Scammed on Craig's List

Chris told me to trust my gut. He said, "You have pretty good instincts - trust them." And he was right.

I recently purchased an iron bed for Piper's room. It is adorable and was very reasonably priced. It would have looked perfect in her eclectic Parisian room. Unfortunately, I thought it was a twin only to discover it is a full. There was no way that it would work. So what is a modern girl to do? Post it on Craig's list and make a little profit.

I had three very positive responses. One man seemed quite urgent about the whole matter. He would send a check and not come to pick up the bed until the check had cleared. He had a mover that would pick up the bed (warning). For whatever reason, his emails made me feel uneasy. But he wanted the bed right away and the other person interested could not come until this weekend. I thought it through - if he did not pick up the item until the check had cleared the bank - what was the harm?

So I agreed, if he could get me the check by this weekend. Below is the email I received tonight...

Dear Cameron,

This deal is on and the secretary has prepared the check as promiseBut there seems to be a little problem which i think we can handlewith care.......When i contact the secretary to confirm if the paymenthas been prepared,I was made to understand that she made out a checkof $1950 instead of $95 claiming that's what i told her ...... Thepayment was already posted before i was informed about this but iwould not want to delay the sale because of this as we have rectifythis with the Bank.All you have to do once you receive this check isto take it to the Bank and have it cleared and cashed and you willdeducted your money (for the item ) and plus an additional $50 for allthe assistance.The excess fund on the payment will then be wired to mymover via Western Union that same day so that he can come for the pickup as i have already planed on using the excess on the payment tooffset the cost of the various shipments he as undertaken on mybehalf. Do let me know if i can trust you to have the excess sent tomy mover as soon as you have check cleared...Please reply me as soonas possible....Regards.

OK - bad English aside - hello... can you smell a SCAM? I immediately wrote back and said I had found another buyer and the deal was off. But I felt creepy and violated. While I know that this is probably some guy in Nigeria that is cousins with the guy that sends you emails telling you that you have inherited big bucks from an African general and his widow only trusts you to cash the checks, it still makes me feel uncomfortable.

Gives new meaning to Buyer (and seller) Beware! And trust that gut instinct.