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.  
128x128thelostdutchman
“CL should only be cash at pickup for any sales”

Sold tons of stuff including electronics on CL, never ran into a single scammer.  Cash is King! 
Like other has suggested, CL should only be cash at pickup for any sales.  I have also seen buyers offering more than asking price and then requesting you use a third party transaction website for the money transfer.  The idea is that the charges would be reversed as soon as they have product in hands.  It's extremely difficult to fight this type of thing once it's done.  Be wary.
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 

NICE!!!!!
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 :)
I have used Craigslist in the past without a problem. Like "rockadanny", I always pay cash if I'm buying, and require cash if I'm selling. I prefer local sales ONLY. Good catch, OP. You could have been the their next victim.
To avoid all this hassle, we use Audiogon :-) Yeah it costs a bit, but the peace of mind matters - at least to me.
Nothing wrong with using CL. Like anything, just use it wisely. I sell and buy on CL. When I sell, I always state that the price is firm, pick up only - no shipping, and accept only cash, exact amount - no change will be given. Never an issue.
Just curious can't the police check with FedEx on who's account the check was shipped with FedEx? 
I am shocked, shocked, to hear of fraud on Craig's List! 

My Talon Khorus speakers were sold on CL, and for top dollar, too. So it is not all scammers. In fact there are a lot fewer scammers than it seems. But when one scammer writes code that can hit hundreds or thousands of ads in a day it sure can seem like they're all there is.