Craiglist? Should be called Scamlist.

Ever heard of Craigslist? I don't know who this Craig guy is, but wow did he develop a whopper of a site. You can buy or sell or barter or borrow anything, or anybody for that matter. Got some crap taking up space in the basement that you can't bare to throw away? Put it on the FREE page and it will be gone in an hour. I have joined bands and found musicians from searching the site. I have had numerous transactions that went swimmingly, and a few that didn't. Which brings me to today's lesson kiddies: if it seems too good to be true on the internet, it probably is. Without a shred of editing, here is an exact email stream from The Guitarman and "Candice", a "woman" in Canada that wanted to "buy" my son's IPOD. Absolute true story, and it was run in the Chicago Sun Times in the column "The Fixer" on December 16th:

Candace: Am interested and hope you`ll be able to send it to Canada?,will pay shipping.Let me know please...thanks

GM: The only way I would consider that is with a cashiers check that would have to clear first before I sent item in mail. Or maybe paypal?

Candace: Ok i`ll prefer a 3-5 days delivery option through USPS, what will the cost be ??...do you have a PayPal account to send me an invoice?. This is my address for you to calculate shipping:

7615 140th street, Surrey, BC V3W 5J9

GM: Candice, sorry for delay, been so busy at work, get home, cook dinner, yada, yada, yada…Sending an invoice from paypal now.

Candace: Sorry i took a lil bit long...was at work my shift time and just got home now...i have made the deposit to your paypal so send me an email when you have shipped.

At this point, I had received an official looking email from PayPal, checked my account with CList, didn't see the money, and fraud department confirmed this was a scam. So it was time to have a little fun with this person.

GM: Great! I got the email saying you have sent the payment and am ready to put the item in the mail. However when I log in to paypal I don’t see a balance that reflects your deposit. Can you check on your end to make sure you did it correctly? I am anxious to sell the item for some holiday cash.

Candace: Payment have gone through here and my account have been charged with the amount i sent to you...so paypal should send you a confirmation email with instruction i guess cuz last time i shipped to someone too was the same. Send me an email when you can.

GM: Hi there. Bad news, my next door neighbors Fred and Wilma Flintstone offered me $250 for the item for their daughter Pebbles (she is going to school to be a Geologist!). I am tempted to take offer but would be willing to still send item to you (since I bought postage already). However, if you would be willing to beat their offer, say $275 (plus $28.33 for shipping), I could stick it in the mail today.

Candace: ok so how much am i going to add more now??let me know..i still want it..thanks

GM: Candice, are you still interested? I am ready to ship item and have paid for postage. Please deposit 303.33 into paypal and I will sent right away.

Candace: I have made the deposit to your account so get back to me on shipping.

GM: Hi there. More bad news. I got into an accident on the way to the post office, a mail truck hit me on the way in. But not to worry, it’s only a few broken bones. The doctors here at General Hospital, Dr.Howard, Dr. Fine, Dr. Howard, are treating me well. I have a great lawyer, Perry Mason, who is going to help me out. Anyway, my sister, who is in a wheelchair, is coming over to get the ipod, and will rush it over to you first thing. Bless her little heart. Thanks for sticking with me on all this and enjoy the ipod.

Please let me know when you receive the item.

Candace: Am so sorry about your accident..so when is your sister shipping it?when am i gonna get the tracking for it..??let me know please i will wait to read from you.

GM: Wow, you do NOT want to be in the hospital with a ruptured spleen. Bad stuff. We have good news for you. My sister was able to ship item and should arrive in 3-5 days. But she had trouble getting up the steps to the post office, can you believe there was no ramp for handicapped people? Anyway, enjoy the ipod, your tracking number is 7.

Candace: you are playing with me....i know you wanna get away with my money on paypal.

GM: Who’s playing with who loser? There is no money in my paypal account, there never was. The confirmation email you sent me I forwarded to their fraud department and they confirmed it was not from them and a scam. So yes, I am playing with you. Do you think I am stupid or something? On the contrary, you are the one who is stupid. Wish I could see your face right now. So go fuck off.

Yes, there were a couple of obvious clues, like the person willing to spend the same amount a new one cost for my used one, and their broken English. But in the end, a little common sense and due diligence goes a long way.