Craigs List Scam....Please help?

Right, don't panic. They haven't got your bank details have they? so there isn't much they can do in the way of stealing money from you. it's possible they were trying to implicate you in some sort of scam (unknowingly by you of course) but you did exactly the right thing and were intelligent enough to realise it sounded dodgy and tell the police. I suspect they'll back off now and leave you alone - especially if they contact you and you say you aren't happy to sell to them anymore as their story of a check that can't be cancelled etc. doesn't sound right and you just protecting yourself. it may be that the bank details / checks were stolen and it was too risky to try and cash it where they live so by doing this, getting you to cash it, it implicates you not them if the owner of the account gets wind - they get the money in cash couriered back to them, no questions and nothing in their name! You have told your local police about it and therefore you can not be blamed if something does happen as you reported it (which I promise it won;t now - these people are clever not stupid). Why would you take $100 'for your troubles' if it was a genuine mistake? But...saying that a lot of people are naive and might well fall for it. As for hacking into your account - this is incredibly unlikely, just be vigilant and make sure you are aware and you'll be fine. And continue questioning peoples motives like you do, it seems cynical but its really just sensible.

But most of all don't worry - you did the right thing and were clever enough to not get conned. x

A woman I know who is the wife of a police officer friend fell for the same scam. She DID cash the check and sent them the difference and guess what happened, it came back NSF funds a few days later. She was/is out $3000.

The scam artists are very good and hard to track down. They are actually based outside of the US so it is very difficult to arrest/charge these people with the crime.

Watch your credit report closely. It may be worth it for you to enroll in a credit monitoring service. The cell number isn't as big of an issue as them having your name/address.

Be careful in the future and NEVER give out personal information. If you want to sell things on Craig's list, etc. Open a P.O. Box to have checks sent to or use Pay Pal, it's safe an secure.

Most likely they won't do anything, especially if you let them know that you contacted the police. The scammer is looking for easy pickings. The probably have no more ability to hack your info than before you gave out your address and phone. That would require more than just a name and address. The banks security features should handle whatever. You are probably worrying too much, and the scammer has moved on hoping some gullible fool will respond to the scam.

STOP all contact with this person. Forward the email address and email to craigslist to report a scam.

Yes I had someone contact me via craigslist and I could tell it was a scam. They claimed they wanted to buy my textbooks and mail them to their son in another country. Then said they were going to send me MORE money then I was asking and for me to cash it and then forward money to his "son". It was clearly a scam. I emailed them back and told them to stop contacting me and that I am not stupid.

And no they wont hack your computer. These people are in Nigeria and just looking for stupid people willing to follow their scam. If you never get money or a check from them then you are safe.

Dont sell your item to them because it is a scam.

They will mail you a fake check and it takes 2 weeks to clear at the bank and dump people mail them money before the check clears. thousands have fallen for these scams. They are just preying on the stupid and having people cash fake checks. So just stop all contact.

I don't get the impression from what you have written that the individual is interested in identity theft. However, if you follow his directions, you will have no proof that you reimbursed him for the $2730, so he might try to come after you with threats of legal action for ripping him off. Therefore, don't go along with this. One thing you can do, however, is to offer to add some other items into the sale, bringing the total of the sale up to $3000. That will probably get rid of him.

This is a classic scam. I'm surprised the police don't have any interest in it. Contact the fraud unit of your local prosecutor's office or the State Police or the FBI.

Don't worry about any other kinds of fraud being committed by these particular individuals--this is their scam and they aren't doing anything else.

Contact the FBI, and provide the information on this person to them. The FBI is taking a close interest in these types of scams.

As long as you haven't lost anything yet, don't worry about it. It seems to be a scam. And you needn't worry about them comming to your house, or hacking your computer, both of those two are highly unlikely. Just stop contact with the scammers.

I have also got these and I just delete them.

A lot of people can get phone numbers, names and addresses so don't worry about that. Just don't pay attention to the next one.

Just dont go try and cash the check. A person who trys to cash one of those checks is just as guilty as the person who sent it.