Photo courtesy: debtwaveisascam.com

By: Blake

I am selling a few things on craigslist and one item is a 16 foot trampoline. I listed for $150 and soon after the listing became active I got a couple of emails. One of them asked if it was still available, so I responded yes. A few minutes later he responded with a fishy email that raised my suspicion. This is exactly what the email said.

          Hello,
Thanks for the swift reply. I am still interested in buying, I am
satisfied with the conditions and because i read through the AD and i
will like you to know that, am highly interested in buying this items
for my Daughter-in-law..I will make my payments with a bank certified
check..I will be responsible for the pick up when check clears. Please
get back to me with the following informations so that the payment can
be endorsed:

Name to be on the check.
Address to mail the payment to.(NOT P.O BOX)
Phone number both land and mobile.

After the information is been supplied,I will give you an update on
the payment..
I will be highly grateful if you can withdraw the ad from craigslist
and make me your favorite buyer.

Thanks You!!

This is what my craigslist ad said: Time to get rid of the trampoline. Good condition. 16 foot diameter. $150. You can reach me at (my phone #) or email if you are interested. Thanks for looking. Cash only ;) 

I added the cash only part after I received the fishy email;)
Clues of a scam:

1.Horrible grammatical errors. This email doesn’t flow or even make sense in several parts.

2. Free email account. I know that many people have free email accounts, but if it sends a crazy. email like this one it just raises one more red flag.

3.If they are very eager to make the purchase.

4. If the email address if from a foreign country. (This one does not apply). Example: ends in ru - billgates@mail.ru

This is most likely the start of a scam. If you are not familiar how it works I will explain. After this happens the victim will send the scammer their information so that the check can be sent to them. When the victim receives the check they will realize that the check is much more than the asking price. Well say that they send a $5,000 check for my trampoline. Oops, honest mistake. The victim will then contact the scammer and tell them that the check was too much. The scammer will tell the victim to deposit the check and send them the difference $4,850. The only problem is that a couple of weeks later the victim will find that the check has bounced and the scammer has just made off with almost $5,000. Usually these people operate on foreign countries and it is impossible to get your money back.

The best thing to do if you get an email like this one is to not respond and delete it. I was very surprised that I came across this kind of scamming on craigslist, but I guess people will try anything.