. 

    dan on February 3, 2012 at 8:50 am

    LOL. hope nobody’s actually fall for this crap. they seem to hit as soon as i repost. none are available to look at it. i’ve had them say their working in the merchant marine and are at sea right now. one was working on an oil rig in the gulf of mexico . another was at the U.S. embassy in saudi arabia. yeah i can guess i can see why they would need a bedroom set right now. oh and the latest is their deaf and can’t use the phone.. get real

58. 

    Bonnie on February 13, 2012 at 2:00 pm

    @Charlie I just got the same exact email. I found this thread by Googling the full sentence of my email.

    Thanks for the prompt mail, i would have love to called but i have no access to my phone right here. I live in Tom Berl, 50 Collingwood Dr., Rochester, NY 14621…but not in the State right now. I will be paying you through PayPal but the payment will be made before the shipping company come for pick up at your location. I just need your address to get the actual pick up and delivery cost from the shipping company. Get back to me ASAP.

    Sounded way too good to be true that he would pay for shipping my table and just pay me over 1K with no questions. Thanks for the post!!

59. 

    Norsang MN on February 13, 2012 at 8:54 pm

    Thanks for the GREAT Blog Tip. You’ve saved me a Motorcycle from being a victim of Scam.. Anyway below is the email i got from this potential buyer!

    Brett Wallingb [email protected] via craigslist.org to 6r3p2-28491461.
    show details 2:10 PM (7 hours ago)

    Is it still available for sale?I’m interested

    Brett
    ————————————————————-

    Next Mail exchanges
    from Me to Brett

    Yes it is.

    Thanks,
    Life is great!
    ———————————————————–
    From Brett to me.

    Thank for your mail. I’m satisfied with the condition of it as
    advertised in the listing,i will like to add $100 to your final price
    for you to keep off from all offer,and consider it sold to me alone as
    i am serious with this.I would like you to know that i am really
    interested in buying this for my father,payment will be through PayPal
    and the pick up will be arranged by me as i will have my agent come
    down to pick it up…i will be waiting to hear from you,and i will
    like you to send me the name and email address on the PayPal account
    to send the payment and send me more pics of this item if available
    since i would not be seen it in person so i can pay it right away I am
    a busy at work and do not have much time around me.if you don’t have
    paypal account yet, it is very easy to set up, go to
    http://www.paypal.com and get it set up.. looking forward to your
    response.

    Thanks and reply asap.

    Regards

    Bret

    Wow! Sounds just like what you’ve wrote on top.

    Again, Thanks,

60. 

    Lenka on February 17, 2012 at 6:15 pm

    I got texted by a guy in Jonesport, Maine who claimed he had a colleague doing missionary work in Nigeria and he was buying a VERY expensive camera I was selling. He offered me 200$ more saying it was for shipping…

    he gave me an address
    Jorge Orilomo
    Plot 7 Adedoyin Street Ijeshatedo
    Surulere, Lagos
    Nigeria 23401

    his email was also a gmail account [email protected]

    He asked that I money request to his email address through paypal, which I did.

    then he texted me saying he made the payment to check my email address I attached to my paypal for the confirmation and to get back at him

    I got the confirmation notice and told him I’d ship the item to the address
    then he said once I’ve shipped the item to forward the shipping tracking number to paypal via notification sent from paypal so they can credit my account immediately.

    so i go to the post office about to send the package AND THANK GOD the people there told me to go back home, and forget about sending the package because the entire thing was a SCAM!
    I was so pissed so I went home and did research….
    (Someone used THE EXACT SAME ADRESS here http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20101207200645AAPBGsS)

    I told the buyer I knew about the scam, contacted paypal and craigslist and my state division of consumer affairs. I reported this motherf’er and I hope he gets caught.

    I WAS ALMOST SCAMMED! AND YOU CAN BE TOO SO BE EXTRA CAREFUL WHEN USING CRAIGSLIST!
    ONLY LET LOCAL BUYERS BUY AND REMEMBER IF A PAYPAL ACCOUNT HAS MONEY PENDING, THE MONEY WAS NEVER SENT IN! AND THERE IS NEVER ANY NEED FOR A TRACKING NUMBER ON PAYPAL! THAT IS THE SCAMMER TALKING!

61. 

    ysj on May 22, 2012 at 2:37 pm

    listed a car on craiglist and got a scam e-mail please be cautious:

    Thank you for getting back to me. Can you assure me that it’s in good
    state and that i will not be disappointed with it.I’m ready to pay
    your asking price and to be honest, i wanted to buy this for my
    Pastor, but the issue is i am an oceanographer and i do have a
    contract to go for which starts tomorrow and am leaving any moment
    from now.The contract is strictly no call due to the lack of reception
    on the sea area. But I’m able to access email anytime as we will make
    use of laptop so my only quickest payment option is PayPal as i can
    send money via PayPal anytime.Since I’m requesting this transaction to
    be done via PayPal, i will be responsible for all the paypal
    fee/charges on this transaction and if you don’t have an account with
    paypal, its pretty easy, safe and secured to open one. Just log on to
    http://www.paypal.com. I hope we can make the purchase as fast as possible? I
    have a mover that will come for it once payment clears and they will
    take care of very necessary paper for me. So i look forward to hear
    from you soon. will like to see more pics.

    I need the address where the agent will meet you and your PayPal
    email address so i can send the money now.

62. 

    JusMe on June 25, 2012 at 8:56 pm

    Almost gets boring.

    Okoh Racheal from that National Institute of Oceanography, which a Google shows as being in India. But the address on the email is 1725 Lafayette St. That’s all, so your guess is as good as mine.

    Wants to buy my laptop. Yeah, what about the bridge I’ve got for sale, too!

    Really, it almost gets boring.

63. 

    Kunal Mudliyar on August 10, 2012 at 5:10 am

    This one is a classic. I got this today

    Thanks for the prompt mail,the price is a very fair price and I will be happy to buy it but i will not be able to come and view it in your place because i I live in Tom Berl, 50 Collingwood Dr., Rochester, NY 14621…and i would have loved to call but at the moment i am on the sea..i work on the rig and we are not allowed to make calls from herebut you can send me a text on +1862 290-3372 and i will reply when i get your text because i am not in the United State right now. I will be paying you through Online Banking Transfer.I want this to be sent to my daughter as a surprised gift for on her graduation day and she schools in West Africa…Nigeria to be precise…..kindly get back to me with your payment details and i will be adding an extra Rs6,000 to the money i will be sending you to serve as the shipping charges for the item…. Get back to me ASAP with your bank details so that i can go ahead with the payment and i will like you to use DHL courier service for the shipping…waiting for your reply
    Best Regard

64. 

    pq on August 22, 2012 at 1:37 pm

    Jus got this email response after a short…”Is it still for sale”

    From: johnson bruce [[email protected]]
    How are u doing ? Thanks so much for writing back. I’m Sorry but I won’t be able to come see it anymore. I was gonna be dropping in your town in the next 2 days, my business appointment there has been postponed to last Tuesday in October I’m still very very much interested in buying this, I need it for my Cousin. Can it still be sold to me? I will mail you a bank official check for the quoted price, any repairs will be on me, bearing the consequences of not seeing before buying and also add funds to cover the shipping to where it will be needed. I’ll arrange a shipper to handle the whole delivery process so it doesn’t stress you in anyway. Is this something you can work with? I’ll be very much delighted if it can be sold to me. Email me back with your name, address and a phone number for the check.

    Thanks

    I replied with a message from Tom Berl, 50 Collingwood Dr., Rochster NY, 14621, another scammer. Maybe they can do business together. I checked Tom Berl’s phone number 516-216-9851, the Global subscriber was unavailable.

65. 

    Dan on October 1, 2012 at 1:41 pm

    I posted a motorhome for sale on craigslist and got an identical response from a marine engineer at sea who wants to buy it for his pastor! He doesnt have on line banking but his bank account is attatched to his paypal account!! Imagine that!! markjames@gmail was what showed up on my email response.

66. 

    tony morales on December 5, 2012 at 10:56 am

    I am going through this scam to right now. I am selling my tablet on craigslist. I live in Yakima, WA, a couple day later i get a text from a Seattle area code which is about 2 1/2 hours away from where i live asking “hello is your item still available”. I reply back yes i still have it. They text me back saying “OK! sounds good, i am satisfied with it, thats if its in the condition you mentioned in the post. I am actually getting it for a coworker used as a xmas gift”.

    “Kindy reply back with you paypal money request so i can send payment for it as soon as possible”. I then proceed to try and tell them in further detail about the item. They they proceed to send me some very similar text as their previous one. “Thanks for the response, thats if its in good shape as mentioned in the post, i only with to make the purchase for my colleague. so kindly email me your paypal money request to this email address so i can sent payment asap”. i them tell them ok, i will do that asap. I had the item on a “make me an offer” price kind of deal so i text them and ask if they would like to make an offer otherwise i would sell it for a fixxed price. They text me back saying “OKAY! i will be expecting your money request”. What the hell so anyway i send the money request, the next day i get a email stating they have sent the money plus an extra $100 more than i asked for for shipping and insurance…And the email also states that i will not recieve the money until i actually ship the item and send them a tracking number. At that point i knew it was a scam since on my real paypal account the money request still said “pending” and i never heard of paypal asking you to send goods before they will pay you. And on top on that the recipien address was some wierd address in NIGERIA! I text them back saying “NICE TRY”.

    Bottom line, if you get replys to a craigslist ad that is not in the area you posted it on, they want you to sent a paypal money request, they want you to send your goods before they pay you and/or the address is in another country then it is 100% a scam.

67. 

    gh on December 25, 2012 at 11:12 pm

    Thanks to all of the people who posted their experiences regarding this scam.

    Geeze, I just had this happen to me, I put up some computer ads on Craigslist and got replies back with the usual “out of country, can you send it by express mail, I will pay with PayPal, do you have a PayPal account ?” lines.

    At first I thought they were ok, but when I asked further questions about where I would be shipping to, I got no replies, and none of my other questions were answered either. They also kept insisting for a PayPal account and when I asked their name, they didn’t respond. So these things threw up red flags for me and I knew something fishy was going on. I feel so bad for the folks who weren’t careful enough and actually went through a deal. If your focus or attention is a little off, it is easy to make a mistake, I think that is what these jerks are counting on.

    It pays to ask a lot of questions and not assume anything.

68. 

    Jeff on December 6, 2015 at 9:45 pm

    I want to sell my phone on ebay and this guy pop up and tex me that he wants to buy my phone. :
    Hello Seller i won your item on eBay I will like to know the condition of the item, Kindly send me your paypal email address so i can carryout the payment to your account ASAP kindly send me some recent pictures of the item to my email and also send me paypal money request to my ([email protected]) Hope to hear from you soon Thanks
    Hello Seller,
    It is my pleasure to inform you that I have carried out the payment via

    PayPal. I want it sent to my daughter who is living and working in West africa

    for her birthday gift.I would have asked you to post it to my eBay address in

    the[UNITED STATE].But I am presently on a business trip,here is the delivering

    address of my daughter.I did added the sum of 100 dollars for the shipping cost

    too i want you to send it to her for her birthday gift when you get to the post

    office use USPS International Parcels service which the tracking number number

    start from CW, so the item can get to her very fast okay nice doing business

    with you

    athony Adewale
    14,Church Street
    Abesan Ipaja
    Lagos State
    23401
    Nigeria

    I want you to ship the item Today to Lagos Nigeria via USPS,CW first class

    SIGNED-FOR so that the item will get there ASAP,and Please get back to me ASAP

    with the shipping tracking number of the item shipped.NOTE: Please wrap the

    item carefully, write GIFT on the paper. Please don’t use any other postage

    service except USPS First class SERVICE DELIVERY.I’m very sorry for the

    inconvenience I may cause you Thanks