CRAIGSLIST SCAM

I've been meaning to post this for the past few days and am now just getting around to it.

While most of us 'net savvy folks are smart enough to spot a phishing attempt from a mile off, there are some scams that are a little less obvious. Apparently the "excess funds scam" is a classic hustle being perpetrated on craigslist users.

I'm trying to unload some Pottery Barn furniture online and within a few hours of posting the ad to craigslist, I got the following email:

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From: Richard Beks (richbek03@googlemail.com)

Hello,

Would like to know if the item is still available for sale, its condition and price you would offer me??

Await Your Response.

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Seeing as that most of the information that the guy requested was available in the posting (not to mention the sketchy grammar), I thought this seemed a little fishy, or more to the point, a little phishy. Thus, I responded with the following:

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From: brigita

Hi Richard--The item is still available. All of the other info is in the listing. Thanks!

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Again, within a few minutes I got this:

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From: Richbek01@aol.com

Well, i'm okay with the condition and price also ready for purchase. I could make payment via my business or personal check which could be cashed instantly or deposited for clearance so you can be rest assured all is okay before the pick up.

I'll be responsible for the pick-up and the movers fee will be included in your payment to avoid delay, cost of postage and to enable them schedule an appropriate time for the pick-up at your location as i have other properties to be moved.

Would love to view it but i'm afraid that might not be possible due to my work frame. Do send me more pictures of it. If you're okay with the plans do write back to me with your full name and address including your cell and land number so i can make out payment.

Hoping to read from you!
Thanks.

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Payment by check? "Rest assured," you say? Sold! Except not.

There are no pictures in my ad (too lazy to take them without any expressed interest) and I said that they were somewhat damaged, so the fact that this guy was ok with buying a couple of relatively inexpensive items sight unseen and then have them shipped by movers when my ad expressly requests local pick-up only were some of the bigger red flags for me.

After this email exchange, I did a little googling to discover that "Richard Beks" has used that very name to try to scam other people in the past.

Apparently what these people do is send you a check that is far in excess of the amount of the item, with the requirement that you pay the movers, who you pay out of pocket, but then your bank contacts you to say that the buyer's check bounced or that the checks were stolen or some other nonsense.

I stopped emailing the guy but would love to get him in trouble without sticking my neck out too far. I'm wondering if I can report him to AOL (since one of the two addresses he used was theirs--who uses AOL any more anyways?) or if my local police can set up a sting (which would be so SWEET).

Anyone else have experience in this department?

Another Lame-o Bullet Point Post

• The only thing better than thrift shopping on 99¢ day? Finding a $10 bill in your cart on 99¢ day!
• Vi has been occasionally singing the alphabet song (and correctly, at least to the well-trained ear), but the thing is you can't prompt her to do it, you have to catch her doing it. She was also batting about .800 on correctly identifying her letters in her ABC book last night (as in, when I ask her what letter "this" is, she would reply "G" or "R.").
  
• As brainiac coincidences go, we were preschool shopping this past weekend. We've decided to apply to the two (of the three I saw) that had the best teachers. The fact that they're also the least expensive of the three is a bonus.
• Keeping with the brainiac theme, I just burnt my tongue on some wickedly hot lentil soup.
  

Clearly, Violet gets her genius from me.

I Probably Would Have Left it on Too Long, Anyway

After making an early evening grocery run last night, I noticed that my Obama car magnet was no longer affixed to the rear of my car.

I'm not exactly sure when the magnet went missing--it could very well be lying in my slush-edged driveway right now--but I figure there are two possible explanations for its disappearance: (1) it was either permanently borrowed by someone jumping on the Obama bandwagon about a year too late or (b) it was nicked by a sore loser.

Either way, color me amused.

Check Out Those Sideburns!

From the depths of my neglected Flickr account:

Violent Femmes Concert, Seattle Summer 2005.

Back when our hair was as carefree as the rest of our lives... Ah, good times.

Hope I Can Believe In

...Hope that she's actually going to go to sleep in a few minutes, unlike my two aborted attempts at naps earlier today...

[via DCoE]

Four Days and a Wakeup*

Maybe it's the Kool-Aid** talking, but this headline (and first few lines of the story) made me cry:

Obama tells daughters he ran for president for them, all children.

People, the long, long winter of our collective discontent is finally drawing to a close.

*As we used to say in the Nav.
** Or the hormones? Please?

This is Simply Unacceptable