‘Caveat emptor,? a popular expression meaning ‘let the buyer beware? passed down from ancient Roman law, was sound advice when shopping public markets 2,000 years ago.
Back then, the Romans didn’t have things like the internet and Craigslist. Had they been hooked into cyber-space, the phrase might have been changed to ‘let the seller beware.?
A 24-year-old Oxford Village woman recently learned to be a more cautious on-line seller after she was almost the victim of an internet scammer posing as a potential buyer on the popular website known as Craigslist.
Founded in 1995, Craigslist is a central network of on-line communities featuring free classified advertisements and forums on various topics.
The Oxford woman was selling an 1880s Victorian walnut dresser for $350 on Craigslist when she was contacted via e-mail by a potential buyer named Kelvin Desmond.
After several e-mails back and forth ? never any telephone conversations ? Desmond sent the woman a $2,500 check for the dresser, which the Oxford woman had agreed to sell for the reduced price of $300.
The check arrived via FedEx and the envelope indicated it came from a Vivian Schmid in Sewickley, Pennsylvania.
Listed on the check as the payer was a legitimate financial firm in New York City. A real bank with a New Jersey address was also printed on the check.
The Oxford woman received another e-mail from Desmond asking her to cash the check and send the $2,200 balance via a Western Union money transfer to a furniture mover in Monticello, Arkansas named Ra’Chelle Lenz, who would supposedly pick up the dresser.
‘Why was the check for $2,500 when the dresser’s only $300?? the Oxford woman said. ‘I knew that no (moving) company would charge $2,200 to deliver it anywhere in the United States.?
Something didn’t smell right so instead of cashing the check, she contacted both Oxford Bank and the Oxford Village Police.
‘Anyone sending you a check for an amount larger than what you’re asking for your item that usually should raise a red-flag right there,? said Officer Clint Ascroft, who investigates cases of check fraud and identity theft for the village PD. ‘You should never have to send money back. That’s an obvious red-flag.?
‘Seller beware,? said Cindy Edgett, loss prevention manager for Oxford Bank. ‘If they ever give you any more money than you need, don’t take it.?
Bank personnel informed the Oxford woman it was indeed a counterfeit check and had she cashed it, she would have been responsible for the entire $2,500.
‘The bad news is the person who deposits the check with us is responsible to know who they got the check from,? Edgett explained. ‘They’re liable to us and the person that gave them the check is liable to them.?
‘Thank God I realized it was a scam,? the Oxford woman said. ‘I know what to watch for now.?
‘When in doubt, talk to your banker because we can check it out to see if the checks are counterfeit or not,? Edgett noted. ‘There’s so many of these scams that our tellers are pretty well-versed.?
Village police told the woman to inform the scam artist that she had found another buyer for the dresser and was going to destroy the check.
In response, the scam artist sent the Oxford woman an e-mail begging her to cash the check and send the money because her help was needed.
‘Do this for me cuz i’m out of the state and i’ll need the money for some other thing. You co-operation wil really help me,? replied the scam artist, who’s obviously not very good with English or spelling.
The scam artist told the Oxford woman she could deduct $150 and keep it for herself.
The promise of free money in return for little or no effort is often how most scam artists hook their victims.
‘When it’s too good to be true, it is,? Edgett said. ‘This is the biggest thing people don’t understand.?
‘Anytime somebody’s soliciting you in reference to money it’s usually bad,? Ascroft said. ‘It’s not going to go good for you.?
Ascroft noted that anything that involves multiple addresses is usually another sign of a scam. In this case, the check came from Pennsylvania, legitimate institutions from New York and New Jersey were listed on it and money was supposed to be sent to Arkansas.
‘They have it routed all over, so it’s so confusing,? Edgett said.
Unfortunately, scams like this are nothing new to Ascroft and Edgett, who are both members of the North Oakland Loss Prevention Association, a group of bankers and law enforcement personnel, both local and federal, that meet once a month to share information about the scams and counterfeit checks out there.
Each week, Oxford Bank gets notified of at least 10 or more counterfeit checks going around, according to Edgett.
‘It is saturated. We’ve seen so many of them,? she said. ‘Craigslist has been the biggest one lately.
Ascroft said this scam, like many others, probably originated out of a foreign country like Great Britain, Canada, South Africa, Nigeria or India.
‘They’re all over now,? he said.
Information about most of these scams can be found on various websites.
Ascroft said he’ll attempt to investigate it, but there’s only so much he can do and his efforts will mostly likely bear no fruit. In the past, the trail is usually ‘untraceable? because it always leads back to fake IDs.
Ascroft said the best thing people can do when they learn about one of these scams is warn the public.
‘That just shuts them down that much quicker,? he said. ‘Make more people aware and less people are going to get had.?
From now on, whenever the Oxford woman sells something on-line, she’s going to make sure it’s cash transaction and it’s someone she can meet face-to-face. She’s warning others to do the same.
‘If you can’t come here in person, then no deal,? she said.