Classified Scam
 

Good Morning! I know this is an old story, just figured another heads-up might be needed. I had a response to a classified ad posted on TOTV last week. The responder was wanting to know if the item was still available. Mind you, this response came to my private email address, via TOTV. When I told him yes, in fact, it was still available and he could come see it, I got the old story he was unavailable to see it but would send me a cashier's check and have his "mover" pick it up. I never responded to him, blocked his email address, and wrote to TOTV, reporting the incident and asking how this person is on TOTV, etc. I'm gonna say, my biggest disappointment is the fact that I got nothing back from TOTV. So, just be aware people, this scam is still going on. It must be working somewhere, because they keep trying it. :) Have a great day!

The exact same thing happen to me when I advertised a used car. I immediately notice a big RED FLAG when he didn't even want to see it and would make arrangements to have the car shipped. I immediately blocked his call. Sad the world is coming to this sort of of thing. and what's even more disturbing is that some poor people fall for this.

Same thing happened to me as well. Same story - also wrote but did not hear back from TOTV, maybe they just blocked him. He said he was in a meeting in another country so he could not see it in person.

I ignored him as well.

Same story. In a meeting in London, and perusing the adds for used furniture? Hahahaha...ludicrous....

Why not insist on cashing the cashier's check before handing over the goods?

If the "mover" turns that idea down then make a note of his license plate number and report him for what is, then, clearly a scam.

Sadly, this scam has another wrinkle; my daughter responded to a "casting call" for a modeling job. She was told they would come here to shoot, but she needed to order the wardrobe direct from the designer so that they would have her measurements. Then they told her that they were sending ONE check to cover her initial payment AND the wardrobe. My alarm bells went off, and the info I found on them was sketchy. She would have paid for a "wardrobe" with her real money, and they would have disappeared. A job should NEVER involve you paying anything up front, and a legit company has more than one check!

I just checked, you do not need to be a member of ToTV to see the classifieds, these are open to anyone that goes to the site. They do NOT need to login, the same is true for Craigslist, so anyone selling something on ToTV can and will be subject to the same abuses that occur on CL. We all need to be very careful, selling items.
Hope this helps.

Thanks...good info to have. I'm not sure I care for that, tho. I mat just stick to our Nextdoor sites for my classifieds from here on in.

Actually, Lovey2, I suspected that anyone could see the ads, but I had never checked until this thread came up.

ADMIN, could you do a poll to see if the users of ToTV would like the classified to be hidden to outsiders and only visible to members? IMHO, since we all have access to CL, I will start this off with a vote to keep classifieds private, for registered members of ToTV only.

Exact same story on OfferUp app. Red flags all over!

You can cash a cashier's check at the bank,take the money and spend it. The next week the bank will call and say the cashier's check bounced. Now the merchandise you sold and the money are gone.
What good are cashier's checks if the bank does not check them out when you deposit them? I would say it's the banks problem and they have to own up to their mistake.

Call me insensitive, but some of these scams that prey on people's greed are so ridiculous, that it is difficult to feel sorry for the victim.

I agree - a potential client base of 120,000 is more than enough and we would at least have some idea of with whom we are dealing...

...although maybe doing so would give us a false sense of security, since it is so easy to register for TOTV, with no background checking

Well...as usual, I spoke too soon! :) I got 2 responses from TOTV admin yesterday, and they have blocked this user. But I agree that outsiders should be hidden from the classifieds. This is a Villages website and should be kept as such...all around. My opinion. As I mentioned before, I will not use this classifieds again if it stays this way. I responded to that man, and he now has my email address. I'm not happy about that.

I think a bank will only cash a cashier's check immediately if you have an account with them. The bank's position is that they are acting as your agent to attempt to retrieve the money from the original bank, and you are responsible if the check is fraudulent. Otherwise, the bank would have to contact every originating bank for every check they cash. Way too time consuming, and customers would take their business elsewhere. Anybody can print out or copy a fraudulent cashier's check.