Tuesday I came home from doing some errands and found a priority express letter on my hall tree. It was addressed to me with my name spelled properly, which is rather unusual, so I opened it. There in the envelope was a check made out to me for $1,450! I stared at it and then walked in to ask my Mother in law who delivered the envelope. ” The mailman delivered it and I signed for it.”
Hmmmm, super weird. No one is supposed to be sending me money and I had never heard of the company who issued the check.
All I could think of was my last Craig’s list encounter. I sold all the pieces of furniture except one, an antique swiveling desk chair. About 2 weeks ago, I received an email from a man claiming he wanted the chair for $65. He asked if he could send me a check and collect the chair at a later time as he didn’t live in the area, but his son did. He would pick it up when he came to visit him son. He then ended his email with a comment about him being a “God fearing man and he hoped I would be trusty worthy”. I laughed to myself and responded to his email that I would keep the chair for him and let him know as soon as the check cleared. I never heard from him again, which seemed funny. I hadn’t received the check and then today this huge mystery check shows up. Well maybe he made a mistake and wrote it for $1450 instead of $65? Not likely.
I called Lou and told him and his response was “Tiffani, don’t get so excited, it is probably a scam. Seriously you better be careful, don’t cash it.”
me: “OMG, do you think I’m an idiot or something? I would never cash a check made out to me from a company I have never heard of.”
I then got off the phone and decided to Google the Georgia Rug Mills of Calhoun, Inc., the issuer of the check. They are a legitimate business so I called their phone number. I told the woman on the phone about the check and she sighed.
her: “It is a Craig’s list scam. Have you sold stuff on that website lately?”
me: “Yes.”
her: “Well, they somehow got our banking address and I have received over 60 calls from people who received checks from us. The checks only have 1 signature and our company requires 2 so that is how we know they are fake. If possible could you email me any information you have so I can pass it on to the detectives?”
me: “Sure.”
So I shredded the check and am about to send her the email I received from the supposed “God fearing man” but I am not totally sure how the scam works.
All I can think of is they have a tracer on the check and if I was to deposit it, they would somehow be able to access my banking information and then steal from me? My mind doesn’t think so dishonestly so I am kinda baffled but I don’t see any other reason they would go to the trouble of sending all these checks via express mail, if they weren’t plannning on stealing a bunch of money?
The good news is I didn’t have to think of a topic for the blog today, one just landed on my front door.
Happy Wednesday!
xoxo tiffani
I sold on Craigslist and remember looking up scams, because I got something similar and where they said they would even pay me more then I listed. anything that says they are out of town, hold it and/or pay by check/money order,I found from Googling is usually a scam. Sucks though, because there are a lot of upstanding people that use Craigslist and this kind of stuff is what makes it look shady! glad you got it figured out and don’t you just love when a blog post just lands in your lap!! 🙂 xoxo!!
Glad u have a good head on your shoulders. A man once called my now deceased elderly mother saying he was from the social security office..long story short he got her banking account number but she was sharp. Realizing her mistake, she called her bank and they indeed tell her it was a scam and closed her account. It’s a crying shame that here are so many dishonest people in the world.
Luckily your Mom figured it out quickly enough. It is really sad how some people choose to “earn” their money.
Hi Tiffany! I’m so grateful for your blog! I just went through Identity Theft in June and I’ve lost so much because Chase is “still investigating.” I just sold a few pieces online and then I got the exact same email you did! So glad I looked up “Craig’s List Scams” and came across your blog!
Thanks for the heads up!
I used to work at a bank and you would not believe the scams that happened. When I sell things on Craigslist I get tons of scam emails. I did find that in my area there are Facebook yard sale groups. You just join the local ones, post your stuff and connect with local people. I made about $350 selling stuff in there, it was much easier than Craigslist.