Should I be suspicious?

Put an ad for my boat on Craigs list. I got this text response almost immediately.

Hello, I'm Mary and Mr. Smith, my boss is interested in buying your "1997 Champion 202 Bass & Bay" send your final price to his email

Here is his response to my email.

Thanks for your response, I am sorry I am not available to view due to the nature of my job, I am in the United States Army and serve as a CBRN Specialist (74D). I want to buy this for future use. I am currently deployed wont be back till September. We are not allowed to make or receive calls frequently for security reasons but we have internet access and that is our major means of communication to the outside world. I am OK with your asking price and if you don't mind, I can only pay through PayPal at the moment because its the most secure way to make or receive payment online this is why I'll prefer using PayPal to pay you, all I need is your PayPal email to make the payment and if you don't have a PayPal account, its pretty easy to set up at www.paypal.com. I also have a few questions for you.

Whats its condition, any damages? Are you the original owner and what is your reason for selling?and last asking price?

I hope you consider my offer. I am ready to buy, so you can take the add off Craigslist. I'll have a courier person come for pick up and storage after I make payment and money is in your hand. Thanks for understanding, hope to read from you soon.

Hmmmmmm, what say you?

Scam.

Standard CL scam.

Big time Scam. Run Away Quickly.

It looks like an automated text/email. Never even refers to "it" being a boat. Scam

Hmmmmmm. not looking good, me thinks. Thanks

I caught these types of folks before and reported them to fbi locally. I was able to get a phone number and contact them. I called them out and they got pretty pizzed that I saw through their scheme. I dragged them along enough for them to think I was going to drop some cash. That is where they start making mistakes, when they believe you are going to pay up.

I wonder if PayPal would cooperate and take a fake payment? I could call police and wait for "courier" to come over for pick up.

It's a scam!
See what their response is when you tell them to send the cash with their courier to a public place for the transaction. Tell them that you will get the courier's personal info for security purposes.They will give you another paypal excuse... Scam will be evident at that point

have the courier bring cash..

Scam that has been around before.

Yep, scam. They did the same thing to my brother. Like Jim said, have the courier bring the cash.

Do people seriously do business on Craigslist??

you can't post ANYTHING on craigslist these days without at least one or two of them types texting you or emailing you.

Was looking to buy a boat off of CL they wanted it done thru eBay and all looked legit with the eBay link until the only way to pay was with vanilla prepaid Visa cards. Yea eBay doesn't work that way.......... The person selling was also "in the military" and had the same excuses and could only respond via email. I've never heard of someone trying to buy something from a poster like yourself. Beware

I posted an ad on TFF last week and got an offer from someone who's only posted twice on TFF, the first time being the day I posted the ad. I tend to wait and see whether they increase their activity before moving out on those type of responses.

For what it's worth I've had people do the same on some reels and they were not trying to scam me. Sometimes people will just google whatever they are looking for and if you have an ad on the forum it will come up on the google search. Not saying this is always the case but it does happen.

To the OP. This SCREAMS scam. Run far away!

I've sold boats, trolling motors, rods and reels, motorcycles and even cars on Craigslist. Sometimes I meet them in a safe place or after I talk with them, get a phone number that's legit I have them come to my house. Of course I don't let them in my house, I meet them in the drive way and have my CW on me. Never ever had a problem. I do not transfer money over the phone, do paypal or credit card, cash only. As with anything, stay cautious.

If they send money through Paypal and you do an immediate transfer to your bank how can this go bad?

That soldier's Mom wanted to buy a shotgun from me a few years ago.

Most definitely. It screams of scam. What usually happens in this situation is they pay and you deliver the goods and then they dispute saying they never received it or something and paypal always sides with the consumer.

And Yes people do actually do business there. I have sold and bought plenty of things with no issue but it has to be local and cash only.
You just have to weed through the scammers

Scam! THEY WILL STEAL YOUR BOAT.

Warning! Someone will come and take the boat away but the paypal payment will later be redacted and you will not have a boat or cash!

It was common not to long ago.

Awww... Tell him you need a picture to prove he is real and it needs to contain the same words as in this pic. There is a whole forum dedicated to teasing the scammers.

http://forum.419eater.com/forum/album_showpage.php?pic_id=569

Run!!!! Lol, if people spent half as much time actually working as they did devising these scams, they would be rich lol.

You can still get some good deals on tools, I picked up couple Hilti Jack Hammers last week for a great deal.

Just few and far between now of days to find the deals, most people want retail for used items.

There's a method of online transactions regarding purchases like this. It's called "face to face".

It is the ONLY way.

When I sell on CL it's designated in my ad that it is cash only/local pickup. That keeps the scammers away and doesn't waste my time.

I love teasing them.... I had some Europeans freaking out a few months back. It was hysterical when I flipped the script on them.

It's the only way.

I don't even respond to emails from Craigslist. I say please leave you phone number if interested and I will call you back asap if interested.
If you open and respond to an email you are opening the door to Spyware and viruses. Its not worth it.

I had this happen with a G loomis rod I was selling. Told the guy to F**k off.

Well I like to tease too and since I'm retired I have plenty of time on my hands.

Heres my first reply . . .

Hi Sam

Just have the courier bring cash or send money to PayPal. After I transfer cash to my bank account or the cash is in hand you can send courier.

Brian


His reply, which completely ignore the last part of my reply.

Apologies about my late response, due to the nature of my work, I have been busy on a project, I can only make the payment through paypal, Am Satisfied with the price I will be buying this for the price you have listed it for.Payment will be sent using PayPal and I will handle the PayPal surcharge as well. I will arrange with someone to have this picked up for your location once I have paid as I am out of town at the moment.In the meantime, I will be glad if you can set up an account with PayPal is very easy and safe just log on to http://www.paypal.com/ and set up the account PayPal is the only online payment company that I trust I have been using it for for the past 7 years and I have never have problem with them. I will be glad if you can get back to me asap so I can know if you are still interested in this deal. I can assure you that am a faithful person and this transaction will be a legit transaction. get back to me if you are interested in this deal,Thanks

Twice he mentioned that its "very easy and safe" to set up a Paypal account so I told him to Paypal cash to his courier and bring it over.

We'll see whats next. . .

I got that same scam on my motorcycle add less than a month ago.

I would trust that buyer more than Hillary.

Scam had someone try something similar on me,didn't fall for it. Wait for someone that will meet up in person and preferably pay cash.

My buyer was on a oil platform in BF Egypt. Not much room to ride a bike on oil platform.

Dear Sgt. Sam

I already have a Paypal account and I must sell soon as I've already put a down payment on another boat! But I'm still a bit reluctant, I much prefer face-to-face transactions. As a military man I'm sure you will understand the need for security? Therefore, to ease my suspicions and establish your identity, please send a picture of yourself holding a sign with this rarely used phrase. Similar to the one in this picture . . . http://forum.419eater.com/forum/album_showpage.php?pic_id=569

Looking forward to hearing from you soon.

Thanks

How many times does this email have to get posted before everyone realizes they are being scammed. Immediate text/email replies? Red flag? YES!!

Absolutely, this is scam. We do not have secretaries in the Army, unless you have crazy rank. If they have that kind of rank, more than likely they would just purchase a new boat. If for whatever reason there were interested in buying a used boat they are prohibited from utilizing subordinates for personal gain. Army regulation 600-20 chapter 4-14 prohibits this because it compromises the integrity of supervisory authority.

There are a bunch of different ways this scam works. Once they have your e-mail they can send you a fake e-mail that looks like it is from Paypal saying you've been paid. They can actually pay the money (probably from a stolen account) and then have someone come pick the merchandise up and then complain to paypal you ripped them off to get the money back. They could also "accidentally" over pay you then request you send them a western union check, then as soon as that arrives get a refund from paypal. They could also send you a fake paypal link in an email hoping you will login and they can steal your credentials, then your money. As lots of others have said, I've sold lots of stuff on craigslist, including cars north of $10K. I always do the transaction in a public place, with only cash, and packing heat while I do it. Otherwise, no deal.

You can always open up a fake PayPal account and have a little fun.

You are being scammed. You should flip it around and have some fun. You can even have them send the truck to come get it. Give em a fake address. And sit outside the fake address and enjoy the show. Lol. Cruel on the currier. ...so is getting screwed for thousands of dollars.

Give them the police Dept address. Lol.
Tell them you are in the military and just so happen to be at the same base. And will meet them face to face.

C'mon.....GET CREATIVE.

Heck tell him you need at least $500 in cash that the courier can bring with him and then do a fake paypal account and when he comes to get it have a bunch of your friends waiting and whoop that [censored]!! Fn crooks deserve nothing but [censored]!!