Greg's Corner

Coffee table on Craigslist leads to con artist

By Greg Collier

One of the oldest scams when it comes to selling items online is the overpayment scam. Traditionally, a victim would advertise an item for sale on a platform like Craigslist. They would be approached by a prospective buyer who wanted to pay by check. When the seller received the check, it would be more than the amount they asked for. The buyer would say they made a mistake and would ask the seller to deposit the check and return the overage.

This is also a version of the fake check scam. The check is always fake, and after the seller deposits it and sends money back to the buyer, the bank finds out the check is fraudulent. This leaves the seller on the hook to their bank for the full amount of the phony check.

Since those times, many online sellers caught on to the fake check scam. That didn’t mean that the overpayment scam went away. It’s still around, but now has a more digital aspect to it.

For example, a woman in Pennsylvania listed a coffee table for sale on Craigslist. The table was listed for $300. A man who claimed he wanted to buy the table sent a cashier’s check for $1550. She was told to deposit the check and keep $300 for herself and give the remaining $1250 to the movers when they come to pick it up.

Just as an aside, there’s a similar scam where the ‘movers’ are in on the scam and just take the money. However, today’s scam does something different.

After a few days, the buyer said that the movers couldn’t make it, and he changed his mind about buying the table. The buyer then asked for $1450 back from the seller, and wanted it sent to him through Zelle, which the seller did. The same day the seller sent the buyer the money, the seller’s bank discovered the check was a fake.

For once, police were able to track down and arrest the scammer, although that’s the exception and not the rule. There was no report whether the seller got her money back or not. Since she used Zelle, there’s a good chance she didn’t, even with the scammer being arrested.

If you sell items online, some of the old rules are still true. The first one is not to accept checks. Or, at least tell the buyer that there will be a delay in shipping until the check is verified as genuine. If you receive payment for more than the amount you’re asking for, it’s a scam. The buyer didn’t make a mistake, and there are no movers.

While it may be convenient to accept payments through platforms like Zelle, Venmo and Cash App, they can also be manipulated.

Your best bet is to only sell locally and only take cash.

Lastly, we always recommend meeting the other person at a local police department. Many police departments now have areas designed for such exchanges. While it won’t guarantee you won’t be scammed, it goes a long way as a deterrent to scammers.