I Sold an
old stove on Craigslist, sight unseen, for $450. I knew this was a money-laundering, internet scam almost
instantly but I played along anyway.
The buyer
sent me a check for $2,000.
Following is the string of email communication between her and me (My responses are in red type. Hers are printed,
uncorrected as they were). Be sure to read this all the way to the
end. This was SOOOO MUCH FUN.
May 24 Craigslist internet reply:
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I'll be
free today until about 5:00 and would be happy to come see it , I'll be in
tomorrow but possibly busy between about 4:00 to 6:00.Email me ASAP and we can
arrange a time that works. Email me @ chloe0pa5@gmail.com
Yuette
Sent via the Samsung Galaxy S(tm) III, an AT&T 4G LTE smartphone
I will be available
tomorrow (Sunday) afternoon or early evening. You can call me at
(555-5555) to arrange an appointment to see the stove.
Thanks for
the prompt response to my mail. I will be buying from you so please kindly
withdraw the advert from C.LIST. Please be informed that I will be paying with
a certified check from my Bank it will be delivered to you via Service FedEx.
How much is total price for the item and I'll need you to provide me with the
following information to facilitate the mailing of the check to You Asap
Name to be on the payment...........
Home address...........
City..............
State...........
Zip Code..............
Cell phone #................
I will make arrangements for the pick up as soon as you have your money I am
completely satisfied with the advert and the payment will be delivered within
Next day Service.** I use a hearing impaired phone # and will receive your
calls via email **
I
appreciate that you intend to purchase the stove from me but I am somewhat
puzzled that you have not actually seen it yet. The stove is located in
our store at (address). Business
hours are …
The
price on the stove is $450 and the total (incl. sales tax) is $486.00. A
check from your bank should be made payable to Ralph Petersen. If you are
going to mail the check, please send it to (my address). You may take
possession of the stove as soon as the check clears.
Unfortunately,
until the stove is actually purchased, I cannot withdraw the ad from
Craigslist.
Thank
you.
Good day
and I do contact my secretary now to issue the payment to you and you will
receive the payment on next week Tuesday because I will not be arrive at the
moment. You will receive the payment via FedEx Courier services with the
shipping funds to cover the shipment of the item I bought from you. Once you
receive the check, have it cashed and deduct your money for the item also
deduct $50 for your running around that I have caused you during the transaction
period and send the remaining funds to the mover, and the mover is also picking
some other valuable goods (like household, furniture's and electronics set.) at
the same city of your location to my new apartment. That is why you need to
help me and transfer the amount to the moving company..Please let me know if i
can trust you? so that i can move forward from here i will get back to you with
tracking number immediately the secretary email me the tracking number. Best
Regard
I
will do exactly as you have instructed. $450. for the stove, $36. for
sales tax, and $50. for handling. I will cash your check when it arrives
and I will retain $536. and forward the balance to the moving co. of your
choice per your instructions.
Thanks for
your trustworthiness in this transaction , I just get information now that you
will received the payment by FEDEX Service Today for confirmation WWW.FedEx.com/us..770149858393, So as soon
as you get the payment you will need to go and have the payment
deposited in your Bank. Then deduct your money for the item as soon
as you have the fund from the bank and also remove the extra $50 for the
trouble I have caused you during the transaction period and have the rest fund
wire to my mover via Money Gram money transfer so that He can be
able to come for the pick up of the item any time from now or weekend. Here
is my mover info to wire the remaining money to....
Name: Desmond Gellings
Address: 2087 Federal Way
City: Idaho falls
State: Idaho
post code: 83402
As soon as
you wire the money to my mover i will like you to get back to me with Money
Gram details such as:
1:Sender's name and address used in sending the money
2:The Reference number.
3:Actual amount sent after the money gram charges.
And mail me your best time for my shipper to come for the pick up of the items
also your map quest for easy way to my mover to come to your location.
Please note****All money gram charges should be deduct out of the fund wiring
to the shipper..Thanks
Okay,
I received your check (in the amount of $2,000.) today via FedEx.
Unfortunately, my bank is closed now and I will not be able to deposit it until
Monday. I will deposit it then and it will probably have a five day hold
until the funds will be available to me. As soon as I get confirmation
from my bank that the check has cleared, I will continue the transaction
according to your direction.
OK
thanks and I await to hear back from you soon
Hello
Ralph, could you please let me know how soon will you get the transfer done and
also best time for pick up!
Ralph, I
want you to let me know how soon will you get the money gram done and also best
time for pick up cos the funds have clear in your bank now????
Ralph, I am
going to involve the police now if you didn't return my email and get the money
gram done and set up time for pick up
Yuette,
I
told you, the day I received the check, that I would deposit it and there would
necessarily be an approx. 5 day hold. I deposited the check in my account
on Tuesday. Today is only Thursday and my bank has told me that
I probably need at least seven to ten days to ensure that the check
will clear. Your insistence on hurrying this, along with the fact that this
transaction is highly unusual (as I indicated before), makes
me cautious.
As
for pickup, you have the physical address where the stove is located and I am
available almost any time to meet your shippers.
The
better way for you to conduct this transaction (and the more expedient) would
have been to simply pay me the amount of the stove plus sales tax, and you pay
your shipper.
I'm
sorry for your frustration but I have a friend who has been scammed in a
similar arrangement and his account was debited for the amount of the uncleared
check. I cannot afford that. I don't mean to be accusatory,
but I don't know you and I need to be careful.
If
that is not agreeable, you might consider putting a stop payment on your check
or maybe you should go ahead and contact the police.
Otherwise,
I intend to comply with your directions AFTER my bank convinces me that the
funds have been successfully transferred to my account.
Yuette,
I thought I should inform you that I will not be sending the money gram to your
shipper; the check is no good because the account is closed. But you
already knew that, didn't you? .
First
see this.
Then
look at this.
Looks like you have done this to lots of other people. I was born at
night but it wasn't last night. I am only out $10. for the return check
charge at my bank but that's okay; It was the most fun I have ever had for only
ten bucks; I really enjoyed playing you on this and I know it cost someone a
few bucks to send the check via FedEx overnight service.
I was going to report this to the police but I won't. That's right, I
won't call the cops. Your money-laundering scam involves a Liberian Corp.
in Virginia that generated the bogus check, a flooring company in Texas that
mailed the check, and a freight handler in Idaho waiting to receive my funds,
and you, a fake purchaser, supposedly located, who knows where? That's
quite an impressive network of pathetic scumbags and I can see how you can
intimidate and pressure people into purchasing and mailing large sums of money
BEFORE they find out that your payment is bogus.
Like I said, I will not report this to the
police; whenever criminals (that's you) operate across state lines, it is
a federal crime and so I will be sending copies of all these email messages to
the FBI and the IRS. Furthermore,
I will post them on my Facebook network just for kicks. Also, I will add
my report to the several others that have been submitted to Craigslist.
By the way, if you still want the stove, I
would be delighted to sell it to you for the original amount of only $450 plus
sales tax PLUS the ten dollars your bogus check cost me. Please note, I
accept CASH ONLY! I look forward to doing business with you. Have a nice day!
Sincerely,
Ralph M. Petersen
PS Your grammar and your spelling stink.
