Big Craigslist scam called the Nigerian scam! BEWARE! (working, password, remove)

[ARSENAL]

There are many of these on craiglist under the properties for rent. I have been looking for a property to rent from England and have seen many of the same properties advertised for different amounts they have the same photos on their ad(i assume they just copy them).

I have contacted a few of them by mistake and its always the same story,they are in africa somewhere, on a christian mission and for me to send them a deposit. Why are craiglist leaving the posts on the site,especially when they have been reported!

[Coperfield59]

Yesterday, I posted a sale of my mavica camera on craigs list. BAM! 4 e-mails asking if it is still for sale. One person responsed with the following:

Thanks for the mail.. and am happy to hear from you that the item is
from sale??? i want let you know that i won to buy the item for my son
schooling in west africa as a birthday gift okay.. so kindly get back
to me with the total cost of the item and the shipping to west africa
Nigeria ok... and get back to me with your Bank information or your
paypal email address so i can be able to proceed with the payment...
THANKS
MR PAPPY.

Yea right! Thanks for the warning. Guess I'll stick to e-bay to sell things.

[sapphire]

Craigslist is a great tool. You just have to be smart about it.

[wCat]

Originally Posted by sapphire

Craigslist is a great tool. You just have to be smart about it.

I agree. I would never bother with selling something off Craigslist unless it was local. I'm surprised some of these scams are so transparent....but that's a good thing I suppose.

[dino702]

these scams are all over eBay and the internet. like someone said: "nigerian" run! Dateline did a special on this years ago. i almost sold my laptop on ebay but did some research and found the scams. besides they offered over my asking price! (red flag). best thing to do is either ignore or make sure u have the money in your hands before sending anything. MONEY IN HAND means money in hands........ not cashiers check or tracking pay pal stuff. Cash in your hands.

[bginsberg]

I work in IT and have never sold or bought anything on Craigslist. I have never heard of this Nigerian Scam. I was trying to assist my Sister in selling her computer because she bought a Laptop. We were just about ready to start cleaning the system and ship it. THANKS TO ALL FOR SAVING US THE BURN.

Sorry for all who didn't have someone watching their back for them.

[md jeff]

I had my canon DSLR camera posted on marketplace at facebook for sale. A lady sends me an e-mail saying she will buy it. She told me if I could end the auction and she would pay me through paypal. So, I closed the auction and gave her my paypal e-mail. She said that she was living in U.S. and the camera is for her grandson’s bithday present in Nigeria. Here is the e-mail :

hi
i am really interested in buying this item for my Grandson in west Africa as a Birthday gift and i will be offering you $3,250 including the shipping cost to west Africa kindly get back to me with your pay pal email address, so that i can send out the payment as soon as possible.
Thanks and Stay Bless

my reply :

my pay pal email address is the same as my gmail address :
[email]xxxxxxxxxx@gmail.com[/email]

After that, I receive email from paypal :
PayPal Mar 08, 2010 : PDT
Transaction ID:Jan/16/2010 3D228926MW045920S

Hello xxxxxxxxxx xxx xxxxxx,

You have an instant payment of $3,250.00 USD from JENNIFER COLE (jennifercole_0@yahoo.com,)
Thanks for using PayPal. To see all the transaction details, log in to your PayPal account.
It may take a few hours for this transaction to appear in your account.
—————————————————–---------------------------------------------------
Seller
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
[email]xxxxxxxxxxxxxx@gmail.com[/email]

Note to seller xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
You have to provide to us the shipment tracking number so that your funds can reflect in your account as soon as possible.
.
Shipping address - confirmed
Name;………Abraham Ekpo
Address:…..N0,33 Olayinka Street Ijeshatedo
City:…………Surulere
State:………..Lagos
Country:……..Nigeria
Zipcode:……..23401

Shipping details
USPS Global Express Mail United States Postal Service
Description Unit price Qty Amount

*Canon EOS 500D/Kiss X3 for MYR*
Item# Not Applicable $3,250.00 USD
$3,250.00 USD

Shipping and handling $00.00 USD
Insurance - required $00.00 USD
Total

$3,250.00 USD
Payment
$3,250.00 USD

But something fishy about this is the seller is a white lady buying for her grandson, Abraham Ekpo ? Try to add her as friend in facebook, but no reply and when checking the trx ID, it was on 16 Jan 2010.
On top of that, I only sell the camera for MYR2900, but she paid USD3250. It was nearly RM10,888. I was shocked and excited, but to be safe I checked first at google and find out that it was a Nigerian scammer.Thank God I did’nt proceed shipping after read all the stories.

[Mom2Feebs]

[TexasRedneck]

It's funny - I've routinely bought and sold on eBay, Craigslist, and a number of gun-related websites. Haven't been scammed, but I've had a few try. Strung one of them along for about 2 months (I was bored), but generally I just delete and move on. It makes it bad for folks like me who ARE honest to get deals done, but what I usually do is contact the seller from my "real" email account, expressing my interest and asking for a contact number to reach them at, or at least a direct email address. I've found that while some are (understandably) cautious, once they find out that I'm perfectly willing to provide email, home addy/number and cell number we can usually get a deal done.
I've bought several high-end guns in just that way, because I tend to "haunt" some of the lesser-known gun boards because I know they get limited exposure and deals CAN be found on 'em.

[nismospec]

Craigslist can be a great thing, but you just have to sort through the scams. I've sold/bought many a things on Craigslist, but I ALWAYS met in person. I can see shipping products that are less than $100 and if you get scammed so be it. But sending things in the $1000+ range without first receiving payment.....c'mon.