[Birdinparadise]

I received this text this evening from (773) 644- 5103 wanting to purchase items I had for sale in classifieds.

IT IS A SCAM - BEWARE AND DO NOT RESPOND!!

The message says.....“Am from Chicago, am okay with the price and condition,i will like you to remove the post as am sure buying from you,i will issue a certified bank check to you and once you get the check and clears your bank,i will engage the service of a shipper for pickup at your address,get back to me with your info to mail out check,i will need this info such as

Full Name :
Address or P.O Box:
City :
State and Zip Code:”

[soonerforever]

Originally Posted by Birdinparadise

I received this text this evening from (773) 644- 5103 wanting to purchase items I had for sale in classifieds.

IT IS A SCAM - BEWARE AND DO NOT RESPOND!!

The message says.....“Am from Chicago, am okay with the price and condition,i will like you to remove the post as am sure buying from you,i will issue a certified bank check to you and once you get the check and clears your bank,i will engage the service of a shipper for pickup at your address,get back to me with your info to mail out check,i will need this info such as

Full Name :
Address or P.O Box:
City :
State and Zip Code:”

Had the same person call me about a motorcycle I had listed on this site...do a Google search and you will find out he is using this scam on many people.

[Moderator]

Thanks for the reminder/warning.

People have to be registered members of TOTV to see your contact info on Classified ads. If you can identify what their TOTV member name is, we can ban their account and IP address. If they only contacted you via text you may not have this info.

Even with our protections, scammers can get through. As with any internet commerce/trading site, be very cautious when dealing with strangers. This particular payment request should rightfully raise red flags.

Be safe out there!!!

Moderator

[judyflorida]

The grammar, the punctuation, the spelling, the message, all are a blaring clue that this is a scam.

[valuemkt]

Very old scam .. especially on craigslist.. always good for a reminder.. any classified ads should come with a cash and carry line .. no exceptions. I once got three emails with nearly exactly same wording in same day .. sent all three of them a joint email and told them what to do to themselves

[ChgoLvr2]

Originally Posted by Birdinparadise

I received this text this evening from (773) 644- 5103 wanting to purchase items I had for sale in classifieds.

IT IS A SCAM - BEWARE AND DO NOT RESPOND!!

The message says.....“Am from Chicago, am okay with the price and condition,i will like you to remove the post as am sure buying from you,i will issue a certified bank check to you and once you get the check and clears your bank,i will engage the service of a shipper for pickup at your address,get back to me with your info to mail out check,i will need this info such as

Full Name :
Address or P.O Box:
City :
State and Zip Code:”

I received a text message from this number (773-644-5103) this morning. It is nearly verbatim. I blocked the number and deleted the message. Beware of these scammers.

[OrangeBlossomBaby]

Don't forget also - those who want to be cheeky and respond and try to scam the scammer:

By responding to them, they now know that yours is a legitimate account, with a legitimate phone number, and that you actually respond to your text messages.

They can now sell your phone number to every scam artist and listing service in the world, for a tidy profit.

If you get a lot of spam messages and e-mails, most of them are because you actually responded to at least one of them in the past year (even if it was to tell them to bug off).

[EdFNJ]

Originally Posted by OrangeBlossomBaby

Don't forget also - those who want to be cheeky and respond and try to scam the scammer:

By responding to them, they now know that yours is a legitimate account, with a legitimate phone number, and that you actually respond to your text messages.

They can now sell your phone number to every scam artist and listing service in the world, for a tidy profit.

If you get a lot of spam messages and e-mails, most of them are because you actually responded to at least one of them in the past year (even if it was to tell them to bug off).

YEP, and NEVER UNSUBSCRIBE from any SPAM emails you get. That immediately opens up the flood gates and you're doomed to spam hell.

[OrangeBlossomBaby]

Originally Posted by EdFNJ

YEP, and NEVER UNSUBSCRIBE from any SPAM emails you get. That immediately opens up the flood gates and you're doomed to spam hell.

Unless it's to a service/website you know you signed up for and just don't want to continue getting mail from anymore. I had to unsubscribe to Belk's and Nordstrom's because of that.

[EdFNJ]

Originally Posted by OrangeBlossomBaby

Unless it's to a service/website you know you signed up for and just don't want to continue getting mail from anymore. I had to unsubscribe to Belk's and Nordstrom's because of that.

Yea, true, but I don't consider that kind of stuff "spam" just unwanted emails I agreed to get without reading all the disclaimers or opting out when I ordered from somewhere.

[ogme480]

Originally Posted by Birdinparadise

I received this text this evening from (773) 644- 5103 wanting to purchase items I had for sale in classifieds.

IT IS A SCAM - BEWARE AND DO NOT RESPOND!!

The message says.....“Am from Chicago, am okay with the price and condition,i will like you to remove the post as am sure buying from you,i will issue a certified bank check to you and once you get the check and clears your bank,i will engage the service of a shipper for pickup at your address,get back to me with your info to mail out check,i will need this info such as

Full Name :
Address or P.O Box:
City :
State and Zip Code:”

Same number still doing business. 773-644-5103. I received text tonight and after a few questions about condition of item posted I had posted for sale, I received almost verbatim instructions to pull posted item; will send certified check; engage service of shipper for pickup & request for my full name & address.

Follows the same scam model frequently seen on Craigslist with poor grammar and punctuation. Beware the operation is still alive and be vigilant in your screening of perspective buyers of your posted goods.

[Viperguy]

If the message has the word "shipper" or PayPal account # it is a scam. Also look for poorly written phrases as they are most likely foreign.

[Kerry Azz]

I received it in a couple of days, $1950.00 for a $600 drill. My good new friend with a Nigerian accent was happy to let me keep an extra $50 for cashing the check and giving is shipper the drill and $1300 in cash as soon as the check clears the bank, that would never happen because I knew it was a scam. This guy was relentless sending texts asking if it cleared yet I let him think I deposited it., and I was waiting he said it cleared on his account and I should set up pickup .
Of course I didn’t do anything, for my fun I now have a bank check I will frame to remind me how easy it is to prey on decent people and scam them.
Moral to my story s if it sounds to good to be true it is. Sellers beware.