Possible Craigslist Scam.

j.beach53186

OK, here's what's going on. I came across an ad on craigslist a week ago, this gentleman in Sumter, SC was selling a Nintendo 3DS, A game, and an extended battery. I conversed with him for a few days, getting information on the ad and the 3DS.

Well, Sumter is an hour and a half away from where I live and I am disabled, so I had no way to get there. I asked him if I paid the shipping costs, could he ship it to me. He went and priced the shipping and shipping was 15 bucks. So I sent him the 115 bucks yesterday, he picked it up at 9pm last night and said he would mail it out tomorrow (Wednesday). That's fine!

Well he sends me a text at 8pm Wednesday and says there was a city wide power outage at 4am so he can not send the package until after the weekend, Monday or Tuesday. Well, I find it a little fishy that he can't send the package until 6 days after he received payment.So I check online and search to see if there were power outages in Sumter. There was but estimated repair time was 2 hours.

Still a little concerned I call a few restaurants in Sumter, outback steakhouse, sub station 2, and a Chinese restaurant. Outback and sub station said there were no power outages and Chinese restaurant was closed, so now I feel lied to.

My question is what are my options from here?

I have his:
Name
Address
Phone number
The receipt from the Western Union where I paid 130 bucks, 115 for him and 15 bucks to wire the money.
The email showing where he picked the money up with time stamp.

What can I possibly do here?

j.beach53186

I also have every text back and forth for the past week where we discussed payment and his confirmation that he received the money.

Unknown

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j.beach53186

He gave me the address when he said I could send a money order, so he has to have access to that address

The Ender

If it's legit, you can charge him with theft if he stiffs you. But, let's be honest: if he's a scam artist, there' no way that information is legit.

100% agree with McDermott.


In the future, even if this situation does pan out for you, do not wire money to people. You can't reverse the transaction & it's super easy for a scammer to pick up the money & walk away. Pay with methods that allow you to chargeback (credit cards, some checking accounts - make sure you ask your bank first, though, because not all institutes off that service with a basic account package).

Jam Warrior

At this point I'd imagine it's much more likely he's a lazy bum coming up with an excuse for not getting to the post office rather than a thief.

If he was intending to stiff you you'd have heard nothing more as soon as he had the money. Just keep communication open and civil.

Deebaser

j.beach53186 wrote: »

Well, I find it a little fishy that he can't send the package until 6 days after he received payment.So I check online and search to see if there were power outages in Sumter. There was but estimated repair time was 2 hours.

Still a little concerned I call a few restaurants in Sumter, outback steakhouse, sub station 2, and a Chinese restaurant. Outback and sub station said there were no power outages and Chinese restaurant was closed, so now I feel lied to.

It's a holiday weekend, bro. People have stuff to do.

Bowen

Let's not forget the hurricane rolling on through either.

Unknown

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