Craigslist is a frequent visitor to American social news, and all kinds of news about fraud crimes are common. Although Craigslist has a bad reputation, everyone can't resist its temptation because it is so easy to use. So how can we protect ourselves in this strong contradiction? Today, I'm going to take you to crack the common scams of Craigslist and master the correct posture of flirting with liars.
Common scam
Cheque fraud: this is a classic routine that has been circulating for more than ten years. From the Nigerian scam in previous years to the British scam in recent years, they all used the operational loophole of the bank: the time difference between confirming checks to cheat.
cheat
1. Send an email or text message to propose the trading intention.
Find a reason to ask for payment by check
3. Send a check that exceeds the payment amount and provide the tracking number.
4. Ask you to return the extra amount or transfer the money to the account of the so-called freight forwarding company under the excuses of "the amount is wrong", "the company's business trip allowance is inconvenient to make payment" and "the courier fee is paid to the freight forwarding company".
Scam operation process
When the following signals appear during the transaction, you should pay attention, and the fraud warning is ahead!
Ask for a cheque transaction
No matter whether the excuse he gives is that he is paying overseas or the company, when he insists on paying by check, you must say no!
When he tells you that the amount on the check sent to you is greater than the actual amount payable.
There will be no pie in the sky, and normal people will not write hundreds or thousands of more checks. He followed you.
You don' t need to check $ number. This must be true. At this point, you can basically judge that you are a liar, and then you can choose to ignore or anti-flirt.
When you deposit the check you received in the bank, you find that there is more money in your account.
This is the trickiest part of the whole check scam. Normal people won't transfer money until they get the money, so what most people will do is to deposit this check in the bank. There is a loophole in the operation of Bank of America, that is, when a check is deposited, whether it is a blank check or not, there will be an extra sum of money in your account immediately, and it is not impossible to withdraw it directly during the period when the bank checks the authenticity of the check.
When he asks you to return the extra money through Western Union remittance, or use the money as freight to send things to Nigeria.
Look at the extra money in your account, or take out the real money in your hand. You believe there is truth in the world and decide to be an honest boy/girl, and return the extra money through Western Union remittance designated by the swindler, or send things to Nigeria. In Craigslist's world, Western Union and Nigeria are equal to fraud. Say the important things three times! Equivalent to fraud! Fraud! Fraud!
In the United States, personal checks are directly guaranteed by personal credit and linked to personal reputation. Therefore, when dealing with unfamiliar people, you should try to avoid using checks, because you can't confirm the credit of the other party, and the bank will not be responsible for any mistakes in the transaction.
Bank of America usually takes at least two to four weeks to verify whether a check is blank, but during the verification period, the money is in your account and can be used at your disposal. However, after verification by the bank, if it is found that it is a bad check, the bank has the right to cancel the money and will automatically transfer it from your account to make it up. If the balance in your account is not enough, the bank will close the account and collect debts from you. At the same time, your credit score will also be adversely affected by your behavior of depositing bad checks.
Talk to the bank teller before you deposit the check. They are experienced and face check fraud every few days. Maybe they can poke you before you deposit the check and help you see through the scam.
PayPal scam
When someone wants to buy something from you but insists on paying with PayPal, you should be careful, because a fake email that looks like PayPal is waiting for you to take the bait.
cheat
? The email said that the money has been sent to you, but you have to reply to an email including the tracking number to get the money.
The email said that the money had been sent to you, but you had to click on the link to confirm the transaction before you could get the money.
The scammer pays you with a real PayPal account, but asks you to send things to different places.
Scam operation process
PayPal won't ask you for the tracking number until the money arrives.
If you click on the link in the email, your account will be stolen and the money in PayPal will be transferred.
Once they get something, they will complain to PayPal that they never received it. In this way, PayPal will activate the buyer protection mechanism and deduct the buyer's payment from your account, so that your property and money are lost.
Hoolilaw special tips
Be careful when you receive an official email asking for your account information, tracking number, or asking you to click on the link in the email. Open a new webpage, log in to the account from official website, and check the real balance of the account. Craigslist is not Yi Bei, and the protection mechanism is not perfect. You should try to avoid using PayPal for transactions on Craigslist.
Craigslist official advice
Don't pay people you've never met.
If the transaction involves express delivery, you should be vigilant. Try to choose local sellers and deal face to face.
No bank wire transfer. Once again, Western Union remittance is synonymous with fraud on Craigslist.
Don't trade by personal check, the bank will not bear any responsibility.
The transaction only exists between the two parties, and no third party can provide any guarantee.
Never provide your personal information, such as bank account number, PayPal account and SSN.
Don't trade goods that have not been personally inspected. There is no pie in the sky, and those deals that look particularly good probably don't exist.
Don't agree to background and credit checks until you meet the landlord and employer.
Four skills to identify fraud
1. Trading emails or text messages from other places.
2. Vaguely refers to trading items and articles, not specific names.
3. Spelling errors and grammatical errors.
4. Refuse to deal face to face.
Fraud keywords: western union remittance, moneygram, promissory note, money order, paypal, shipping, escape.
Service, or "guarantee"
What if I encounter fraud?
Please report to the following website:
Internet fraud complaint center Internet fraud report center
United States Federal Trade Commission Federal Trade Commission
Fill in the FTC report form or call the report hotline: 877-FTC-HELP (877-382-4357).
ConsumerSentinel/Military, a special complaint channel for American soldiers or their families.
American Software Association Software and Content Piracy Report
Ohio Special Report Channel: Ohio Attorney General's Consumer Complaints
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