We bought a new dishwasher just before Christmas. Easy enough. I decided to sell the old dishwasher we replaced. I posted the ad online in Craigslist and through a local “penny saver” kind of paper. I posted the sale price at 125 figuing that i would be negotiated down.
I got a response from this guy named Steve. He said that he wanted to send me a check then coordinate a courier to pick it up. That sounded weird, but okay sure. He said that he needed my name and address to send me a payment. He took about a week and a half to get the payment to me. Friday I finally received the UPS envelope with his check.
The check is from a company called: New Orleans Leftover Data Centers, Inc. 2171 Pine Ave. New Orleans, LA 70130
The check amount is for $2500.00
His email to me was that he wants me to Western Union $2100 to an address in Clinton, MD. The difference in $ would mean that he is paying me a little more then $300.
Something sounds wrong about this. I have sent him emails stating that I am concerned about the amount of the check. I told him that i feel uncomfortable about this transaction.
Any advice?
My issues with this… – I have thought about him wanting to try and get me to deposit his check and send his money only to have his check get rejected. – Money Laundering?
I looked up the company on the check using google. The address for the company on the check is different then the one shown on the website.
What do you guys think i should do?
Run away
Get out of this deal. If you have to send the guy a money order for the cost of the UPS envelope, do it.
Be polite, you dont want to piss off a dude who has your address.. but.. well.. just run away.
Visit the Official Justin Timpane Website Music, Acting, and More! http://www.timpane.com
Tell him to go to h311.
It’s a shell game. The check you will receive from him will be fraudulent. It will take 5-7 weeks for it to bounce between various banks before you find it out. Even if it may appear to be cashier’s check, it’s a fake. Federal regulations, though, require banks to honor cashier’s checks within 5 days… regardless of whether they have actually cleared or not.
Now you will have sent legitimate money to the second guy. A month to a month and a half later the bank will back-charge your account for the full amount of the cashier’s check which was deposited fraudulently once they have figured out it’s a fake.
You’re out $2100 and a dishwasher.
The most important rule to remember to avoid being taken in by this kind of fraud? Never, ever send money via Western Union to someone you do not know personally from before you initiated the transaction. It doesn’t matter how convincing the guy is telling you you need to use it for security reasons or what-have-you. You must have some way of tracking the money when dealing with someone you don’t now.
You’re dealing with a con man and a thief. Refuse to do business with him, and cease all contact. You might want to report all contact information you have on him to the FTC. You also probably want to alert Western Union to the name of the intended recipient in order for them to place a fraud alert on any future transactions by this person.
And if you didn’t get a name for the recipient — just a password, which WU allows — then it’s definitely, beyond any doubt, a scam.
The biggest tip-off which set off my BS-o-meter? The first check was sent via UPS rather than USPS. That way they will conveniently avoid the rather vigilant enforcement of mail fraud. Add to that fact that this technique is a classic “Spanish Prisoner” method of extracting money from the mark, and this guy is batting 1.000 for fraudster.
At the very least, if you’re not interested in labeling him for the criminal he probably is, insist that he send you a check for the exact amount, including the cost of shipping, that it be a personal check (not a cashier’s check), and that you will not ship the dishwasher until it clears (may take a week or two). In that case, the worst you are out is the cost of shipping… and a dishwasher you don’t want anymore 🙂
Craigslist has a great page detailing this scam and others:
http://www.craigslist.org/about/scams.html
Their description of this sort of fraud:
You also need to watch your checking account closely for the next few months. The scammer may often follow this kind of scam with identity theft, abusing one person’s name with another person’s routing number.
—
Matthew P. Barnson
Thanks
Thanks!
I will follow up with CL & WU to see what i can do.
Call the FBI
Instead of reiterating everything Matt’s so excellently wrote on his reply, I will simply suggest engaging the FBI. This isn’t really something for the FTC, because this involves enforcement of criminal activity. I’m sure the FBI will respond, especially since your situation combines “online scam” and “New Orleans”, a sensitive fraud area for the federal government over the past year.
If the FBI gets involved please let us know because THAT would be exciting.
On another tip (he he), I’d like to share with you all a process I use for 3rd-party financial transaction that eliminates the need for a 3rd party. Right now, most people use PayPal, Western Union, or credit cards as a buffer when making direct transactions with another party. I actually use a personal bank account. Yes. I create a bank account for deposit only and freely hand out the Acct. and ABA #s. Once a day, you can check your online balance and then sweep any funds to your main checking account. Under this setup, you know when $$ has hit, you don’t have to worry about someone violating your account, and you don’t have to deal with scams.
Not interested
The FBI seemed less than interested. After being bounced between a couple different divisions, I was told to go to : IFCCFBI This is supposed to be the internet fraud complaint center for the FBI. The website didn’t work – I called back and they said that there was nothing further that can be done but to report it there.
I plan on trying to file something through the states attorney.
I’m dumb
Wandering Moose,
Totally sorry about my last post, I was flying through typing at work and realize now that your situation wasn’t necessarily an “online scam.” I made some assumptions based on your post without reading closely. Sorry about that.
However, truly surprised the FBI didn’t get interested.
Try their new site…
Jon,
Try their new site:
http://www.ic3.gov/
—
Matthew P. Barnson
Yeah
No worries…
I did find that IC3 site and submitted a complaint.
I didn’t really loose anything, so filing the complaint seems rather silly other then to alert them of this guy. We’ll see where it all leads i guess.