“Buyer” Scam - What’s the Angle?
 

I just posted an add for some parts I have for sale on several targeted websites (not EBay). Very quickly, I got a text from a guy who wanted to buy “the” item for full asking price (there are several, so first red flag). Went back and forth to narrow down what he wanted and it was clear he was a scammer. Last text from him said that he would send me a cashiers check and when it cleared, I could send the item. He wanted my name and address…

What’s the angle there? Robbery?

Anyway, I told him to call me and we’d work out the details. No response since.

I don’t sell enough parts on line to keep up on all the scams out there so I figured this place would have the straight scoop.

In the ad put"include a phone number to call and verify you are serious"
If I dont get a number in the reply I delete. Include that in ad also.

He's already harvested the pics of your parts, with
a name/address he can impersonate you. He will
leave bait all over the internet, but the payment is
through something anonymous. And as everyone
gets screwed, it's your reputation that's getting
trashed.

What he will do is send you a cashiers check for more than the requested amount. Then he will say ... or sorry, I sent too much, send me back a check for the difference and then go ahead and cash the cashiers check ... at which time you find out the cashiers check is no good and you've already sent out your good check.

One out of ten people might go ahead and send him the check for the difference before even checking to see if the cashier check is good. He doesn't care, he'll be sending out a hundred back checks ... if 10% are duped into sending him good checks and he can cash them before they find out the cashiers check is bad then he's made his money for the day.

This happened to me before too (I didn't fall for it) but I didn't understand the angle until now, thanks

Any time you see the word "Item" , it is a scam. When I get these I first ask them to tell me about their car. I never hear anything from them after that.

Thanks everyone. I did an image search for my listing and it has not been duped yet, but the “sent too much, send refund” angle makes sense too.

Isn’t it easier to just get a job?

If anybody wants to immediately pay full price for your item(s), it is either a scam or you priced it too low.

Ha

Well, they’re back. New phone number for the text, but same questions.

time for a glitter bomb for them!

Hate that.

I was selling some tire/wheel assemblies one time and the "buyer" was very interested in "the item".

I was like don't you want to know the bolt circle? Or how many wheel lugs? Or the size of the pilot hole?

I think that's the one where I cashed their check and sat on it for ten days and watched it bounce.

K

What is up with scammers wanting to send a "code"?

The "code" is an authorization to allow your cell phone number to be used on some other service that does VoIP. You can't just add any phone number you want to it, you have to authorize it via a code or email or (in the old days) over the phone. This allows them to call people and pretend to be you easier, plus if they're getting calls\texts at your number (which they will) the 2FA most people put on their bank accounts and other secure services are easier to intercept now and it's one less security hurdle they have to get past.

The one thing to remember about this is it rarely is 1 or 2 people doing this, there are literal thousands and thousands of people doing this, many of them suckered into coming to some East Asian country for legit work and being held hostage by Chinese, Indian, or Russian mobsters to work on scamming people for a living. They do it because it works, if they have 20 people forced to work scamming 18 hours a day and only 20% send them money, it's still worth it to them. Especially when the scams get bigger and bigger, we're peanuts compared to the money some folks get taken for.

I used to roll my eyes at guys who refused to ship or insisted on ONLY talking over the phone with a landline, but with the sophisticated tools that exist out there these days if you get ANY kind of weird vibe from a potential buyer or seller, it's best to just cut and run before something happens. Known people from the forums, local dudes, etc are really the safest thing anymore. If it's too good to be true then you know it is in this day and age.

I figured it was something like that.

I have a car on craigslist right now. I'm getting hammered with scammers wanting history reports. I've been telling those guys to stick it too.