****ing scammers
 

Selling on CL has just become an exercise in futility. What happened? I used to be able to sell anything in short order if it was a good car part, priced ok. There are literally millions of cars and trucks on the road here. :confused:

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1573428884.PNG

I am the seller, Einstein.

"Is (blank) still available?" 3 minutes after you post something is a response from Nigeria. Or Russia. Every time. 100 times out of 100. CL sucks.

Had two guys stop at my house today. They looked like Mafia guys. Driving a new Vette. Asked if I was the one who called them about selling my Porsche.

I was working on my SC on the front driveway with the 914 in the garage. Door open. Was thinking again? What's the scam now?

Turns out they were trying to get to some guy in Ormond Beach 40 miles north of me. Never got the guy's address - just assumed it was me because they saw my Porsche in the driveway and had left a note on my mailbox before asking if I wanted to sell it.

Why does everyone want to buy my Porsches?

If I wanted to sell them I would post an ad.

It's a weird world out there right now!

Put in bold "if you see this listing, the item is still available" I typically put "no text messages, I will not reply" Real people will see it and call, scammers never call.

No one wants my SC :(

However... I do get a lot of Chinese people phoning wanting to help me out with my computer or to tell me the internet is about to be switched off. It's OK because I get to practice my improvised Chinese language talk with them. I'm getting quite good.

Unfortunately, in 2019 there are people who text message almost exclusively who are real people. Scammers I can see coming from a mile away, it's just annoying. The most common one these days is either the "VIN check" scam or the Google voice code scam. Either one, you are handing your personal info the some Russian teenager on a silver platter.

You have to have fun w them, or you will lose your mind. Also, scammers are nothing new, it's just that technology has changed everything, including crime.

This was their next text:
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1573431504.PNG

But... Occasionally the person is genuine. Like Hugh's buyer who wanted to meet him with a suitcase full of cash. And did.

Honesty crap like this is why I switched to Facebook marketplace. Still have to deal with stupid people, but don’t have the scammer issues.


Also is 100x easier to use than the list.

That would not be the M.O. of any scam I've heard of but it's still important to do your due diligence and be careful.

They're trying to steal your phone number on Google voice.
Call them a benchod and smoke a fine cigar. Watch the broken English profanity ensue.

Where you like last year when I needed a drivers side mirror

I can't show my next text here, it's too dirty for a family forum. But it was really funny. :)

In the words of ESPN's Lee Corso: "Not so fast my friend!" I've been perusing Facebook Marketplace for several weeks looking for a sailboat. And I've seen the same boat in different towns/citys/States with different owners. A couple of months ago I "missed" on a deal on one boat in Oklahoma that was at a Marina on a lake in Oklahoma. I called the Harbormaster of the Marina just to see if it was real---it was---and the boat was going absolutely NOWHERE until the Marina got paid their $800 in past due slip fees. I discussed this via text with the sailboat owner and they supposedly took care of it the next day. I then called the Marina and they informed me that the slip fees were paid up AND that they had sold the boat that same afternoon to a local fellow.

2 months later the same sailboat ad is still on Craigslist. Personally, I think the phone solicitation industry/data miners/scammers are using Craigs and Facebook Marketplace to get what they want--YOUR contact info.

F. That.
I’ll text you. I’m not waiting to see if you feel like answering right then.

I've had scammers steal pics from our homes for sale, and place ads as rentals. Both in Florida and NJ. They list the correct address, looking legit. I suspect they were fishing for deposits.

I was concerned I'd show up one day, locks changed, tenants in place with a lease in hand.....

Have also purchased homes that were empty/abandoned, and scammers were using them as a delivery address, packages showing up after closing.

Selling my ATV. I have it up on Craigs List. One guy responded the first day and wanted to know the serial number. That's all he asked about it, just the serial number.
Um... that would be NO!

If he wanted it that badly he would have come out to see the ATV and written it down.

VIN's are good to look up things like recalls and series that have problems. For instance, a Jaguar XJ8 built after a certain date in '02 has the upgraded chain tensioners. If you buy the earlier car and it hasn't had the upgrade, you're looking at nearly 2K to correct that.

First thing I want to know about a 2000 Jag.

I got this one yesterday:

"I'm satisfied with the price and the condition on the list, kindly withdraw the advert from list and considered it sold. I will add extra $70 with the original price while you remove the ad., My husband will overnight a Cashier Check/ Certified Check drawn from a local bank and i will make the pick up arrangement as soon as the check clears and you have your cash

I would have come and take a look and purchase with cash, but my work frame {event coordinator} is tight. So, I'll need you to provide me with the following information to overnight the Payment.

Name to be on the payment...........
Address to mail the check to.............
City, state and zip code .............
Final Asking price...................
Cell phone # to text you on ................

The check will be overnight to you asap and deliver to you within 48hours. Thanks "


He didn't mention the item I'm selling. (It's Ia $300 Weber gas grill.) I don't think the guy even knows what ad he is responding to, and he wants to give me $70 to hold if for him?

I don't get his angle. What does he get out of this if I should respond?

The SIM stealing verify code scam is a potentially disastrous scam that can ruin your life.
More people should understand how it works

The Google Voice scam. After the first 5 minutes of your CL ad being posted they should go away. Just ignore/block.

Google... "What does Benchod mean in Punjabi?" :D

One scammer or at least the same scam tried more than once is with our company. We do aerial photography for a living. We don't need practice, or do it just for fun, only for money.

An email shows up and it is always a Gmail account. The buyer claims to need aerial photography of a site and he never has his name, business name, phone number, address, or any information except the email address. He wants us to fly a lot of photos from 300 feet, and photos all over a location and it would take a drone operator all day to do it, if not two days.

He claims he can't talk on the phone due to the fact he is in the hospital recovering from Covid. He wants to pay with a credit card. Of course the card is likely a stolen number, or even if it is legit, he can get his money back from the credit card company.

The first one that tried it, I told him I had to talk to him to be sure we do what he needs or we will not fly it. He vanished. We talk to all of our clients, except long term clients that have the same needs, they know what to order, and we know what to do. Often I would have to type two pages of information that I can convey is minutes of talking. There are many variables, and almost infinite choices.

The second one I just told him we don't use a drone we have a manned aircraft, and his project it too small for us. If he was legit, we could shoot the project easily, but it is pointless to waste time with scammers.

Glad this subject came back up! I missed this one. My response? There are thousands of buyers out there every day. I'm not going to lose sleep or a sale over people who aren't willing to pick up the phone and call. I make my living selling. I've learned to read people. It became crystal clear that the person sending an email asking "what's your bottom dollar" and people who don't bother to take the time to call and ask questions about a $30,000 or more piece of equipment simply aren't serious buyers. I've learned that the serious people will leave a voicemail and that scammers never call.
"No text messages, I will not reply" and "If this listing is still active, the machine is still available" keeps me from wasting my time with scammers. It works.

https://support.google.com/voice/thread/3022858?hl=en

Updated July 8, 2019

The scam:
You put your own personal telephone number (mobile or landline number) out in public somewhere (on a classified ad, or a dating website, or wherever).
Some scammer contacts you via text or email about your ad. They tell you a story about how they need you to prove you are real person, or a legitimate seller, not a bot, and that they are using a special phone service that requires that you give them the six-digit code number that will be played to you by an automated verification call or text message you will receive from Google.
The scammer is, in reality, going through the Google Voice setup process. They tell Google Voice to call your personal number, and then the call speaks the code, or the text message supplies the code, along with a warning to not share the code with anyone. Somehow, you ignore that explicit warning and give the scammer the code number. When you do that, THEY, not you, are issued a Google Voice number, using your personal number as the forwarding number for their account.

Just try to scam the scammers.

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i was in the market for a quad 6 months ago and CL was a nightmare with all the BS. found a dead give away was the contact phone number being imposed into the images of the item for sale.