New? Craigslist Scam - Beware-

[kkentert]

Hey guys- Just wanted to drop a line with a CL scam I haven't seen before.

I was SOOOO excited by this one!

Twilight Zone Pinball machine by Bally - $1980

$1980 for Twilight Zone! Priced really well, description said it was in great condition. I anxiously waited 4 days for a reply, and here is what was sent...It looked like just a good deal-not TOO good to be true-just good enough.

"Thank you for your email. I still have it for sale but before i answer to your questions i`m afraid i have some "bad" news: i`m selling this because i am moving back home in Canada as i want to start a small business here with my family. I was born here, we lived in US for a while, tried a few things but didn`t worked out and decided to move back in Canada and try a small business here because after all there's no place like home. However, the point is that i am not in US right now and i can`t be there to make the transaction in person but this is not something to worry about because i will sell this with the help of The Global Garage Sale. They are the largest eBay selling service but it`s possible that you never heard of them if you don`t sell or buy often on the internet. Their website is Global Garage Sale - eBay Drop-Off Store Franchise if you want to check the service out, you will not find the listing there because only the items sold through ebay are listed on their website, the items sold through other marketplaces are not listed on their website.
When i left in Canada, i left the item along with several other items in the Global Garage Sale custody so i can sell them even though i am not there, so if you are OK with this, just drop me an email and i will explain the rest of the transaction details. I just hope you are serious and really interested in this because i want to sell it A.S.A.P.
Thanks

Martin"

Well...sounded like a really well written scam- So I checked out the website. The FIRST thing it says on the site is "
Craig's List Scam

Global Garage Sale sells exclusively on eBay. We are aware of someone using our name on Craig's List in an attempt to legitimize their scams. Please flag any such items as spam on the item page. Thank you!"

I Then read on some more sites and found a thread about it...So just a warning to watch out for this one. I wouldn't expect someone to pick such a cool product, that has such a niche market.


One guy in the thread broke it down well- he sent the format of the return listing letter that matched my e-mail perfectly. The follow this format.


"I am curently in (Canada, Englund, France, etc) to (close out a busness, visit a sick reletive, check on my rental propertys, etc), but I have a/an (agent, uncil, asociate, brothre, etc) who will take care of this transakshin.
Yor payment should be made by (something you never heard of before), wich is most trusted and secur means by availability. I ship this to you free and yoo have 30 day to keep it and if yoo dont like it you can reeturn it and I will send your muney back. Please send me yor name and adress and make paymint arangment as soon a posibil as I wont to cloze this deel as soon as posibil. Thanks, Bill"


Anyway - Beware my PachiTalk friends...

[FREKKEN TEKKEN]

Thats the beauty of belonging to a group such as Pachi Talk, where its an every day occurence for members to look out for one another and have only the best interest in their fellow members. There is strength in numbers and PT proves that all the time with the information and interest that is shared with each other that oceans and continents cannot divide!

[kkentert]

Here's the response they sent again- figured I'd post this too-

"Alright, i`m glad you are still interested. So like i said before i'll explain how The Global Garage Sale works because i want all things to be clear from the beginning. They are the best selling service on eBay, you simply drop an item to one of their stores or have them pick it up from your home, you find a buyer and they'll take it from there. When i left in Canada i left 4 items for sale in their custody, they picked them up from my home so don`t ask at what store, or where the item is exactly because i don`t know, all i know is that they are holding them in one of their warehouses, but as long as they are handling the shipping and handling i don`t care where they are.The best thing about this is that shipping is handled by them and the insurance and shipping fees are covered by them, they charge me a commission of course as nothing is free in this world but they like to call it free . One more thing, the item is located in US not in Canada, so it will be shipped from US.
OK so here`s a short description of how they work: they have the item, you agree to buy it, you send me your full name and shipping address, i`ll send it to them as a confirmation that i accept you as the buyer, they send you an invoice with the transaction details and the payment instructions and you will send the payment to one of their agents. After they receive the payment confirmation, they will start the shipping process. After you receive the item, you have a 10 day money back guarantee to check if everything is in order. If you don`t like it you can return it within these 10 days and receive a full refund, or keep it and notify them so they can transfer the payment to me. If you decide to return it they will ship it back and they will bill me for the shipping cost so you see i have no intention of sending you something that isn't as described.
So if you agree with this terms and decide to proceed, then i will need your full name and shipping address in order to start the transaction. They will contact you by email so if you have other email accounts please let me have them so i can be sure that they contact you and avoid any possible delay.
As soon as i receive this details from you i will forward them to The Global Garage Sale exactly as you sent them.
Thank you

Martin"