Recently I put my "extra" motorcycle on Kijiji. Within 24 hours I received the first of four suspicious emails offering to pay full pop for the bike, sight unseen. All of them have this in common; the person is away somewhere and has another individual looking after the shipping. The first thing that made me suspicious was the willingness to pay full asking price, the "sight unseen" aspect of the deal, the similarities between the messages (everyone is out of town!) and the second character..."the shipper". I copied and pasted the main body of a couple of these messages and put them into Google (see them below too), and messages that were almost word-for-word the same popped up on numerous "scam alert" websites! I'm not sure how they run these scams, but I've heard that a lot of them use counterfeit certified cheques. Your bank looks at them, sees no problem and accepts them, then a few days later, when they hit the bank they're drawn on, they bounce back and you're stuck holding the bag. Maybe some of you know more about this then I do. I feel that with the number of people on this board that use Kijiji, it's important to give everyone a "heads up". I suspect that similar nonsense is going on with Craig's List? If so, please share this with the rest of us. I hope the inclusion of these copies doesn't use up too much bandwidth. It seemed important to give some examples. Thanks. John B Sample messages follow; Hi I am interested in your bike - I am getting it for my son who lives in downtown Toronto. He does not ride, "yet". So first things first, are you open to offers? I am from out of province, how easy is it to get plates? Does he have to get the bike certified first? What is the cost of that and where can he/you get that done? Does that precede bike purchase? Once the plates are on, are you willing to drive it to his residence? I will be in Kitchener Easter weekend, am available Thursday evening. Thanks. Hi, Thanks for the swift response.Your price sounds good to me.Am presently out of town on a business trip.Payment will be made via Money Order or Canadian Certified Check,pick up will commence by my shipping agent once payment is received by you and cleared at your bank.All you need to do is to fill the below data for payment to be sent out asap: FULL NAME: FULL CONTACT ADDRESS: CITY,PROVINCE AND POSTAL CODE: TEL.PHONE NUMBER: AGREED PRICE: The payment will be mailed out asap and will arrive within 3-5 business days at your mail box.I will keep you posted once payment is sent out while date and time of pick up will be arrange between you and my shipper once payment is received and cleared at your bank. Thanks very much. Hi, I really happy for your response to my mail, i'm interested in buying this item as a gift for my inlaw that just graduated from school and I am not home at this time as a marine engineer and due to the nature of my work locations and stations,phone calls hardly go through I would have loved to call but call is restricted, I have my shipper over there to see to thing working out perfectly. I really want the item to be a surprise gift for my inlaw so i won't let him know anything about the item until it get delivered to him in United Kingdom, i am sure he will be more than happy with the item.I insisted on paypal because i don't have access to my bank account online as i don't have online banking, but i can pay from my PayPal account, as I have my bank account attached to it, i will need you to give me your PayPal email address so i can make the payment as soon as possible for the item and pls if you don't have PayPal account yet,it is very easy to set up, go on www.paypal.com and get it set up ,after you have set it up i will only need the e-mail address you use for registration with PayPal so as to put the money through.i have a shipper that will come and pick the item up after i have made the payment.I would really like to come to see the item, but like I said earlier my shipper will see to things if we eventually have it worked out and at the same time won't mind you sending me a couple of pictures so I can see more it's views Are you the first owner of the item , What is your reason for selling it? I'm sorry, just want to be sure about the sale before i proceed. Note:. i will be paying you $2,500.00 and Get back to me with your PayPal e-mail asap. Hi, [FONT="]Thanks for your responds. I am willing to buy this bike for my husband who is bike freaked and im willing to make it a surprise birthday gift for him which comes up next week. So there is need for us to seal this deal quickly. Its my wish to give you a call and come see the condition of the bike but as a marine engineer,phone call is restricted when at work. But i have my shipper t here to see to things properly. Also i will be paying you via my Paypal account cos im on duty for now.So kindly get back to me wit h your paypal email addres so that i can proceed with the payment ASAP. Ill pay your asking price. Kindly get back to me ASAP....Thanks[/FONT]
I had the same thing happen to me on CL you just have to use your best judgment I fallowed one all the way to get the check then cut them off just to see. you just have to be careful. Don
i've seen simular responses on craigslist when i try to sell something, if something dosent sound right i usually ignore them.
Thanks for the info! There's just too much of this crap going on today! I always let my bank run a check before anyone gets anything! If the person isn't willing to do that,up goes the red flag!
I recently listed a truck on Auto Trader and got more than one scammer trying that crap. Same thing...no haggle on the price. Wanted to send payment right away and a shipper would pick up in a few days to take the truck to Canada. I don't guess they have any trucks in Canada to buy...gotta ship one from 2000 miles away. I just ignored them.
Had that many times on Kijiji. I just ignore those responses. I only deal face to face for cash on Kijiji and I am very careful about it. I dont ever give out my address or schedule until the pick up is arranged.
Damn it!! I just cashed a check, that was for more than I wanted for my green car, and it's already loaded into the container headed to it's new owner.....
a good piece of advice is to keep it local. don't buy from or sell to anyone that you can't meet in person to check the thing out. it's also best to buy it in person and not online.
As mentioned, same thing on Craigs List. Recently advertised some furniture for sale, had 5 scammers and 1 legitimate buyer respond. Scammers stopped replying when I put in big print at the bottom of the page CASH ONLY! NO SCAMMERS!
