Ron Nelson wrote: > What I don't understand is what the spammer hopes to accomplish with this. > Anyone have a take on this? (I get them too, by the way.)
I get those too. I've assumed that this is a variant on a scam that's common enough that Craigslist warns you about it. >From http://sfbay.craigslist.org/about/scams =========================================== 2. distant person offers a genuine-looking (but fake) cashier's check * you receive an email (examples below) offering to buy your item, or rent your apartment, sight unseen. * cashier's check is offered for your sale item, as a deposit for an apartment, or for just about anything else of value. * value of cashier's check often far exceeds your item - scammer offers to "trust" you, and asks you to wire the balance via money transfer service * banks will often cash these fake checks AND THEN HOLD YOU RESPONSIBLE WHEN THE CHECK FAILS TO CLEAR, including criminal prosecution in some cases! * scam often involves a 3rd party (shipping agent, business associate owing buyer money, etc) <snip> 4. distant person offers to send you a money order and then have you wire money: * this is ALWAYS a scam, in our experience - the cashier's check is FAKE * sometimes accompanies an offer of merchandise, sometimes not * scammer often asks for your name, address, etc for printing on the fake check * deal often seems too good to be true =========================================== I presume this is why they have this (fairly implausible) list of stuff - sometimes the wedding party wants foxtrot, chacha, and belly dance lessons - in order to get up to a total bill that's large enough for one of these scams to be semi-plausible. -- Alan -- =============================================================================== Alan Winston --- [email protected] Disclaimer: I speak only for myself, not SLAC or SSRL Phone: 650/926-3056 Paper mail to: SSRL -- SLAC BIN 99, 2575 Sand Hill Rd, Menlo Park CA 94025 ===============================================================================
