Reply by americanwoodworker

I rarely ever use craigslist because of scammers. When I do I never post where I live or my personal info. They have to email me with their phone number via craigslist. I also put down that I will accept cash only upon pickup. That usually deters scammers.

What they like to do is send you a check. You cash that check at your bank and the scammer picks up your item. A couple days later your bank calls you and says the check did not clear. Hopefully at that time you did not spend the money or you have to reimburse the bank. Or else you will be out the money AND your item. You will however have to pay the bounced check fee.

A few years ago a guy tried to do this to us but something about the transaction did not seem right to me. I called my bank to get the info off that check that was mailed to me and I called the numbers. The people who answered told me those checks were stolen by a guy used to work for them and that the account was closed. I called my bank to tell them what was going on and they cancelled the check, issued a warning to the other branches and thanked me. I called the guy’s number and left him a message that I needed to talk to him and he never called me back. He did not pick up my item and to this day I wonder if he got spooked or thrown in jail because he never showed up to pick up the item he thought he had just purchased.

It is now cash only for me or I do business through a company like ebay and do transactions through paypal. It is a lot safer this way. Not full proof but damn close to it.

-- Your freedom to be you, includes my freedom to be free from you.