Chances that this craigslist reply is real?

[aphex]

Its so dang hard to sell anything on CL anymore, it seems like 95% of it is spam/fraudulent...

Greetings, i have a son who saw your advart on craigslist and he is interested. I am willing to pay and i will like to know the condition and method of payment for the item because I want to buy it as a gift for him.pls get back at me asap.
Thanks.

I'm gonna go 100:1 its fake...

 

[leftyman]

Is he from Nigeria?

 

[MikeyIs4Dcats]

any email that begins with "Greetings" is immediately suspect.

 

[LeiZaK]

Greetings

 

[aphex]

Originally posted by: MikeyIs4Dcats
any email that begins with "Greetings" is immediately suspect.

lol, i was thinking the same thing

 

[FoBoT]

faker than a $3 bill

 

[bleeb]

Might as well try and see what happens? It it's local pick up, go for it, otherwise, I'd avoid internet, mail, money-order transfers.

 

[tfinch2]

That's why when I advertise on CL, it's for local sale only and it's stated in the message. If the person doesn't ask me where I'm located, say where they are located, or ask where we can meet, the message gets deleted.

 

[Krazy4Real]

yea... probably fake.

 

[40Hands]

Greetings, buying for someone else, asap


They just cut out the rest of the scam email to see if you would bite.

 

[AkumaX]

youre assuming they're local, they pretend they're local, then right when you guys are about to meet up "oh, my sohn just lepht to his collage in the YOUNEEVersiTEE of NIGieria, plz s3nd th3re kthnxby3"

 

[MikeyIs4Dcats]

a second dead give-away is that they always refer to the "item" rather than referring to the "stereo" or "computer" or "Honda Accord"

 

[Safeway]

Yea, CraigsList has gone downhill since I started using it several years ago.

 

[chr6]

i thought the whole purpose of craigslist was to deal in person, why would they expect you to ship

 

[aphex]

Eh? I don't see anything about it asking me to ship.

 

[herbiehancock]

Originally posted by: MikeyIs4Dcats
a second dead give-away is that they always refer to the "item" rather than referring to the "stereo" or "computer" or "Honda Accord"

Exactly!! When have you ever sent or received a phone call or email or whatever for something you're trying to buy/sell and call the laptop/computer/stereo/TV/etc. just "the item?" Never, and anyone who emails you calling your stuff "the item" is just trying to scam you.

Of course, you could try to have some fun with him/her.

 

[jammur21]

Scam
To protect himself and establish a papertrail of evidence, a legit buyer will make sure to name the item being sold in case you scam him and send him a box of rocks instead of an ipod.
Example:
What is the condition of the *iPod*. Is it in working order? Is it scratched up?

 

[poncherelli2]

I replied to a legit looking ad for a used plasma back in early January. The ad sounded normal enough saying the guy was moving and needed to sell some stuff quickly for cash. I asked where he was located so I could take a look at the tv and got this response back:

It will be delivered. The plasma is still available, I haven't sold it yet and it's like new with no scratches, no burns, no bad pixels and in perfect conditon. Came with a yr warranty and also has a yr extended warranty, it's only 2months old and it's going with the wall mount. I have the purchase receipts and the warranty papers as well. I'm selling this cheap because I need a quick sale and use the money for another issue so I must sell this ASAP before new year. I'm not around right now so an escrow service will be handling this for me. I hope you know what an escrow service is. They receive the order and they notify you. If you are ready, just send me your full name and address so I will forward it to them. Pls the price on the AD is the last price. You should know this is the best price you can get. Pls mail me back ontime to secure your place as my buyer. Also Include how many days you want to check the plasma upon receival before you instruct the escrow service to release payment. Pls will 2 days be okay? You know I need the payment urgently. kindly get back to me asap if you are really interested. Pls email me back ASAP.

He went from needing immediate cash to wanting to ship the tv and put money in escrow as well as mentioning it should be done before the new year in his Jan 12th reply.

 

[marulee]

I did. I sold.

 

[blurredvision]

I always ignore the replies with the word "advert" in it. Sorry, no casual users of craigslist use that word. I've gotten 3 or 4 replies in my day that very closely resemble the one in the OP.

 

[Whoozyerdaddy]

i will like to know the condition and method of payment

Eesh... Their english is getting better though. Pretty soon it will be hard to distinguish a Nigerian from your average public school student.

 

[markgm]

"Kindly" ranks up there with "Greetings."

 

[aphex]

And there we have it

Thanks for your mail,The price is reasonable to me,I would have loved to come and pay cash and take the item from you but i will be on my way to UK for my son's wedding, So i will send you a money order of $1500,as soon as you receive it,exchange it for cash at your local bank and take your money out and send the rest
of the money via MONEY GRAM money transfer to my shipping Courier who is presently in south Africa to pick up some other art design i bought,he will come over for pick up and also pick some
other furniture and wedding materials i bought from a friend and have them
shipped to South Africa for me.
Please get back at me with your name and address so i can send the
payment before i leave tonight.
Thanks.

Any creative replies in mind?

 

[Muadib]

Paranoia will destroy ya.

 

[ViviTheMage]

fake