Got Scammed on Craigslist

Fester wrote in post #15335262
Ditto what he said.
So Greed got to ya?
One of the 7 deadly sins....

That's cold. Is it really necessary? I am sure OP feels miserable as it is.

Everytime I put a lens on craigslist I get someone trying to get me to ship it. They act like they want to meet, but then tell me they need it shipped somewhere in the US. Each time they have offered me $50-$100 more than I am asking just to ship it, funny that takes it over amazon price shipped so you know its a scam anyway.

It seems that no matter what I try to sell someone comes with the whole we can use paypal, and you will be protected bs, but I have seen how easy it is to get your money as a buyer and not even have to return a perfectly useable item.

If I wanted to ship it, I'd list it on the forum, other than that craigslist should probably only be used for ftf

Fester wrote in post #15335262
Ditto what he said.
So Greed got to ya?
One of the 7 deadly sins....

So is wrath and pride, big boy.

To Freesoul: Thanks for sharing the info. Always good to be reminded that thieves are always lurking.

Oh, that's horrible. At least it wasn't a super expensive lens, but still, what a loss! I remember when I almost fell for this a few years back. I was only 13 so I guess I didn't know things TOO well but my parents convinced me not to do it and I have got to say, parents know best! I hope the scammer gets bad Karma, that's all I can say.

First red flag. Scammer always states " is the item still for sale"? Second red flag it's not a local number. Third red flag is scammer always use Paypal method on Craigslist.

One more tip is to only pay for shipping with funds you receive. I never pay shipping out of pocket before initiating a paypal transfer to my account. then I know for sure the money is actually there. Granted I only sell stuff on craigslist because I am too lazy to box it up in the first place. The furthest I ever got was someone sent me a check for an item they were going to pick up. The check was a fraud when I took it to the bank and I notified the buyer just what I would do if they came to pick up the item (I was a little steamed and well armed).

Now I only do cash/paypal and check bills for authenticity over $50. Sorry to hear about your situation.

K6AZ wrote in post #15335256
Rules fpr selling on CL:

Do not accept PayPal for anything

Do not ship anything

Local sales only

Cash only

I see in your OP you already know where your mistakes were here so I won't rub them in.

+ 1 on this ^^^

I also always say no local contact number = no response.

Also, many scammers will send you a fake paypal email showing you have money. Always log in and check your paypal account. If the money aint in when you log in it is a scam.

Daship wrote in post #15335169
I will give you $5000 for your camera if you western union me $5500. I live in USA so its definitely not a scam.

You fail fraudster test. Where's the lure in this? If you follow the supposedly great offer, you'll lose $500 (while in reality you'll lose $5500) + the item you're selling.

Daship wrote in post #15335516
Also, many scammers will send you a fake paypal email showing you have money. Always log in and check your paypal account. If the money aint in when you log in it is a scam.

... and do NOT follow/click the link to Paypal on scammer's email or else the scammer will get your username/password.

Hey, I am not angry at anyone on here who is just posting the truth, I didn't pay enough attention. I wanted to get the lens out of my hair and get my money back and I ignored all the signs. And I agree with so many on here naming off the lessons I have learned from this, things I knew but for some reason I chose to ignore at this very moment in time. The whole point I went onto craigslist was to sell it locally, and I didn't even stick to it. Lessons learned, face to face is better, no shipping and no dealing with paypal. Heck the guy who bought my older lens came into my office and asked if I had change for a ten, he originally wanted to pay $100 for them, but I wouldn't budge from $130 so he was hoping I would take $110 instead..... little did he know I have a little piggy bank in my office full of change. I am angry with it, but I learned and can only hope that karma will get that jerk.

Well, it could have been much worse, I've read of people being done out of 1Ds3 and 5D2 bodies when they were still selling at full price. Good luck in the future.

Sorry to hear you got scammed.

FreeSoul1987 wrote in post #15335094
I contacted USPS, and I cannot get it back because I would have to actually ask the buyer and being a scammer I know he will only laugh at me.

Another stupid thing was using USPS for International shipment. If it was UPS as a seller you could have diverted the package back to you with ease. I would still call the USPS again and ask to speek with a supervisor or someone who can help you with mail related fraud.

https://postalinspecto​rs.uspis.gov/contactUs​/phoneus.aspx