craigslist.com scam

[robbie61685]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? North Carolina

Hello so I fell for one of those personal assistant craigslist scams. To understand it all let me start from the beginning. It started in MI, I found the job on craigslist and the guy sent me packages and I delivered them to people. And the guy I would deliver them to would give me a money for them. Sounded a little weird but, nothing happened and I only did it a few times. The guy also sent me one of those cheap pre-paid phones that I would text and call him from. I moved down to SC and I sent him a text and email telling him where I have moved. He said he had a guy he does business with down here. So he connects me with a guy. I actually meet this guy!!! So to me it seems even more legit. So the guy says he is going to busy with meetings and he wants me to go pay a guy for him. He said he will write me a check and I would keep $100 and the rest I will take to a guy he works with. I had a app that I could take a pic of the check and deposit the check. So I did, I did it with 5 checks and I meet the other guy, and paid him. I could only do a $500 check at a time due to the mobile check thing I was using and I was banking with an online bank. After the last check, my bank called me and told me they had to put a hold on the check. I called the guy and he meet up with me, he stated that it was his bank because it was so many checks in a row of the same amount, and that he would handle it. He also said he was going to upgrade my phone to an Iphone and took the old one. Well that was the last I saw or heard from him. That night I went straight to the police and filed a report. 5 months later I am facing charges in NC for these checks. The charges are 5 counts of obtaining property under false pretense. which are all felony's!!! I am going to trial, but my lawyer(public defender) sounds optimistic about it, but I feel she is not going the way we should go.
To back track a little, when I meet the guy he had a ID with the same name as the one on the checks and seemed so legit it was crazy. If i had a question about the process or what was going on he would answer it before I even asked it! All I have now is the email's and the phone number I called and texted him at. Yes I cashed the checks I do not deny that, But I did not do so knowing or thinking I was doing as fraud!! At the time my bank put a hold on that last check I had $900 in my account I could have taken out, but I did not know it was fraud. My account ended up getting froze and I lost all my money!!!
When I tell people about my case I always get the comment."does that actually happen". So I was wondering if during my trial could I some how bring up facts about how real this is and does anyone know of any cases I could use in court to show this is real??!!???!!
Any thought would help please!!
Thank you!!!!!

 

[Silverplum]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? North Carolina

Hello so I fell for one of those personal assistant craigslist scams. To understand it all let me start from the beginning. It started in MI, I found the job on craigslist and the guy sent me packages and I delivered them to people. And the guy I would deliver them to would give me a money for them. Sounded a little weird but, nothing happened and I only did it a few times. The guy also sent me one of those cheap pre-paid phones that I would text and call him from. I moved down to SC and I sent him a text and email telling him where I have moved. He said he had a guy he does business with down here. So he connects me with a guy. I actually meet this guy!!! So to me it seems even more legit. So the guy says he is going to busy with meetings and he wants me to go pay a guy for him. He said he will write me a check and I would keep $100 and the rest I will take to a guy he works with. I had a app that I could take a pic of the check and deposit the check. So I did, I did it with 5 checks and I meet the other guy, and paid him. I could only do a $500 check at a time due to the mobile check thing I was using and I was banking with an online bank. After the last check, my bank called me and told me they had to put a hold on the check. I called the guy and he meet up with me, he stated that it was his bank because it was so many checks in a row of the same amount, and that he would handle it. He also said he was going to upgrade my phone to an Iphone and took the old one. Well that was the last I saw or heard from him. That night I went straight to the police and filed a report. 5 months later I am facing charges in NC for these checks. The charges are 5 counts of obtaining property under false pretense. which are all felony's!!! I am going to trial, but my lawyer(public defender) sounds optimistic about it, but I feel she is not going the way we should go.
To back track a little, when I meet the guy he had a ID with the same name as the one on the checks and seemed so legit it was crazy. If i had a question about the process or what was going on he would answer it before I even asked it! All I have now is the email's and the phone number I called and texted him at. Yes I cashed the checks I do not deny that, But I did not do so knowing or thinking I was doing as fraud!! At the time my bank put a hold on that last check I had $900 in my account I could have taken out, but I did not know it was fraud. My account ended up getting froze and I lost all my money!!!
When I tell people about my case I always get the comment."does that actually happen". So I was wondering if during my trial could I some how bring up facts about how real this is and does anyone know of any cases I could use in court to show this is real??!!???!!
Any thought would help please!!
Thank you!!!!!

You have an attorney and should listen to her. I can assure you, you do not know how to handle your case better than your defender.

 

[quincy]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? North Carolina

... That night I went straight to the police and filed a report. 5 months later I am facing charges in NC for these checks. The charges are 5 counts of obtaining property under false pretense. which are all felony's!!! I am going to trial, but my lawyer(public defender) sounds optimistic about it, but I feel she is not going the way we should go.

... When I tell people about my case I always get the comment."does that actually happen". So I was wondering if during my trial could I some how bring up facts about how real this is and does anyone know of any cases I could use in court to show this is real??!!???!! ...

Your court case will be a public record. People can access your case and learn from it that what happened to you actually happens.

And, if there appears to be any public interest in your case, your local newspaper might cover the trial which will also make people aware of the type of scam you involved yourself in.

You have an attorney so no one here will second-guess how your attorney is handling your defense. If you have questions or concerns, you should address all of these to your attorney.

Good luck.

 

[westcott]

Something very similar happened to me once. A man claiming to want to purchase a puppy tried sending me a check on someone else's name (not through craigslist.com though) with a balance far more than what I was charging for the puppy, asking me to have the check deposited into my bank account and to send the remaining balance of the check back to him. When I noticed that there was a different name on the check I googled the woman's name and contacted her immediately to let her know that someone is printing checks in her name. It was a woman running an eBay store. Not much advice to give, but this kind of thing certainly "does happen".

 

[quincy]

Something very similar happened to me once. A man claiming to want to purchase a puppy tried sending me a check on someone else's name (not through craigslist.com though) with a balance far more than what I was charging for the puppy, asking me to have the check deposited into my bank account and to send the remaining balance of the check back to him. When I noticed that there was a different name on the check I googled the woman's name and contacted her immediately to let her know that someone is printing checks in her name. It was a woman running an eBay store. Not much advice to give, but this kind of thing certainly "does happen".

While I wouldn't say that your experience is "very similar" to what happened with robbie61685, scams do happen.

With so much press attention, I am actually surprised people remain unaware of these scams and are still naïve enough to fall for them.

 

[adjusterjack]

With so much press attention, I am actually surprised people remain unaware of these scams and are still naïve enough to fall for them.

I'm not.

More than half a century ago there was a TV program called Racket Squad where each episode explained how people fell for con games either through greed or naivete.

Episodes can be seen on youtube.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pqsGSe5kcWY

Human nature hasn't changed and the con artists are still out there.

 

[quincy]

I'm not.

More than half a century ago there was a TV program called Racket Squad where each episode explained how people fell for con games either through greed or naivete.

Episodes can be seen on youtube.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pqsGSe5kcWY

Human nature hasn't changed and the con artists are still out there.

Racket Squad, huh?

Apparently there has not been much improvement in either people or in TV programming over the years.