I NEARLY got frauded on Craigslist!!! PSA!

baltoscrapper · Mon Sep 15, 2008 11:42 am

My dh has been shopping around for a 4 wheeler and found one he LOVED on Craigslist......so we contact the person to see about getting the process started. He was listed in the Baltimore list, but it turns out, he was in phili PA. No big deal, we can go there.............but he says we can't. Says he's military and getting ready to ship out to Iraq on the 21st, which is why the quad is such a good deal, he needs a quick sale. He says he will ship and i have a 3 day inspection period before releasing the info on the MONEY GRAM transfer. Wanted to do it on credit card, for obvious reasons, but I get an email from "ebay payment receipts" that the transaction has to be completed through a Western Union payment with a "ebay sellers agent" as a 3rd party. I had never heard of this, and I have never bought something so expensive though Craigslist (actually, I've never bought anything through craigslist) but I had never spent so much money on something "sight unseen", but my dh REALLY wanted this "perfect condition" quad. I called my boss (big online shopper) and he said DO NOT SEND THE MONEY!!!!!!! So, I look further on the Craigslist site under buyers tips and tip #2 says (in bold) Do not send money through Western Union or Money Gram, anyone who asks for money this way is a scammer!!!!SOOOOOOOOOO glad to have made that call, it saved us $3K and a lot of heartache.

naney1952 · Mon Sep 15, 2008 11:46 am

Good thing you had intuition to look into it further! Lucky you! Husband should be proud of you!

SBcrazee · Mon Sep 15, 2008 11:48 am

Oh wow! Glad you caught it in time.

Cimorosete · Mon Sep 15, 2008 11:53 am

Oh My how scary!!! thank God you found it before you sent the money. Thanks for sharing this!!!

Beth-W · Mon Sep 15, 2008 11:59 am

Glad you realized it before you sent the money. I haven't bought anything through them either.

Cimorosete · Mon Sep 15, 2008 12:02 pm

Just a little note, I have bought from craigslist once. I got a high chair for my granddaughter to keep at my house. Well it turned out that the seller was the wife of a co-worker. So needless to say the transaction went smoothly, the husband even brought it to work for me.

grifscap · Mon Sep 15, 2008 12:07 pm

Way to keep on your toes.

Kimandasmo · Mon Sep 15, 2008 12:09 pm

sorry to hear that-- how scary!!! I can't even imagine losing that much money! You have to be so so careful--- I will not buy if I can't see and touch and feel it anymore.

beachlover · Mon Sep 15, 2008 12:16 pm

good thing you had the good sense to check!

by the way, ds is trying to sell his 4 wheeler if you are still looking; I can get you the info tonight when I get home. In fact, I have a pic of it in my gallery (the one of ds and my nephew on it); its used but good and he is a mechanic so it gets taken care of, he just has nowhere to really ride and its a waste for him to keep around right now

-Kami- · Mon Sep 15, 2008 1:50 pm

Oh wow!!! And thank you for sharing this tip, my sister buys off of Craig's List all the time. I will pass this information along to her. Glad you didn't get scammed!!

JenniferP · Mon Sep 15, 2008 2:12 pm

Wow! Glad that you caught it in time...

sarahwhithers · Mon Sep 15, 2008 2:54 pm

Wow! That is crazy! So glad you checked into it and saved yourself from a horrible situation!!

Mon Sep 15, 2008 3:01 pm

Yikes! That would have been quite a haul for the seller! Good thing you checked :)

m1ch3113lee · Mon Sep 15, 2008 3:12 pm

glad that you didnt get scammed. Thanks for passing this info along.

Information