I'm renting a house on Craigslist right now. Last week, I recieved an inquiry about the house, from a guy in England. He asked for my address, so he could mailed me the money for the deposit and rent. I don't know this person, we hadn't done a background check on him and he just wanted to rent the house, sight unseen. I was very suspicious and refused to have anymore contact with him. I think, if people would just use a little more common sense and not be so greedy, fewer people would be scanned.

I have a friend that is totally BLINDED TO SEE THE TRUTH!
THIS PAST 11 YEARS HE HAS SENT $$$$$$$$ ALL OVER THE WORLD TO "ACTUALLY believe HE WILL RECIEVE A return!" I have showed him many times on paper, news reports and when to watch TV to see the truth and allow the TRUTH to set him FREE! Yet he will not listen! All I can do now is to just Pray... and allow only Jesus to show him the way, the truth, and the life HE EXCEPTS us to accept and totally believe. Amen!

I received a check last week from England. I read it to see what it was about not knowing of the check scam thing. It said that I won the lotto and that I had to send a certain amount of money back to them to cover the fees. Well, I knew right off the back it was not real and also the fact that it was sent to my P.O. Box was another alert. Also, knowing that I never entered a lotto drawing. There was a phone number, so I tried to call and it gave a message one day and the next day it just rung over and over.

How the HELL could banks have allowed such a FLAWED rule to exist, & why do they make THE INNOCENT VICTIM (who also happens to be THEIR CUSTOMER) pay?!?!?!

Excellent piece on scams that are part of a big picture in America-rampant fraud perpetrated on the innocent. We see this mess everywhere from phony builders(mainly swimming pool guys), to phoney jobs that promise higher than normal pay government jobs, to unbelievable great internet jobs. Man someone needs to step up-say the Justice Dept. would do nicely.

I have listed several things on craigslist, and every time I get a few emails from someone pulling this scam. The warnings are posted everywhere. USE YOUR HEAD people. Why would someone in California want to buy a used couch from someone in AZ for $600 and send me a check for $2000 first?

Its plain common sense. People who fall for these scams deserve what they get for being ignorant.

I was dealing with a lady named Elizabeth, from London, since September 19th. She wanted to send us money to rent an apartment and we were to send the remaining balance to her travel agent. She told us that she was an heiress !! We finally stopped emailing on September 29th when we informed her that we could not assist her with her needs. THANK GOD!!

The BANKS allowed this SERIOUSLY FLAWED rule to exist, so WHY THE H#LL SHOULD THEIR CUSTOMERS PAY FOR THE SCAMS?!?!?! BANKS, THEMSELVES, HAVE ALL BEEN SCAMMING US EVER SINCE THEY'VE BEEN ESTABLISHED, AS IT IS!!!

Be suspicious. And yes have a little common sense. I JUST got this email last week in response to my posting on craigslist. If something like this doesn't raise your suspicions I don't know what would.

"Hello Kim,
Thanks for your reply.I intend to move to the states in soonest.I am willing to pay you the rental fee along with the utilities.. Well i'll need your favour on something which would also serve as my means of payment. My Boss owes me some funds and i told him that i've secured a room ,he agreed to pay up and said he'll inform his partner in Canada to send a Us certified check to you.Send me your full names, address and phone number to send the payment get across to you. Once you receive it, kindly take them to your bank & have them cashed. From this you can deduct the total amount for the room & in due course of time i will forward to you my name & address to have some of the balance sent back to me. With this i will be able to buy my ticket & pay for freight fee that will be bringing my things over. The remaining i will pick up when i arrive. I wont be bringing much over as i intend to buy most afresh there. But my PC will be coming with me surely & other personal belongings.Thank you so very much for understanding.
i hope to hear from you soon.

Yours with all sincerity
Juliet Harrison"

Pu-leese. I let "her" know real quick that I'd have to be an idiot to do something like that

Instead of making check funds available quickly, why can't people (agree to) wait for the bank to verify liquidity?

I've had a similar encounter on Craig's list but luckily red flags went up and I avoided becoming a victim. The old addage is true : you don't get something for nothing. These are all people thinking they're getting free money and they get taken. If you're doing business online you have to be aware of the liars and cheats and the ways they do business. I agree banks should be better able to detect a fake money order or check or put some sort of protectin in place for consumers. Lord knows they make sure they are protected. Basic rule: Protect yourself. No one else will!

This sort of thing has been going on for a very long time. It's just that with the internet, these grifters have a lot more targets. It used to be that when a grifter got caught they were lucky to escape with their lives. I only have to say that if you're gullible enough to believe that someone would send you a check for $25,000 for $4,000 in rent/security deposit, you should be letting someone else manage your finances. Think about it! Would YOU send a complete stranger $25,000 to rent a house you've never seen, where the rent is only $4,000, and expect the renter to return the difference? That sort of thinking is just plain stupid.

The same thing happened to me as Jill's. I received a check in the mail stating that I won $40,000 and encloseed was a check for $4000. To claim the $40,000, I had to send wire $4000 to Montereal. I deposited the check in the bank and waited for it to clear. A week later, I contacted the bank and they told me it is cleared, so I went and cashed the money and wire it to Montereal. I felt so stupid when the bank called me the next day saying that the check was no good. I had to take a $4000 loan to pay for my stupid mistake. I did this based on the information I received from the bank, otherwise I would have tore the check up. Live and learn.

As long as we as humans allow our quest for that ultimate "free lunch" to guide our ship of life, the vicious cycle of take or be taken will continue.

A very sad state of mind to be in.

Who are gullible enough to fall for these scams ? I betcha they are one and the same who voted for GW Bush twice.

I just sold a bed on craigslist and had two 'different' people try to tell that their bank had 'accidentally' drafted $2000 dollars too much and would I mind forwarding the rest to their mover via western union.I thought it odd both were planning on buying a used bed yet had a 'mover' on hand to pick up the bed. Who can I report these two individuals to?

I posted a used textbook on the facebook marketplace. A few days later I had an inquiry from a guy in England who wanted me to receive his check for $2500 and then wire the rest of it back to a "shipper" in London. It was a $30 book! I stopped communication with him and when I received the check I took it to the bank. It's crazy that they even want to scam you over such small purchases.

Very simple. Just refuse to mail back ANY money until the check clears.

This scam has been going on for 10-20 years, and just now, the USPS is going to take action. It's too little, too late.

I would like to add something about ebay
two weeks ago someone got into my ebay account. They purchased laptop computers the mailing address was in Nigeria. whoever this was change all my ebay account information to theirs. they also gained access to my paypal account. I was out $9,650.00. It has been ia real mess trying to fix. My paypal account had my checking account information as well as a credit card on file. I Will no longer do business with Paypal, Because of this it's not worth the trouble.