With every passing day it seems there is only more bad news about the shape of our economy. Although Friday did present a hope with the DOW rising 217 points, the Nasdaq up over 45 points, S&P 500 up over 22 points, there was still plenty of bad news in the financial world.
Our unemployment rate continues to climb and there is no good news in sight. Some families now have no income and struggling to survive. We have been very lucky and blessed to be unaffected by the crisis for now but no one is immune from this crazy economy. Our 401k’s and retirement accounts have obviously taking a beating but we both still have good jobs. I say all of this to warn you that some people will do almost anything to make a dollar even if it means hurting someone else in the process.
With the growth of the internet there is more and more opportunity for people to buy and sell merchandise online. As you know you can buy about anything you want with a computer and a credit card. However beware of the growing number of scammers online.
I consider myself a savvy computer and internet user, but I almost let myself be tricked into being a victim of a scam. Most of the time when you think about being scammed online you think about paying for something and never getting the item or someone stealing your credit information. Many times nothing can be done to get your money back or fixing your credit rating. However, a new type of scam is starting to go around the net.
This new type of scam involves a very popular website, Craigslist. With Craigslist you can list items you have for sale free of charge. You can add pictures and descriptions of your items and it’s completely free. The service is designed to be a local service where users can buy and sell items in their city or surrounding areas. Now here comes the scam and yes I almost fell for this one.
My wife and I listed an item on Craigslist for sale a few weeks ago. That same night someone sent us an email telling us they wanted our item and to please remove it from Craigslist and they would send a certified check in the mail the next day. Well, the next day came and they told us that their secretary made a huge mistake and got the check for $2,000 over the amount of the item. There was no worry though because they knew we would not take their money. We should cash the check take out the money for our item and visit a Western Union store and mail the rest to a certain address. A few days later a moving company would show up at our house to get the item.
My wife seemed a little sceptical about the situation but I assured her a certified check comes straight from the bank and it would be fine if it were a certified check. She still thought it was crazy we had to go to Western Union and do all this work so she told the person this and they quickly replied that we should take an additional $100 out of the money for our trouble.
This is when I became worried about the transaction so I did about 2 minutes of research on Craigslist and there was an entire section devoted to this exact situation. The check would not be certified it would actually be a fake check. We would cash the check and get the money from the bank. We would visit Western Union and pay them $2,000 to send to our customer. A few days later the check would bounce and we would be responsible for the $2,000. The bank could also press charges against us.
A few days later the check arrived at our house from UPS. We sent our customer an email telling them we had decided not to follow through with the transaction. We could send them back their check or we could rip it up and refund the shipping costs. We have yet to hear from them again.
I am so thankful that I decided to do a little research before cashing that check. We would have lost $2,000 and possibly be facing criminal charges. I have learned a valuable lesson.
