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I dont get it C/L buyer/hoaxs

Phil in Montana

Stainless
Joined
Jul 31, 2007
Location
Missoula Mt
Well I am a old guy if you are young, I get a email or text msg on something I have for sell on C/L..."is your machine still for sell? I want to buy it" They don't ask for any dope just that msg, I tell them to call me, they never do, what is the game, this happens a lot, even more with text msg than email...Is they just bored with life or just high??...Phil
 
I think it's frequently scammers trying to get you to pay something to someone, while promising a bigger payment check to cover the item and the additional payment.

Meanwhile, the check you got is faked, and doesn't make it through the banking system. In worst cases, you're out the item and the money.
 
Well I am a old guy if you are young, I get a email or text msg on something I have for sell on C/L..."is your machine still for sell? I want to buy it" They don't ask for any dope just that msg, I tell them to call me, they never do, what is the game, this happens a lot, even more with text msg than email...Is they just bored with life or just high??...Phil


On the buying end, its just as bad. Send a brief but detailed message about what you want to know about the item, or even just "when can I come get it" and get no answer, or get an answer like "I'll check when I get home" and nothing after that.
FB marketplace is just as bad. While the means and ease of communication has progressed remarkably, the actual communication has regressed to the level of grunts or worse.
 
A tip-off is when you get a message asking to buy it about 5 minutes after your post goes live. It's either scammers or someone else wasting your time. Same with the people who reply and only say "What is the lowest you will sell it for?" I usually tell that group "Why don't you come look at it, maybe I missed something in the description." They NEVER reply to that.
 
Well I am a old guy if you are young, I get a email or text msg on something I have for sell on C/L..."is your machine still for sell? I want to buy it" They don't ask for any dope just that msg, I tell them to call me, they never do, what is the game, this happens a lot, even more with text msg than email...Is they just bored with life or just high??...Phil

99.99% of the time if you reply by email they will give you a bs line about sending you a check and having their courier pick the item up. If you agree they will mail you a bogus check, the mailing address will not match business address on check, if you google company name you will see it does exist, if you call company they will have no knowledge of sending the check, and address on check does not match their address. The check will usually be for a higher amount, they will usually then ask you to wire (western union) the excess funds to their courier. If you deposit check you will be notified about a week later by your bank that it is fraudulent.

Another thing they might do if responding to you by text is send you a "google verification number", do not respond to these, they are trying to gain access to your google accounts, maybe cell phone too, I'm not sure. Google "google verification code" for a better explanation.

I have screwed with quite a few of these scammers, gave them a fake name and po box#, when they ask for funds I tell them to fark off I'm keeping their money. Best bet is to ignore any email that simply asks "Is this item still available" with no other questions about the item or comments like "I'm in ______ (next town over) and would like to look at this".
 
or comments like "I'm in ______ (next town over) and would like to look at this".

Tell them that's fine, you'll meet them at your town's police department and then drive over to your place.

BTW, a lot of police departments do offer a "safe sale" zone in their parking lots, so for smaller items you can meet the potential buyer where there's protection (and keeps your address secret).

Some really sketchy stuff has happened with CL sales attempts, including murders. It's "smart to be smart" when it comes to these transactions.
 
Some of the "I WANT TO BUY THIS" messages that appear seconds after a new posting are automated and are probably just trying to collect valid e-mail addresses/phone numbers to sell to spammers.
 
Tell them that's fine, you'll meet them at your town's police department and then drive over to your place.

BTW, a lot of police departments do offer a "safe sale" zone in their parking lots, so for smaller items you can meet the potential buyer where there's protection (and keeps your address secret).

Some really sketchy stuff has happened with CL sales attempts, including murders. It's "smart to be smart" when it comes to these transactions.

Kind of tough to do that with machinery, I have had more than a few CL deals done at my warehouse in Tx, but there are always several of us there. Anything like cars, firearms, coins, jewelry that has easy resale potential is more likely to draw the criminal types in my opinion.
 
Kind of tough to do that with machinery, I have had more than a few CL deals done at my warehouse in Tx, but there are always several of us there. Anything like cars, firearms, coins, jewelry that has easy resale potential is more likely to draw the criminal types in my opinion.

I keep hearing about sneakers too, but being far from the demographic that cares about such things, I don't know what percentage goes badly.

My weakness is carbide tooling, but I tend to do that with PM members, which has worked fine so far.
 
One of my favorite past times is collecting fake money orders made out to celebrities and fictional characters.

I have Chuck Norris, Winnie the Pooh, Rosie O'Donnell, John J. Rambo, Donald Trump, OJ Simpson, Willy Wonka and a bunch of others.
 
I guess Im a bad person.
When I get the let me confirm you are a real person. Just answer the call with this code. Or Ill have my employee pick it up. And such other calls my reply is on the clipboard of my phone.

I feel sorry you have a life where you have to try to steal from honest people.

They dont reply.

For unwanted spam calls. Im not a religious person but....

I feel sorry you have a life where you have to try to steal from honest people.
You should try god. He can lead you to the light....


I seldom get to finish the statement. They usually hang up.
 
I guess Im a bad person.
When I get the let me confirm you are a real person. Just answer the call with this code. Or Ill have my employee pick it up. And such other calls my reply is on the clipboard of my phone.

I feel sorry you have a life where you have to try to steal from honest people.

They dont reply.

For unwanted spam calls. Im not a religious person but....

I feel sorry you have a life where you have to try to steal from honest people.
You should try god. He can lead you to the light....


I seldom get to finish the statement. They usually hang up.

Some calls I'd not mind MORE of.

- they "harvest" some DB on yer age, call trying to sell hearing aids:

"I can't HEAR you, young lady. I must need a hearing aid!"
...and hang up...


"We are calling about your vehicle's extended warranty coverage..."

"Which one? The wheel chair? Or the hospital bed?"


"We are calling about your student loan ..."

"Can you lend me a really CUTE one that don't mind emptying bed pans?"
 
I had a few minutes to spare one day when the car warranty folks called, so I sounded very interested and asked a lot of questions. They should have asked what vehicle earlier in the conversation. But when they did the conversation finally got around to it went like this: "What is your vehicle?" "1995 Ford E-150." "Click"
 
I had a few minutes to spare one day when the car warranty folks called, so I sounded very interested and asked a lot of questions. They should have asked what vehicle earlier in the conversation. But when they did the conversation finally got around to it went like this: "What is your vehicle?" "1995 Ford E-150." "Click"

I had the same type of phone call ,I have a '98 Dodge. When they found out the year, they hung up. LOL.
 








 
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