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Barricade66
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
To think I thought there were a few decent people left. Pretty much to sum up the story. I was on the phone from 2:00 till 6:00 with this seller trying to buy his Xbox. I read his craigslist ad stating he was selling an Xbox 360 elite for 100$. I look over, and dial the number. Talked to him, asked him if the Xbox was fine, why he was selling it in the first place. So 5:48 rolls by, and I give him a call. Letting him know I'm on my way to pick it up. As soon as I pull up to him, I get out of the car. I count the money down, hand it to him. I tossed the box to my friend, so he could get it open. Next thing I know the sellers take off running. Telling me on the phone earlier that he had to be somewhere in a rush. Inside the box was no Xbox, nothing good. A tequila bottle was waiting inside, and a gamecube.
What do you guys suppose I could do? I have the call history, the number when I talked to him, the box, and even witnesses.
What do you guys suppose I could do? I have the call history, the number when I talked to him, the box, and even witnesses.
Barricade66 on
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Save the posting history. Friend as witness. Once you have the dude's contact, sue him in small claims court.
Would the Way Back Machine help here?
Also, always inspect the goods before handing over cash.
It's going to be pretty hard to find the guy, though. I would imagine he had the common sense to use a burnable email address and cell phone. Lots of criminals are idiots, though, so you might get lucky. The fact that he obviously thinks Craigslist doesn't archive all of its listings in case they should be issued a search warrant or a subpoena later for the inevitable Casual Encounters serial killer suggests to me that perhaps he hasn't thought his M.O. all the way through.
Well, I would have. But not all criminals are me.
Just take basic precautions. As Esh said, always ask to see the merchandise before you hand over the money. Always ask a friend to come with you (which you did -- that's good). Always arrive at the meeting early. Always make a note of the other guy's license plate number. For electronics, always look for the serial number so you have at least some assurance that you're probably not buying stolen goods. Always meet in a very public place -- the last time I bought Washington Capitals tickets on Craigslist, I had the seller meet me in the courtyard of the ATF's headquarters.
Also does the gamecube work? because if so, you've got yourself a MARIO PARTY!
Seriously though, open the box next time beforehand.
I don't know if it makes you feel better at all, but as far as "things that go wrong on Craigslist" goes, losing $90 for a fully functional Gamecube is kind of getting off light. He could have been asking for more. You could have ended up getting a brick instead. You could have ended up getting mugged.
Yeah if it were me, I'd be doing this twice a day with a prepaid cell phone that I'd toss at the end of each week.
Why on earth would you meet someone in a parking lot?
Isn't it standard Craigslist practice to meet in an open, public place, so they don't get to murder you in your house and you don't get kidnapped in theirs? Maybe a food court next time rather than a comparatively desolate parking lot, but I don't think he was being absurd on that front
maybe i'm streaming terrible dj right now if i am its here
But OP, you're out $90. Chalk this up as a learnig experience. You're going to go through a lot more hassle trying to get it back or trying to bring this douche/drug addict to justice.
Also, as others have mentioned, it's entirely possible that the guy is a repeat offender. The crime doesn't really pay off at $100 unless you're doing it over and over again.
So I don't think it's time to give up hope yet. Just, you know, mentally prepare yourself for the possibility that it might not work out.
1) Off Topic - Figgy you're nuts for doing most of your transactions out of your home
2) OP: In addition to the police report, as a good person kind of thing, you should make a craigslist post warning people about this scam. I see a lot of that on craigslist, posts warning people about specific sellers and e-mail addresses and phone numbers and items that are routinely bogus. Not that you're required to, but you might be helping someone else out by doing so.
Also, for the karma points alone, you should absolutely make some kind of warning post.
I'm pretty sure any Gamestop would look at you like you were crazy. Have them bring it your place or go to theirs and bring a friend.
I do this all the time. I also Facebook the email addresses to see if the people are remotely trustworthy looking. I make sure to let the buyer know that there will be other people in the apartment as well. "Either I or one of my roommates will answer the door...blah blah blah."
Now, I've never dealt with with craigslist support, but it could be worth a try to see if they have the posting somewhere that can be turned over to the police.
While this is likely to be technically possible, it will be an uphill battle to have them to do this, so keep that in mind.
Actually I've done this before and every time they were cool with it (just do the cash exchange off their property). They usually have a little tv setup on the display case to test all their used systems, but as I said you should ask them before the deal. As a rule I don't like strangers from the internet coming into my house even if that does sound a bit paranoid.
I've never seen an EB or Gamestop with this setup. Might be a thing that just yours does. Very cool that they do though.
The amateur sleuths need to temper their enthusiasm -- it's not enough to find the guy again, he also needs to be convicted. Any electronic copy of a document which you provide to the police will not be admissible in court because you could have potentially changed the text of the document before turning it over. The police are perfectly capable of applying for a search warrant to get a copy of the post from Craigslist's archives -- there's even a link on Craigslist's contact page specifically for handling communication about warrants and subpoenas.
Do you have a cite on an electronic copy not being admissible? Its hearsay, but its a party admission. Up to finder of fact to judge credibility. Tho I may have been missing a rule of evidence for all these years.
With a witness and some documentation, I'm pretty sure Judge Judy will find in your favor.