I sold my

**fernykins** · 07-31-2007, 10:59 PM

china hutch. To some guy off of craigs list. He's having it shipped to South Africa. He sent me the money order for it and made a mistake and sent the shipping fee to. Which I'll wire him back the differents. Now I really would like to know why he is buying it from the states. I'm sure they have hutches there. Oh well I'm just glad it sold.
Fern

**FrugalMomof3** · 07-31-2007, 11:06 PM

Make sure the money order is legit, there are scams all over the net about people sending fake money orders and having the items shipped to another country, try to cash the money order first.

**frugalfarmwife** · 07-31-2007, 11:15 PM

YIKES!!! NO!!! I'm SURE this is nigerian scam, do NOT send them ANY money and don't spend any of it, you WILL be responsible for it! Do a google search for nigerian scams and you will find LOTS of information! They do this with everything from computers to cars to horses, send you the money order to cash and send them the extra back, sometimes it takes WEEKS for your bank to realize the check/money order is a fake and YOU are responsible for all the money!!

kj

**fernykins** · 07-31-2007, 11:20 PM

I have a 3 week hold on the money orders. They will not be put into my account until they clear. Then I will wire the rest back to him using his money to pay for the transfer. It don't clear He don't get the hutch. I already sent him am email about the hold so he knows
Fern

**frugalfarmwife** · 07-31-2007, 11:25 PM

Often 3 weeks is NOT enough, these international money orders take time to clear, this is just a VERY common scam and I've seen people lose thousands of dollars to this scam. Personally I would NOT do this, you have to ask yourself why someone in another country would be looking at your local craigs list. This is actually an "industry" in their country, they have people working full time searching for items to do this, and they are ruthless.

I've been contacted by them several times in the past wanting to "purchase" horses from me, I personally just delete these emails.

best of luck, but I wouldn't do it.

kj

**FrugalMomof3** · 07-31-2007, 11:28 PM

I agree, I wouldnt do it either, if they can't pick it up then they lose out. Try relisting it on craigslist to see about another buyer.

**mommymath** · 07-31-2007, 11:35 PM

Oh, please be careful! Here's the link on craigslist about scams:

http://www.craigslist.org/about/scams.html

**frugalfarmwife** · 07-31-2007, 11:38 PM

go to this address and read the section on auction overpayment/fake check, it even mentions craigslist, and says what you can be held responsible for

[ame]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advance_fee_fraud[/ame]

kj

**Michelle68** · 07-31-2007, 11:46 PM

Fern, I agree with the others. This is a very common scam. Please think twice about selling it to this person.

--Michelle

**PB&J** · 07-31-2007, 11:47 PM

No no no! It is a scam! You will be out the money from the money order plus whatever you send back to him, plus whatever fees your bank is going to change you. It can take over a month before they find out it is fake. Don't do it!

It is called a 419 Scam. They send you a money order bigger than you expect, usually a few hundred dollars bigger. Then you cash it and send them the 'extra'. Then a few weeks or months later, the bank finds out it was a fake and takes all the money back.

From Wikepedia:

The scam hinges on a U.S. law concerning checks; when an account holder presents a check for deposit or to cash, the bank must make the funds available to the account holder within 1-5 business days, regardless of how long it actually takes for the check to clear and funds to be transferred from the issuing bank[6]. The check clearing process normally takes 7-10 days and can in fact take up to a month when dealing with foreign banks.

The check given to the victim is counterfeit; however that may not become apparent until days or weeks after the victim has seen the funds made available in their account and sent money to the scammer. With a piece of software like QuickBooks, some pre-printed check stock and the correct banking information, the scammer can easily print a check that is absolutely genuine-looking, and may even clear the "issuing" bank if the account information is accurate and the funds are available; however, whether it clears or not, it will soon become apparent either to the bank or the account holder that the check is a forgery. Once the cashing bank is alerted that the check is fraudulent, the money (and the scammer) are long gone. The bank then turns to the victim to recover the money, removing from their account the amount of the check. In most cases, this puts victims in debt to their banks, and some victims have even been prosecuted for fraud in the scammer's stead, the argument being that the victim "should have known better" than to participate in such a scheme, and thus was a willing conspirator in the fraud.

Schemes based solely on check cashing will usually offer only a small part of the check's total amount, with the assurance that many more checks will follow; if the victim buys in to the scam and cashes all the checks, the scammer can win big in a very short period of time. Other scams such as overpayment usually deal in smaller amounts, but have a higher success rate as the scammer's request seems more believable.

**mylittle4** · 08-01-2007, 12:12 AM

my friend just went through this and the money order cleared she didnt find out is was a scam until over a month later. Please believe me she is still paying for this situation it put her in.

**fernykins** · 08-01-2007, 02:15 AM

Hmmmmm I think I'm going to go talk to my bank. Better safe then sorry
Fern

**bumplett** · 08-01-2007, 02:37 AM

oh wow Fern - I'm just so glad you posted this before it was too late ::whew::

**Grayce** · 08-01-2007, 03:31 AM

This is a huge scam!!!!
If you think about it, it doesn't make any sense for someone to buy a second hand hutch and ship it all the way to South Africa. Please do not do any deals with this person.