Scams - How Do They Work?

[PPstereo]

Scammers prey on reachable consumers with preconceived notions about the way things work or get done. They know most persons are savvy to their ways, they are trying to "reel-in" the 5% minority .

This group is all they need to make millions, per day, per geographic zones. Unfortunately, there are a lot of enablers as well whether they be poor management of websites for commerce or associate or non-associated social forums that share your personal info behind your back.

It is epidemic and also includes the mass dialings everyone gets at their home or on their smartphones, totally intrusive and mostly unwanted!

What can be done about it? .. Mostly nothing because of the complicity involved

Yup, if it seems to good to be true it usually is.

But this is America. Home of the deal hunter. I've no idea just how many Saudi princes made off a chunk of folks bank accounts but I'm sure that one still lands a catch every now and then.

It's hard to feel sorry at this point. The scams still go on, which shows someone is getting paid. And the flakes and time wasters are equally still going strong.

The universe balances things out in the end lol.

 

[PPstereo]

This sort of thing is why I always expect cash, with no exceptions. I mention that in every add that I have where I'm selling something.

It really is unbelievable to me though how flaky buyers can be. I'll constantly have folks asking me if I'll half the price of an item that's already on the very low end of what I see it selling for online. Or they'll ask me a lot of questions about the condition and even when I say that it's perfect and have photos to show that, they'll pass on it... or back out the day that they schedule to pick the thing up, or just not show up with no explanation, or try to trade me stuff when my add clearly says "not interested in trades" etc... In can be a lot of work to sell stuff, but at least if you're only excepting cash you can't be ripped off...

Yup for a while now it's been the case, your assumed a flake till proven otherwise. Sad but true.

It's also why I put, if your reading this its available, at the top of all my fb ads.

And whenever I get the, is it available, message. I always respond, answer to that is in the ad . I had one jackoff respond, well not everyone deletes their ad it's a legit question. I explained it's a completely pointless question as what does it matter if one isnt ready to buy. Ask an actual question of the item if there is one. Beyond that its pointless. Plus I'm on a mission to get America reading again. He went back with some other whining. I responded I've been doing this a while and let's test my theory. You asked if its available I'm now responding, yes it is. Balls in your court.... He responded well played.

Dopes have ALLOT of time on their hands. And I'm on a mission to have em use those remaining brain cells to read again lol

 

[Monad]

most craigslist scams are just info scrapes. they get your full name, address, email bank information so they can 'deposit via wire'. that's worth something to other scammers who are higher on the chain.

when I do sell on craigslist, i use a phone app called burner and post that number. I don't deal with anyone who won't talk on the phone. in the ad I say, 'don't be a stupid scammer, cash in hand..' and that usually dissuades them. they prob figure there are easier marks elsewhere. I use the name Dwayne, for fun. i will also meet somewhere locally first, then have them follow me back to my house, mentioning that my truck gun is an AK, at some early point in the conversation..

 

[peerson]

Never sell anything to a Nigerian prince!

 

[denverfred]

There's a reason why Paypal exists and makes money. They provide a good service for honest folk and a bad one for scams. Like Amazon, Boeing, Apple, Google and other monopolies, they provide a service and (usually) do it well. They deserve to be paid for the service, so it's mighty easy to hit that button.

 

[audiocrzy]

I told the last one that I needed an in person meeting with cash only and never heard any more. Thank you for helping my understanding.

that's the way to do it. But if they agree to meet pick a public place. I will never sell anything to anyone on CL until I talk to them on the phone first. texting or email is a good way to get started but no phone conversation no sale.

 

[winters860]

A twist sometimes used is to send "overpayment", on purpose or by accident. You are then asked to use the overage for shipping OR return the overage when their shipper/shipping agent come to get "the item" (it's almost always "the item" since they respond to so many listings it would take too much time to use the proper item name like Marantz 2270 or Pioneer SX-1050. So their form responses just state " the item".
Is "the item" still available? I will pay your asking price for "the item"...etc
Anyways, they then steal your "item" plus the "overage" you refunded them which ends up coming out of YOUR POCKET since the check was phony to begin with.

This. The typical version promises “my agent” will pick up “the item”.

“My agent” doesn’t exist, and the scammer has no interest in “the item”. The scammer will send phony USPS money orders with face values well in excess of what you’re asking, them try to get a refund for a portion of the “overage”. That’s the whole scam.

Another one you run into on CL is the scammer who wants you to enter a code to “verify your identity”. This is engineered to let the scammer steal your phone number, and it can be difficult to impossible to get it back.

 

[Monad]

I do actually sell a 'safety kit' for people doing business on the webs..

>> "How Not to Get Scammed On the Line, and You Can Too"

IMHO, you just can't afford to do business anywhere, while making a web, without buying this kit first.

To receive, send $12.00, pm me for bitcoin info.

 

[goodolpg]

There's a reason why Paypal exists and makes money. They provide a good service for honest folk and a bad one for scams. Like Amazon, Boeing, Apple, Google and other monopolies, they provide a service and (usually) do it well. They deserve to be paid for the service, so it's mighty easy to hit that button.

Absolutely.
I have no respect for people that want to bypass PayPal (trusted/friends and family) or ebay (contact info in their listings, most often their phone number or website info in the back ground of their listing photos) to finalize a sale.
If a person uses ebay's or Paypal's services they should pay for those services.

 

[El Rubio]

About 20 years ago, some coworkers and I had a thing where we would respond to those Nigerian scams, never answer the financial info they wanted, but waste as much of their rime and make tgem answer our stupid questions. We would send pics, ‘special eequests’, etc. i recall one that had a bank transfer form he wanted me to fill out. He agreed to fax it to me. I gave hime the fax number to my Engineering VP’s office and sent to his attention- LOL. Then, I would come up with excuses to make him fax it again. The more outlandish, the more entertaining. The intent was to make them waste time and a little of their own money on long distance expenses, and most importantly, we would get a laugh out of it. I may have to start this back up.

 

[chris35745]

Quite a few years ago, I sold something on CL, cant remember what. I think around $100 or so. I got a reply, in lousy English and bad grammar, wanting to buy my "items" for the agreed upon price. They would send me a cashiers check and I would mail my "item. Normally, I just ignore asswipes like that. On that occasion, I decided to play with him and have a little fun. I replied back, using the same lousy English and bad grammar, and told him we had a deal and the agreed upon price was somewhere North of $13,000. I told him that I got his IP address from his e-mail and from that, his real address. I told him to have CASH ready tomorrow and that a couple members of the Russian Mafia will stop by his house to collect the cash. Never heard back from him. If you realize it is a scam, either ignore it, or have a little fun with it.

 

[PPstereo]

The folks here set a pretty high bar for scamming the scammer. Love this site.

https://www.419eater.com/

 

[slovell]

I've lived in a few rural areas in my life, mostly in Iowa. I do remember what you describe.
I also remember when crack\meth addiction hit. You couldn't keep anything that wasn't nailed down out in the rural areas. Every single vacant house was stripped of all copper and then trashed. Farmers had huge problems with AHA being stolen. Leaving the keys in a vehicle on your property, it was gone.
Ya, a big change, IMO.

EDIT: Come to think of it, it was a local cop who bought my off-road rig. Had some big (probably true) sob story about his cancer, financial difficulties, so I cut him some slack and let him take the rig before he could pay it all off. He stiffed me $500 (out of $5k) on that rig.
So it's not just remote scams, local people can rob you as well.

Guy said he had cancer, financial problems, but he decided to buy an off roader? Danger Will Robinson Danger.

 

[slovell]

I do actually sell a 'safety kit' for people doing business on the webs..

>> "How Not to Get Scammed On the Line, and You Can Too"

IMHO, you just can't afford to do business anywhere, while making a web, without buying this kit first.

To receive, send $12.00, pm me for bitcoin info.

I've got a $200.00 dollar Solar Powered Clothes Dryer I'll sell you.

 

[Monad]

I've got a $200.00 dollar Solar Powered Clothes Dryer I'll sell you.

Omg, those units are amaaaazing! The wrinkle-release setting is a key feature. I will pay you $300.00 but I need to wire it so, please forward your full name, banking information address.. probably will need your social security number and just to be sure.. what are your 3 favorite passwords, just in case they ask meh.

 

[slovell]

Omg, those units are amaaaazing! The wrinkle-release setting is a key feature. I will pay you $300.00 but I need to wire it so, please forward your full name, banking information address.. probably will need your social security number and just to be sure.. what are your 3 favorite passwords, just in case they ask meh.

 

[sKiZo]

Send me 500 bitcoin (please include your password for verification purposes), and I'll give you a foolproof system for avoiding scammers! ;-}

 

[Michael G]

Cash "only" with the agent at your stipulated time of sale. Advise of the persons on site to validate the currency. If it's a sale..bingo, no show..also bingo.
Scam at door..you and friends show off your bat collection. A little vigilante, but a lot ah fun....

 

[El Rubio]

I was thinking about a scam closer to home that many on this forum fall for...

the scam is you promote a device, in this case an audio cable. You describe it as something truly unique that will improve the performance of your audio system. Since it is just wire, you need something to differentiate it from plain old wire. Here’s where you use your best scamming mojo. You describe it as having amazing qualities that are the result of some special treatment that only you provide. You quote some actual scientific terminology to describe the process. You describe what the process does, but never, ever, show an actual before and after measurement that would undoubtedly confirm the claims.
Here’s a snippet I pulled from one manufacturer’s description:

“Cables are treated with a process called Quantum Tunneling. This is a process that changes the way a cable conducts the signal at the sub atomic level affecting the entire cable assembly- connectors (RCA, XLR, Spade, or Banana), solder joints, dielectric and signal and ground conductors are all transformed and integrated as a single unit. By applying a two million volt extreme high frequency signal to a cable at a specific pulse modulation and frequency for an exact duration of time, (company name here) alters the entire cable at molecular level through a phenomenon called Quantum Tunneling. The before and after is startling with a lower noise floor and major improvements in inner detail, air, low frequency extension and overall transparency and signal speed.”

That’s pretty impressive. I wonder why they haven’t patented it. This is actually pretty tame compared to many other products on this company’s web page. As outlandish as giving wires the old quantum tunneling treatment sounds, it’s nothing when you read the descriptions of other products like fuses, power cables, grounds with more grounding than the ground, and my favorite-“room treatments”. The same tactic is used to describe each product: a little scientific mumbo-jumbo, glowing descriptions of sound improvements using exotic terms that you may not fully understand the meaning of ( soundstage, transparency, dimensional, etc), and, of course, nothing that actually measures a single improvement in quantifiable terms.

 

[Michael G]

Nature of the beast...what ever the market will bare, buyer beware, wright wrong, fact or fiction, truth or not, democracy at it's finest.
Little if any real boundary...Research and lots of it is the only path. Seeing a certain segment locked in a room pumped full of B.S. would be funny though.