Got scammed on Craigslist with Counterfeit money

TwisteD31

Welp.... lost a sealed macbook, dude counted $1000 cash... looked legit, found out it was fake. Worse luck.. the security cameras are supposedly broken for the past few days so I got nothing except the number he used which is off and he probably stole that too.

dlinfiniti

your MacBook is probably gone forever and you'll likely never see an equivalent amount of cash returned but you should probably contact your local Secret Service Field Office

ceres

In the future you might want to buy a pen for Craigslist deals.

a5ehren

Yeah, don't take cash for large anonymous transactions unless you know how to verify the authenticity on the spot.

And to second dlinfinti, turn that shit over to the authorities ASAP before you get hauled in for using it accidentally.

The Ender

Yeah, don't take cash for large anonymous transactions unless you know how to verify the authenticity on the spot.

Even then, a half-decent counterfeit will foil some cursory inspection. Plus, if the guy is willing to counterfeit, you never now how he's going to react if you try and check the money.


Just don't do large cash deals in the future with strangers. Large amounts of cash changing hands in public is a trouble magnet.

Brainleech

ceres wrote: »

In the future you might want to buy a pen for Craigslist deals.

I got stabbed at one job because I used a pen and found fake bills

But yes do use a pen and don't take cash in public for large amounts it asking for trouble

But do contact the Secret Service that is really the first place you should have gone instead

azith28

The SS might be able to track the guy through the emails you traded. I dunno how helpful craigslist is with the feds about things like that but if he paid you in ALL counterfit bills they probably will want to have a long talk with him. 10 hundreds all being counterfit isnt likely a coincidence.

Typhoid Manny

ceres wrote: »

In the future you might want to buy a pen for Craigslist deals.

It's better than nothing, but those pens are generally just an indicator for how high-quality the fake money is. Most of them work by chemical reaction with starch, which non-currency paper is almost always made with, so they don't help at all if the counterfeiter is sophisticated and doesn't use starched paper

azith28

The pen idea is...probably not a good one. Like someone mentioned, if you brought a pen to a face to face meeting and found a counterfit bill, what are you going to do? The guys already guilty of trying to pass counterfit bills which is a serious crime and you know about it. even if your in public the guy knows what you look like and could follow you.

Might be better to mention in the instructions before meeting that you require the payment to be in a money order so the meeting spot would be some public place where you can buy a money order. that way the business is taking the risk of taking counterfit money, not you. He buys the money order (you can pay the fee) with his cash, and you swap the item for the money order afterward.

DevoutlyApathetic

azith28 wrote: »

The pen idea is...probably not a good one. Like someone mentioned, if you brought a pen to a face to face meeting and found a counterfit bill, what are you going to do? The guys already guilty of trying to pass counterfit bills which is a serious crime and you know about it. even if your in public the guy knows what you look like and could follow you.

Might be better to mention in the instructions before meeting that you require the payment to be in a money order so the meeting spot would be some public place where you can buy a money order. that way the business is taking the risk of taking counterfit money, not you. He buys the money order (you can pay the fee) with his cash, and you swap the item for the money order afterward.

I will point out that counterfeit money orders are much easier to come by than counterfeit money. As you laid it out this would work but do not skip the step where you see the money order being purchased right in front of you.

Also, if you're not comfortable calling somebody on counterfeits in a public place you probably shouldn't be doing Craigslist deals at all. All that following stuff applies just as well if the deal is with legit money, more so as they would know you have a bunch of cash on you and would be an excellent mugging target.

joshofalltrades

Using a pen is fine, but meet up to do the deal in a very public place, preferably where there is security staff (like a mall).

If they won't do that, the whole thing is way too suspicious.

a5ehren

joshofalltrades wrote: »

Using a pen is fine, but meet up to do the deal in a very public place, preferably where there is security staff (like a mall).

If they won't do that, the whole thing is way too suspicious.

The best idea I've heard is a bank parking lot during business hours. You know there are cameras, and you know police will come fast if there is a problem.

Jam Warrior

I think the take home lesson here, is that the 'bullshit middleman' fees that EBay and Paypal take are actually buying you a significant amount of risk security. They may not have the best protection for sellers, but comparative to this...

Djeet

Do the deal in a police station parking lot.

Shogun

A money pen can be easily rendered useless with spray ironing starch or hair spray. Don't use craigslist for anything more than $500.

Real talk call the secret service this their job and they take this part of it very seriously.

Gdiguy

a5ehren wrote: »

joshofalltrades wrote: »

Using a pen is fine, but meet up to do the deal in a very public place, preferably where there is security staff (like a mall).

If they won't do that, the whole thing is way too suspicious.

The best idea I've heard is a bank parking lot during business hours. You know there are cameras, and you know police will come fast if there is a problem.

Hell, for ~$1k I'd do it in the bank, and have them take the money out from the teller... but I'm quite paranoid

Sterica

Counterfeiting paper currency takes WAY more time and effort than the standard money order scams, so I don't think you really need to bring a pen or anything unless you're paranoid. However, I would think twice against using Craigslist for higher-end transaction. And you should ALWAYS do deals in a public place, regardless of what is going on.

Few people are going to risk heat from the Secret Service just to get a $200 dollar iPod off you.

TNTrooper

Gdiguy wrote: »

a5ehren wrote: »

joshofalltrades wrote: »

Using a pen is fine, but meet up to do the deal in a very public place, preferably where there is security staff (like a mall).

If they won't do that, the whole thing is way too suspicious.

The best idea I've heard is a bank parking lot during business hours. You know there are cameras, and you know police will come fast if there is a problem.

Hell, for ~$1k I'd do it in the bank, and have them take the money out from the teller... but I'm quite paranoid

This is what I do for Craigslist stuff. No one has to worry about counterfeit money cause the money is coming from a bank. No one has to worry about the other guy having 5 friends show up armed for "protection" cause weapons inside a bank is not a good idea. If you are doing something really big like a car that you want to write a bill of sale for then there a notary conveniently nearby. If something goes wrong and you need the cops they will be there in a hurry and there is enough security cameras they could count the hairs inside the guys nose if they wanted to.

But that is future Craigslist stuff. For your current Craigslist stuff contact your local Secret Service office odds are you aren't the first guy to get counterfeit bills from the guy and you probably won't be the last.

Yoshua

Only thing I would add, do no go to meetings with someone you have never met alone. There is strength in numbers, having a friend with you makes it a lot less likely something bad will happen. A second set of eyes and ears never hurts either.

PMAvers

Also, just checking, don't suppose you have the serial number of the laptop still? Could be handy for law enforcement to try to track where it went.

honkymcgoo

I'm coming in very late to this, but I just thought I'd chime in for anyone looking to do future deals. It's a new program here but the sheriff's office (Even though each town here has it's own police force, the sheriff does 90% of the police work for the entire county) have set up their parking lots at all their stations and sub stations specifically for craigslist meets.

There are marked spaces to park in that always have a camera on them, and there is always a deputy in sight line of them and they'll even come out and wait with you for the other party to arrive or just stand there while the deal goes down. They also have a little area inside where you can plug electronics in etc. if the person wants them to be tested.

If your area has anything like that I highly recommend it. I already had a buyer back out of buying a PS3 from me because I wanted to do it in the parking lot instead of dropping it off by his house.

The Ender

honkymcgoo wrote: »

I'm coming in very late to this, but I just thought I'd chime in for anyone looking to do future deals. It's a new program here but the sheriff's office (Even though each town here has it's own police force, the sheriff does 90% of the police work for the entire county) have set up their parking lots at all their stations and sub stations specifically for craigslist meets.

There are marked spaces to park in that always have a camera on them, and there is always a deputy in sight line of them and they'll even come out and wait with you for the other party to arrive or just stand there while the deal goes down. They also have a little area inside where you can plug electronics in etc. if the person wants them to be tested.

If your area has anything like that I highly recommend it. I already had a buyer back out of buying a PS3 from me because I wanted to do it in the parking lot instead of dropping it off by his house.

That is awesome.


...And a little bit creepy.

azith28

Is this your laptop?

http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/events/p-p-p-powerbook