Home › Forums › Harps and Accessories › Am I being scammed?
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October 30, 2010 at 1:20 pm #72434Pat EisenbergerParticipant
Help!
I’ve received an email from someone in the UK (I’m in the US) wanting to buy my harp. I don’t know if this is a scam. Further, I don’t know how to go about shipping it, as I don’t have a shipping trunk or box. Here’s their email to me:
October 30, 2010 at 1:25 pm #72435deb-lParticipantthis is absolutely a scam.
October 30, 2010 at 1:32 pm #72436wil-wetenParticipantIndeed, this is a scam.
October 30, 2010 at 1:33 pm #72437deb-lParticipanttheir check to you will bounce, then you are out the money you give to them.
October 30, 2010 at 10:04 pm #72438Carm ZephyrParticipantI had a similar email with a car sale, My instinct was it was a SCAM! Your first reaction was that something didn’t seem quite right and my advice is that your instinct is correct on this one Pat.
November 3, 2010 at 12:27 am #72439Minnesota HarpistParticipantArtists (painters) get this same scam letter all the time…
November 3, 2010 at 6:38 pm #72440cc-chiuMemberAs far as I know, everything that mentions ‘western union money transfer’ is suspicious. (It might be a very common way to deal with payments in the US, I’m not sure? But over here in the Netherlands, it’s one of the ‘warning signs’ that it’s a scam).
Also, the entire arrangement (a client in the US?), the lack of proper punctuation and the lack of questions about the harp itself are things that should cause red flags…
(I know that other people already said that it’s a scam but I thought, let’s explain our reasoning 🙂 Perhaps someone will benefit.)November 6, 2010 at 12:50 pm #72441Karen JohnsParticipantPlease note the fact that it is a CERTIFIED CASHIER’S CHECK. Having just went through a home purchase, I know from experience you cannot get one of these without the funds being in the bank in the first place. Also, it instructs you to CASH it first,THEN send the funds to ship. If the check is a scam, you wouldn’t be able to cash it, period. All you would have to do is take it to the bank it is drawn from to find out if it’s a forgery or not. Basically, a cashier’s check is the same as a money order- you have to buy it with cash.
Do you have full contact information regarding the seller? Perhaps having a chat with him/her would help. Insist on transparency for the sake of establishing a “business-based trust” as stated in the above letter.
November 6, 2010 at 1:02 pm #72442michael-rockowitzParticipantKaren (and everyone),
Please see the first paragraph of this material from craigslist about fraud, pertaining to “cashier’s checks”:
The rest of that page has additional useful info.
Still a scam-
Michael
November 6, 2010 at 3:59 pm #72443kreig-kittsMemberYup. Scammers get cashier’s checks by forging them, and sometimes the forgeries are very good, taking a while to catch, especially if they use all the numbers a valid check would use.
November 6, 2010 at 11:58 pm #72444Karen JohnsParticipantAll good information Michael. This is why I advised Pat to insist on transparency, and also have the bank verify the validity of the cashier’s check. It’s too bad this couldn’t be played out just enough to catch one of these scammers, eh? If that were possible, it would be for the good of all. Thanks for the heads-up.
Karen
November 14, 2010 at 10:52 pm #72445AnnMemberScam.
Why would you want to be this person’s bank by engaging in a “cash-back” transaction of any kind?
“Deduct the amount due for the purchase, and send the remaining funds …” is your red-light warning. At best it’s becoming a victim of theft; at worst it’s money laundering.
I am an attorney. I’ve seen this type of solicitation
November 15, 2010 at 1:47 am #72446carl-swansonParticipantSop deposit the check and don’t send anything back.
February 11, 2011 at 5:35 pm #72447brenda-leeParticipantSCAM! Everytime I list something to sell on Craigslist, I get a few scammers with the same approach.
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