No phone call = no sale. Personal rule.

I am highly suspicious of responses that come within 12 hours of listing. Bots scrape new listings and autosend requests. But people have alerts so this isn't always the case.

Overpayment scam is common. Typically... "I pay you more than asking to cover my personal courier service, you wire me the difference." Buyer sends a bad check that never clears. They don't want your banjo, they want the money you wire them.

Any use of the word "kindly" instead of "please" = scam.

British English from someone claiming to be in USA = scam.

In the past year I've had on average one scam response to every item I've listed for sale. They seem to be getting more desperate these days.

If the person won't do payment via Paypal goods/services that can be a red flag. Also being unwilling to send new photos or take a phone call. It also doesn't hurt to look up the user's profile for past activity or ratings.

I have always only offered or accepted payment by USPS money order. I have never been refused for either buying or selling. I suspect when scammers read the payment requrement, they don’t bother. Never had an offer from a bot.

I check out new members several times a day to see where they're from. There are several places that are an automatic red flag and I will lock and note the username on the Spammers Locked Out Each Day thread at the beginning of this forum.

If you have questions about a new member, contact a mod and we'll look into it, see where they are from.

As said above, it's always good to talk on the phone to a seller/buyer and if that person won't let you call, then definitely don't do business with them.

There are no new scams. The tools have gotten better though.

Some things to keep in mind.

"They" don't care about getting your banjo. Nobody is trying to scam you out of the object. It is merely a prop to convince you to send them money.

The initial emails are likely sent by bots and not humans. AI will eventually make this more convincing.

All the scams you will encounter will be some form of the advance payment or overpayment scam. Overpayment scam is to convince you that they have paid you too much and you must refund them. Advance payment is to convince you to pay their "shipper" direct.

Any urgency or weirdness, cut it off and delete the emails. "Traveling with no email access", "bad phone connection", "in the military and will have you ship to a friend", "working on a oil rig"... when something weird happens just end it. It is not worth it to try and waste their time. Just move on.

Often buried in these scams will be phishing, usually in the form of links to fake log in pages that look like paypal or whatever.

Read the FBI and FTC websites on internet fraud. This should be required for anyone before they get any kind of device.

Also, don't take it personally.

Like Bill Rogers,
I deal in USPS Money Orders.
Banks accept them as cash.

I will weigh in here! I have in fact sold a banjo to a fellow working on an oil rig. (no problems encountered with that transaction) I DO Like the phone call, whether I'm the buyer or the seller. I think the phone call lets' one get a feeling for the other participant in a transaction. I have sold instruments or parts to buyers in several foreign countries. I DO NOT LIKE PAYPAL as payment; but will, begrudgingly, accept it if absolutely no other form of payment can be arranged. My beef with paypal is their apparent need to send a 1099. As many of you may know, I have been drafted on several occasions to help a family sell quite a large number of instruments that was owned by their family member who has passed..... and trust me on this - by the time I got thru explaining to the IRS where all this money came from and where it went (to the family who actually owned the instruments) I decided I simply didn't need the hassle! I could go on and on..... I realize I have drifted quite a bit off topic..... the scammers and spammers are another thing that makes online buying and selling a chore and hassle; and I've just about reached the point I see them a mile away! it's a shame that some folks simply have too much time on their hands!!

I'm safe on all this... I can't afford to buy a banjo, and the one I have isn't worth selling. But on a side note, I'm vice chair on our credit union board. Cashier bank checks are being counterfeited now and physically mailed. We tell our members to either piss off the scammer or find out it's legit by stating a 45 day hold, and any intentional overpayment will be considered a tip, non refundable .
(Unless it's going to a Nigerian prince in a bind. That's probably okay)

I spoke to an employee at my bank recently about this. She said the only method of payment they recommend for an online sale is a bank-to-bank wire transfer. What sayest thou?

quote:

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Originally posted by stomapicker

I'm safe on all this... I can't afford to buy a banjo, and the one I have isn't worth selling. But on a side note, I'm vice chair on our credit union board. Cashier bank checks are being counterfeited now and physically mailed. We tell our members to either piss off the scammer or find out it's legit by stating a 45 day hold, and any intentional overpayment will be considered a tip, non refundable .
(Unless it's going to a Nigerian prince in a bind. That's probably okay)

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This is not new, it is as old as the internet and likely even older.  The fake checks are often sent via FedEx.  

All of these scams rely on businesses to work.  Moneygram and Western Union were very happy being the enabler of scams until they got caught. 

https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/news/press-releases/2023/02/more-115-million-refunds-sent-consumers-result-ftc-doj-charges-moneygram-failed-crack-down-scams

https://www.ftc.gov/enforcement/refunds/western-union-refunds

You will see bitcoin ATMs (often near shady convenience stores or other shifty type stores), those are used for the "pig butchering" and romance scams.

None of these scams are new.  That is the sad part. Despite them being old standards, folks still post here thinking that these are new, or not understanding how they work, or thinking that they were singled out. 

I doubt that the fake checks shipping has any effect on FedEx's bottom line, but they are also not doing anything to stop it. 

Notice that these checks are not mailed with the US Mail.

Our C.U. had a rash of fakes come in from across the country done by someone who failed the quizes in bank fraud for dummies. #1) They did deposits at their own bank with photos of check. #2 They used photos of check stock we stopped using years ago. #3 They made composite pictures of 2 0r 3 different old stock to create a check #4 We participate in a service that verify all these points and more, then flag it for us to verify the legitimacy. #5 Our C.U. is so small that our tellers & CEO knows everyone by name and all their "business " before then even get half a block from our door. It's nice to deal with a bank that has your back before you even know you may have a problem.