by Elizabeth M Young

Created on: November 28, 2009

Scams abound on Craigslist where attractive items are for sale, or where sellers hope to make good money on their unwanted property. In some cases, the buyer or the seller will describe a process that involves a fraudulent cashiers check for more than the asking price, then wiring or transferring the extra money, in cash, to a fake shipping or escrow website or account. The seller then finds out that the cashiers check bounced, that they are responsible for the costs, and that their cash is long gone.

In many of the cases, the seller has an "excellent" vehicle or other high priced item for a good price. Then there is a story about being in a foreign country or having some problems. Next, the seller makes glittering and grandiose promises of guarantees, sending lawyers, offering to ship the vehicle for a free trial, and so on. But, before that happens, the scam artist has ways to get the money and run without ever intending to provide the item.

The various excuses for being in a foreign country or in some unusual personal situation, along with the detailed promises are provided in e-mails. The scam e-mails make only three guarantees that are true: that you will never see the person; that the cashier's check is a fraud; that any money sent by wire or cash transfer will be long gone without the paid for item showing up or the sale going through.

A dialogue has gone on at a site called asdfhj.com from 2007 to now, where the same scams involve a car selling process that has evolved from someone being overseas in Scotland, to people being overseas in the military. In one case, the same individual has, and still is, offering multiple cars or the same car for sale. The process has been modernized, with big plans to go through E-Bay and Pay Pal. And unsuspecting buyers are still being robbed.

The bottom line is that experienced buyers and sellers are able to meet the other party, examine and verify credentials, and to personally examine the items that are for sale.

Craigslist added a scam alert to every e-mail that is generated through the site due to the massive amount of fake check fraud, but the unsuspecting continue to be taken by the same types of scams.

Less prevalent scams on Craigslist involve job scams that require upfront fees, fake customer payment processing, or other fake check financial operations, including charitable scams. The Nigerian and other international scams are in operation, too.

The warning signs of a scam include:

..The deal sounds too good

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