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Craigslist Fraud

Just thought I'd share my recent experience with attempting to sell some audio equipment on Craigslist.  Attempted to sell a Audio Research Ref 3LE.  I know now that doing so via Craigslist was probably stupid.  Anyway, I had a guy from out of state reach out to me.  Said that he wanted to buy it.  Asked that he send a cashiers check.  A couple days later the FedEx arrives with a check for $12K more than what I was asking...  The alarm bells went off.  Check was from a business in Chicago and the FedEx was from Florida.  They did a very convincing job of making up the check.  Reported it to the police - so I could feel better.  They let me know that the scammers would probably have come back and asked that I send part of the money back to them.. as if.  Rang the company that the check was reported to have come from (The Belt Railway Company of Chicago).  They said that I was the 6th person in the last week that rang them.  Wanted to put this out for y'all and hope that no one goes through this like I did.  Very thankful that it only cost me time, frustration and some dents to my ego.  
thelostdutchman

Showing 2 responses by thelostdutchman

thelostdutchman's avatar
thelostdutchman OP
41 posts
 
I sure learned my lesson about Craigslist.  Thankfully I'm a healthy skeptic, so it didn't take a lot to make me question what was going on.  I may relent and try again, but will be a bit wiser this time.  

Think I'll suck it up and try selling both here on Audiogon.  BTW - the scammer texted me again this morning and asked how things were going.  I was out walking my dog at the time.  I know it was childish, but I took a nice close up pic of some freshly deposited dog crap, and texted it back in response.  Made me feel a bit better :)
thelostdutchman's avatar
thelostdutchman OP
41 posts
 
I really appreciate all the responses and suggestions.  I'm so thankful that the only things I lost in this learning moment, was time and pride.  

Going to list both pieces on Audiogon this weekend.  The hassle of dealing with the fraudsters and wheel kicking/time wasters off Craigslist is just not worth the amount of cash I save avoiding transaction fees.  

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