Got scammed on craigslist, looking for possible recourse

nonplussed

http://www.rentingoutrooms.com/avoiding-a-common-roommates-scams-on-craigslist

I fell victim to this. The TL;DR version is that I wired money that I believed to be someone else's that will actually end up being my own. I admit that it was my own fault and could explain why I fell for it but it's mostly moot for the question I'd like answers to.

I was sent a check for a down payment on a car and the rental fees totaling 3500 which I deposited into my bank account and posted into my funds immediately. I took 2500 and sent it away to someone I didn't know leaving 1000 left for her eventual arrival. Then I receive an e-mail from this person telling me that her sister was in a car accident and that I needed to send what I had of the money left through another money wiring service to help pay for the doctors fees. I can feel you slapping your foreheads in collective shame for me for not realizing it sooner. Eventually, through a fortunate encounter with a sassy black woman, I'm convinced that the whole thing is fraudulent and manage to save 1000 dollars before it got into the hands of the intended recipient. I'm, unfortunately, still going to be out 2500 dollars as a result of this but I am wondering if a suggestion made by a friend of mine would be something I could do to prevent them from removing the funds.

He suggested that I take the money in my bank account right now, close it and transfer it into a new account since the money hasn't been removed yet. I'm wondering if there would be consequences if the money is removed like the scammers expect it to and the account is closed.

Derrick

When is the transfer scheduled to take place?

(c) Consumer's right to stop payment--(1) Notice. A consumer may stop payment of a preauthorized electronic fund transfer from the consumer's account by notifying the financial institution orally or in writing at least three business days before the scheduled date of the transfer.

http://www.fdic.gov/regulations/laws/rules/6500-3100.html

Obviously, I'm not a lawyer. My advice would be to go to your bank first thing tomorrow and explain the situation to the bank manager. I'm sure they've heard this story before. Hopefully they will be able to help you as to what you can do specifically.

Nova_C

The cheque will be fraudulent, which means if you withdraw the money and close the account, you will owe the bank the money. It's a great scam, because it leaves the mark on the hook to the bank. Go to the bank and tell them what happened and see if you can reverse the $2500 transfer you made. If not, you're pretty much stuck.

Esh

Yeah, that $2,500 doesn't actually exist. Call your bank in the morning ASAP.

nonplussed

Thanks for the responses. Nova_C pretty much summed up what I expected to be true and Derrick, I didn't transfer, I made the mistake of withdrawing and using a third party a la Western Union.

At this point, I've made peace with the fact that I'm out that money citing both a dumbass tax and charitable donation to a white collar criminal so I've taken to stringing this guy along until he realizes that I'm fucking with him.

The money that was originally sent to his sister as medical coverage was recovered in time which the scammer responded to as a mistake due to some error with MoneyGram so he sent me another name to send money to. At this point, I've pretended to try and recover the funds to send it to him again which I've told him is in a "security hold" so I can't send it to him until at least Monday. He, being desperate, asked if I could send him anything and I'm pretending that I don't have any more money to send him since I have to worry about the upcoming first of the month and incoming rent. I even pretended to drive down to the MoneyGram after work only for them to tell me about the security hold.

I'm tempted to dream up some more bizarre scenarios like Mexican Cartel abduction but I think I'll save that for the end game. If you guys have any creative input at this point for ways to mess with this guy, feel free to PM me.

E.Coyote

Take it too the cops so they can track him down?

Jam Warrior

Stop fucking about and inform the authorities and the bank. There's a tiny chance you may help stop this guy or the practice in general and all you're doing now is adding more of your time wasted to the things this man has stolen from you.

Also be ready to change your email. You are most likely now on the suckers list and have already been circulated to a number of other people with exciting email offers for you.

AgentBryant

+1 for stop fucking with the guy. If he's still talking to you, there's still a chance he can be caught if he thinks you're going to send him more money. Contact the authorities immediately.

fightinfilipino

stop messing with the person because that could be also perceived as fraud?

seriously, stop making further mistakes and simply end this honestly.

nonplussed

I've informed the bank and there's nothing they can do.

I've informed the FTC and the FBI with all the necessary details and I'm done messing with him.

Thanks for being the harsh voice I needed, PA.

amateurhour

Have you called the place that you used to do the transfer/money order? They have tracking numbers on those things. They can see who cashed it and when, and what bank account it went into unless they took it to a check cashing place, and those should have security cameras.

You can also see if it hasn't been cashed yet and recall the transfer unless you did it straight into a bank account. (I.E. If you sent them a money order and they haven't deposited it yet, you can reverse that)

Jam Warrior

If it's a Western Union operation then contacting them will do no good as they are entirely wilfully useless and unhelpful in these situations and notoriously bad at taking any record or even checking details of the people they hand your money to. Hence the scammers service of choice.

One day they'll realise that their name has become synonymous with internet fraud and people will stop using them, until then they make a fat profit skimmed off the transactions so let the scams flow.

EggyToast

Immediately contact the authorities.

Incidentally this very type of scam is linked on the frontpage of Craigslist, titled "Avoid Scams & Fraud." It's your own fault if you don't read the site's own warnings. But at this point, you're on the hook for the money, so contact your bank immediately and notify the police. There might still be time for someone to associate the information you currently have with the scammers before they move on.

Ages

Jam Warrior wrote: »

If it's a Western Union operation then contacting them will do no good as they are entirely wilfully useless and unhelpful in these situations and notoriously bad at taking any record or even checking details of the people they hand your money to. Hence the scammers service of choice.

One day they'll realise that their name has become synonymous with internet fraud and people will stop using them, until then they make a fat profit skimmed off the transactions so let the scams flow.

Okay, this is just not true.

For starters, as someone who handles money transfers on a semi-daily basis, I am trained (both by my job *and* by Western Union) what to look for when someone is wiring money money that's never going to be seen again. Before you can even send the money, you're bombarded with 'protect yourself' brochures that tell you what to look out for when wiring. We're not "wilfully useless" when it comes to the scams -- we're outwardly educating people before agreeing to send of large sums of money that the money they're sending off is very likely to never be seen again.

We already know that our service is synonymous with fraud, which is why we try to combat it every time someone is sending off money to persons they don't know. Obviously there are people who are persistent, and we can't do anything once they've sent off that large sum of money, but we're definitely not just letting the scams flow so we can get that fat profit.

TC, if the money hasn't been picked up yet (though it's very unlikely), then you can get the 2500 back. I'm not so sure about the wiring fees, though. However, once that money's been picked up, it's pretty much gone. Call Money Gram (the actual company, not the third party you went to to do the transaction) as soon as you can and check the status of the it. The longer you wait to do this, the more time the scammer has to collect.

bowen

Ages wrote: »

For starters, as someone who handles money transfers on a semi-daily basis, I am trained (both by my job *and* by Western Union) what to look for when someone is wiring money money that's never going to be seen again. Before you can even send the money, you're bombarded with 'protect yourself' brochures that tell you what to look out for when wiring. We're not "wilfully useless" when it comes to the scams -- we're outwardly educating people before agreeing to send of large sums of money that the money they're sending off is very likely to never be seen again.

You need to rework your pamphlets. The person isn't expecting to see the money again either way, that's the point.

What you need to tell them is because the original check they got/wired was fraudelent (because of the float), they may be getting charged the original check amount + a fee.

The person is likely confused on how this applies to them. But you likely have the advance fee fraud pamphlet and I'm just talking out my ass because it sounds like we're talking about 2 different kinds of fraud.