How I ALMOST got scammed on Craigslist

It was really very simple. I posted a listing on Craigslist to sell an old DAT machine that I no longer use.

Here was the first response:

Subject: Tascam DA-30 DAT - $100
From: Nawas <nowasikzac.h@gmail.com>

Still have it?

Nawas

I replied yes, and asked Nawas if he was interested. Here is the response he sent:

Subject: Re: Tascam DA-30 DAT - $100
From: Nawas <nowasikzac.h@gmail.com>

Sorry for later reply, after looking at the similar AD i reached
the tentative conclusion that,i will be buying from you so please
kindly withdraw the advert from CRAIGSLIST. I don't mind given a
tenner for it in order for you to take  the AD down from Craigslist
and also to be
assured that it is already mine. Please be informed that i will be
paying with a Money order, as i just moved here from CArdiff, on a
job transfer and it is going to be sent to you via courier service
which is going to be mailed to you.

My mover will be coming over for the pick up as soon as you have  the check
cashed,so you don't need to bother about the shipping as everything on  that
is well arranged.I  will need the following details to mail the
payment to in order to facilitate the payment asap ..............

1.Name to be on the payment
2.Home address
3.Cell phone #

I am completely satisfied with the advert and the payment  will be
delivered within 2-3 working days.** I use a hearing impaired phone #
and will receive your calls via email **

Nawas

Now - I wasn't born yesterday. I know that someone with a hearing impaired phone # isn't going to be using a digital audio recorder. Nice try mister! But I lke to give people the benefit of the doubt, I replied:

Subject: Re: Tascam DA-30 DAT - $100

Nawas,

On further consideration, I'd be more comfortable with a cash transaction.
I may be willing to drive it to you if that makes things easier, depending on where you live.

Thanks,

Morgan

Then I didn't hear back for a few days and figured this was over with, but I got this email this morning from Nawas:

Subject: Re: Tascam DA-30 DAT - $100

Dear,

My sincere apologies for taking this long to get back in touch with
you  have been on Vacation and also the Holiday.
I got a message from the secretary that he has mailed the payment but
there is a mix-up in the payment mailed by the secretary, which I
believe you can resolve it.

When I instructed my secretary to purchase the Money order.The
secretary apparently assumed that you are the same person which I
intend to pay for a vehicle that i bid for,
on behave of my son, and had your name been posted on 2 Money orders
of $949.99 each, which was not clear to the secretary until I had made
the secretary aware of the mistake.

Therefore I solicit that once you receive the payment, and have
cashed,kindly deduct your payment for the item I am purchasing and
deduct $50 and the Tenner i promise to give for taking the AD off
Craigalist.
The 50$ shall the given  to the U-haul agent whom will be making the pick-up.
The remaining balance, YOU SHALL TRANSFER to my secretary at his
location where his waiting to receive the payment for the  auction car.

The transfer shall be done via any Money Transfer services near your
location such as Western union or Money gram whichever is most
convenient for you, so he can get it in minute and pay the seller that
is expecting the payment too.I sincerely apologies for delay.

Please inform me if this is sufficient, and if we can complete this
business transaction with trust. And then i can take the next decisive
step, to call up the courier service for delivering the payment to you

Thank you

If I had my suspicions before, they were confirmed now. The tipoff is the mention of Nawas being detained because of the "Holiday". The "holiday" in question is Thanksgiving, and you may recall from his first email, that Mr. Nawas is from Cardiff (which is in the UK). I know for a fact that people in the UK do not celebrate Thanksgiving. Nice try Mr. Nawas!

Anyway, I still wanted to give him the benefit of the doubt, so I submitted to him the following response:

Subject: Re: Tascam DA-30 DAT - $100

Nawas,

No problem with the late reply, though I am distressed that your secretary is so inept. I would suggest that you either pluck one of his eyes out, or chop off his hand. You can fetch a handsome price for a detached hand on craigslist, though not so much for an eyeball (they just don't travel well.)

There is a small problem with the DAT machine, but I think we can work it out. My family has long been in possession of the "Great Baseball Diamond" (you may have seen the movie James Henson made about it). Unfortunately, this great treasure has gotten lodged inside the tape loading mechanism of the DAT machine. I'd rather not go into how this happened, suffice it to say my eldest son is now confined to the roof of our home with a large antenna strapped to this head. While it is normally considered a great honor to protect the family from the Wrath of the Thunder God, we decided to make an exception this one time. 

If you are willing to send a jeweler and an electronics technician in the back of the aforementioned U-haul, I'm quite sure that they can retrieve this great treasure for me, and deliver your DAT machine to you in good working order. As these will be highly skilled individuals, I expect their services to cost approximately $1266.95 ($606.05 for the technician, and $660.90 for the jeweler.)

I have a good plan to pay for their services, which I submit here for your approval. I know an excellent bronze sculptor, who is willing to make a sculpture in bronze of my son's foot. The sculptor has assured me that it will be perfect in every detail. We (you and I) can then sell this piece of art on craigslist -- I expect it to fetch between $10,000 and $15,000, which we can split 50-60.

The sculptor's services will cost only $948.99. If this plan meets your approval, I will use the money orders you send to hire the services of the sculptor (I intend to keep the extra dollar for the troubles you have cost me and my family.) Once we have made the sculpture and sold it on craigslist, I will send you a money order for $1266.95 to cover the costs of the jeweler and the technician. Please then send them and the u-Haul to a location I will disclose at that time. YOU WILL ALSO SEND YOUR SECRETARY, who I will know because of his lack of either eye or hand. They can extract the diamond and the u-Haul engineer will deliver the DAT machine to you. Then I will send you a money order for your half (50%) of the remaining profit from the foot sculpture, minus the $50 for the u-Haul driver, and the famous tenner mentioned earlier.

Please let me know as soon as possible if this plan is to your satisfaction in this important matter, as I will likely have to put an addition on my house for the sculptor to live in while he performs his labors.


Thank you

Today I will pine away by my computer, awaiting a reply from the beloved Mr. Nawas.

Posted by nagrom on 11/28/2009 at 8:00 AM | Categories: humor -

7 Comments

Russ S. wrote on 11/28/09 2:28 PM

Classic. I really hope you get a reply.

glyn jackson wrote on 11/28/09 3:08 PM

O i do hope you get a reply lol

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