I got the same emails as the rest of you and had an erie feeling so I. Asked the full address from this Jacob Black and havnt heard from him or it or who ever he is I too was selling my wedding dress on craigs list I thought it was odd someone wanted to buy it from another state not even seeing it in person..thanks to all your posts I now know we are dealing with some kind of sicko
Judy from Wisconsin
You wouldn't necessarily know from just that, but the broken English is a huge red flag. Then, if you google the language and see that others got virtually identical e-mails, you can be sure it's a scam. What they do is send you a "certified check" for more than you're selling your item for (in our case, $2,000 for a $130 high hat), then they ask you to send the "excess" via Western Union to their mover, shipping agent or somewhere else. People then deposit the check and wire the "excess" via Western Union. The check is a fraud, but by the time the bank discovers that many people have already wired the money. The bank without fail will take the money back out of your account since you deposited a counterfeit check. Wiring money via Western Union is like paying cash and you can't get it back
Beware, but don't stress too much. This scam is easy to spot once you are familiar with it. Broken English puts you on alert, weird requests to pay their mover or anyone via Western Union is a dead giveaway.
Giving The Bounce To Counterfeit Check Scams
http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/pubs/articles/naps29.pdf
excerpt:
• Know who you’re dealing with and never wire money to strangers.
• If you’re selling something, don’t accept a check for more than the selling price, no matter how tempting the offer or how convincingthe story. Ask the buyer to write the check for the correct amount. If the buyer refuses to send the correct amount, return the check. Don’t send the merchandise.