Another fun trick is to keep claiming the check got lost, or some other excuse to make them send you another one. Every time they do, it costs them money.
The irony of someone telling another person to "get a life" while writing pointless comments on youtube. LOL. I don't like it, so it's stupid. The "logic' of a five year old.
I gave away a cheap little bed on Craigslist. I didn't want to throw it away (the city will do bulk item trash pickups for free), and Goodwill and Salvation Army don't take donations of beds. Someone called very quickly and I sent her some more pictures after she asked. Then she said a friend with a pickup truck would come by. It's so funny, I watch these scam videos and mock people who didn't catch the red flags or fell for a scam, but I was still scared! I was racking my brains trying to figure out how they might scam me, or maybe rob me or whatever. But, on a weekend afternoon, a guy showed up in a truck. He was very nice, we carried the bed out and loaded it, he shook my hand and said thank you, and off he went.
Oh my gosh, this happened to me in 2015! I got a fake cashier's check for a personal assistant position. Luckily I listened to my friends plead with me not to put the check in my bank account. Good thing I didn't. Now after all these years, your video just clarifies how I could have made the biggest mistake of my life. Thank you for this video ❤️
Nearly happened to my roommate several years ago. But this was for a secretary position, asked her to go buy stuff and send it to an address. When she got a $5000 check, it seemed suspicious until I googled and it, and confirmed with her it was in fact a a scam. She tore up the check and never contacted them.
Thank you for helping people to open their eyes. I almost got scammed in Craig's list with an ad about wrap in cars from Miller lite drink, when I received the check, decided to Google for wrap in cars and found out it is a scam, WATCH OUT FOR THOSE SCAMMERS.
I get this shit all the time but what I really should do is make a deal with them take their check never deposit it and just keep stringing them along wasting their time, if everybody did this they would be losing money on mailing checks out
Good video! It's important for people to note that this is NOT just a "babysitting" scam... the important part is learning to spot the 'red flags' for scams like this. Glad you pointed all that out at the end of the video. Thanks for taking the time to educate people and raise awareness.
I had the same exact thing happen to me word for word like 8 years ago except it was for a personal assistant job but the email was almost exactly the same. They said they were out of the country, and they wanted me to pick up their grocries and stuff and they were going to send me $1000 for that and for my pay for the week. Thankfully my bank refused to cash the check lol
Kara, I love Africa. But hey these idiots do it on and on and people fall for it. It is a big industry. My mother who is 79 will not fall for it but people do. :( These conmen are so really F stupid. Like who the F has a name like that? LMAO
There are local trade apps that I use called letgo and OfferUp and by now I’m a pro at telling who’s real and who’s a bot trying to scam me. The first red flag is them asking do you accept PayPal (because then their money is protected but whatever you are selling isn’t and they can claim to have never gotten the product and get a full refund). Also if they ask you to ship it because they are out of town just block their number. Also some people will lure you in by trying to offer you wayyy more than you are asking (like one time I was selling a laptop for 350 and the guy kept insisting that I get PayPal and that he would pay me $450 )
Omg! I am from Brazil and this happened with me when I was living in San Diego (around 2009), I received the check and never understand what is going on.. until your video. I remember that I just asked to my account manager and he said the check was fraud and I stopped to aswer them (who used the same name: Davidson Ferguson, 10 years earlier!! Not original!!) 😅 Thank you for sharing! (Now makes sense!!) 😊
About 10 years ago my mother was selling a ring for $900. Some guy came over and gave her 9 $100 bills. A few days later someone caught the one $100 as being fake. She came home and was upset and I said let me see those other $100 bills. I look and everyone of them had the same serial number. I took her and those bills to the police station and turned them over. No way to catch these people though. My mom did say there was a car outside with another person driving. When it comes to money and things of value you can not trust anyone in these situations unless you know them for sure. Scams in the mail, on the phone and sites like Craig's List. Always be on the lookout. Wanted to add this even though most people know. If you get spam in email never ever open it. A lot of cases if you do it will lock your computer up. If this happens and you can not close it off. Then hold down Ctrl Atl Delete. Then start Task Manager. Close out browser you are using (Google Chrome, Explorer, Fire Fox etc). I get 4 or 5 a day.
Another big red flag here is that an employer is sending you money to cover *their* expenses that is not how things work. Additional compensation to cover expenses will basically always be the company subsidising *your* expenses incurred in the course of performing your duties, for example relocation allowances when permanently transferred to another site or expense claims when asked to attend a meeting far from your home base etc. When an employer requires an employee to make payments on their behalf they should either given them a cheque made payable directly to the intended payee or give you the required funds as petty cash (Commonly still in the form of physical cash for one off items though some jobs that require it frequently will provide something like a debit card tied to a petty cash account in the employers name or a credit card again in the name of the employer).
Why can't the Bank know the check is fake and there is no money when you try to deposit it or cash it in the 1st place? Don't they have some kind of security to do this? Thats pretty BS. So anyone can make a fake check and they actually deposit for you without any money?
As a bank teller I can say there are many things that show that a check is bad. This one would have most likely been caught, but it all depends on the teller. There is no way to check if there is no money if the check belongs to a different bank. Besides calling the bank to verify it is real. It isn’t easy to make a fake check but it happens, and sometimes they get through until they come back as fake a few days later
The bank is treating you as an adult, assuming that you know what you are doing and are satisfied that the paper you give to the bank is good. They are merely providing a kind of messenger service, acting as your agent to present the check to the (supposedly) paying bank. When you deposit the check, you are telling your bank that it's as good as cash and it is put into the clearing house as a cash item. By law, you get credit the next day for the check if the amount is less than $5,,000. If you want your bank to verify the check, they will charge you a fee to put it into the clearing system as a collection item, instead of as a cash item. If that is done, you won't get access to funds unless and until your bank has actually received good funds from the paying bank. The collection fee may range from $15 up, and for an item drawn on a foreign bank could be as much as $100.
Anonymous Anonymous Exactly the check is actually from a real account they just want you to cash it so you get in trouble for stealing the money from a real business instead of them getting in trouble for stealing the money.
These scams have been on craigslist for years just different scenarios, but in every case the scammer asks the victim to deposit the fraudulent check into their account. I'm happy you didn't end up falling for this scam.
When I've tried to deposit large student loans at my Bank they almost always check with their management assumingly and start asking questions on the look out for stuff like this hopefully. Good thing that you seemingly knew better.
My wife nearly fell prey to a similar scam on ZipRecruiter. The ad was purported to be from a real PR company looking for graphic design work. We also ended up with a nearly identical check for about $5000 that of course was never deposited. After my wife was "hired" she called the HR department at the company only to find out that she had been communicating with a scammer. Thankfully, no money or sensitive personal information changed hands.
The reason why there are so many of these Craiglist scams out there is because there are so many stupid fish that are more than willing to bite. Stop doing drugs 24/7 kids and come back to the real world before making chance decisions
Thanks for posting this, I would have never known this was going on. I fell for the Micro- soft tech thing, they call and said I had a virus and took over my computer, then tried to charge me hundreds to fix it.
A quick way around these scams is just to try to cash the check at the bank that's it's from. They'll usually use wells Fargo, citi bank, bbva, nationwide banks. When you cash the check there, they'll inform you if the account has the funds or not as well as if it's fake.
Yeah. Had a very similar experience after applying for a housekeeping job from a MONITORED job search page on Facebook for my town. Said they were going to send $500 via check in the mail to 'secure my position', ended up getting a check (plus a photocopy of the check in a separate package like you received, I might add) for over $3000. Immediately ripped everything up and threw it away. Disappointed, but not surprised that scumbags like this are preying on people who are just trying to find the means to live.
There is another scam for job hunters about working from home. They tell you to buy multiple items for your home office and will send you a check in the mail for it. This isn't from craigslist. I was using ziprecruiter and monster.com. *Always ask multiple questions. If they repeat their demands over and over, it is a scam. If you don't get a descriptive answer, they are lying*
The first dead giveaway is when they describe their job/occupation and it's an occupation that seems weirdly "out of place". When I was looking for a room to rent, some "lady" said that her "husband" was working as a missionary in Africa and that it would be nice that someone good like me will be there to rent the apartment room. She wanted $3000 in downpayment. Ended up calling the person overseeing that apartment complex and confirmed that no one by that name had a room with them. If they go to great detail to describe their life for something like this, it's a giveaway that it's probably a scam. No normal person would describe their life story so you can come and fulfill this position.
I got scammed by a similar “secret shopper” with the same premise. I didn’t spit it till I tried to deposit it, luckily or rather unluckily my bank already had wind of this scam from a few weeks pior and was flagging suspicious checks. I came out fine thank go but yea this shit is really crazy.
About 6 years ago I replied to an ad on craigsligt. It was a work from home ad. But the only diferrence was i got the check the next day. Also for $5000. But I called the bank listed on the check and they had no idea about the check. But kept the fake check as a souvenir
I'm a DJ and I get an almost identical scam sent to me really frequently. The really sad thing is that the Banks, credit card companies, ect. Don't care about shutting down the illegal accounts or pulling fraudulent credit cards.
Oldest trick in the book, in hotels we've been targeted by scams like these since as long as emails have existed. Long booking, multiple rooms. They'll over pay etc ask to transfer elsewhere.. we still get them!
yes bro i have a similar channel to you :) , and yes i saw your video i guess it was suggested to me and to be honest it was the best video ( 7 habits of highly effective people part 1 ) .
The heat in the southwest must damage the scammers brains. The one I played with that sent me a bogus $1900 check (offered me double my asking price for the inconvenience of having to handle paying his shippers) to pay $1500 shipping on my junker $200 Toyota had a Texas are code. lmao
I almost got scammed by this babysitting thing. When they sent the check, I knew something was wrong. I didn't even know they were going to send me money.....we had still been discussing meeting, I kept telling them I needed to meet them in person before accepting any job and we kept trying to coordinate meeting and he kept making excuses or saying they had to delay their arrival date, which was a red flag for me. Then he sent the check etc and said they needed me to send the money to certain people before they could arrive.....I asked them why I needed to send the money and why they couldn't do it....they said they needed help.....but I told them I wouldn't work for them until meeting them in person....anyways when he sent the check, for over the amount they were going to pay me....i knew something was wrong and looked up online and found it was a scam. I reported it, sent the fraudulent check to people that try to shut them down, and use it to investigate people that do this. I'm glad you didn't fall for it, and either did I. I'm sure people have, but now I'm even more careful than I had been about taking a nanny job, I always meet in person first. NEVER ACCEPT MONEY OR A JOB WITHOUT AN INTERVIEW!!! Or meeting them in person!
They do this all over. There was a Facebook post for a job and then said it was filled but they wanted to hire you as an errand person. I also got several trying off Craigslist
Your story reminded me of a strange message I got earlier this year on Care dot com. What tipped me off that it could have been a scammer was that they concluded their message with, "I'm a temporary member of care, you can send me an email confirming your interest at (e-mail address here) for more details". I did out of courtesy tried to message back via Care's messaging system, but it bounced back, as the person really did shut down their account after sending the message. That only confirmed my suspicion. Why would someone bother to message someone and immediately shut down their account if they were interested in their service? The idea of e-mailing back to the address made me uncomfortable, so I never bothered. In fact, Googling this message, I get pet scamming articles. So thank you for sharing the story and tips on how people can avoid scams. I'm the kind of person to ignore and block these kind of messages, but others might be none the wiser.
There are a lot of different variations on this. Have seen them try this for a mystery shopper, another for wrapping your car for advertisements.. always send a bogus check for way over and wanting you to send the balance to a third party. All the same nonsense.
I get the similar thing in South Africa. I have sold a couple of laptops before and I ALWAYS get SEVERAL emails of idiots wanting to pay me more than I asked for to ship the hardware to some african country. Everytime its from a pastor wanting to send a "gift" to some family member. Its also filled with those honest/friendship/in God and what not bullshit messages.
The best thing we can do is inform others and keep the scammers on your line for as long as possible. It prevents them from scamming someone else and one thing I do is ALWAYS reveal at the end something scary like" I went to the bank but across the street is the Police Station and they took all your information and have logged it." Or...keep telling them you are nervous and don't want to get scammed. They get really freaked out and sometimes they post more information about themselves then they intended. My personal number 1 favorite is coming to the end of the hour-long scam and saying " Oh, just forget it. I have another job opportunity elsewhere,,, go ahead and cancel the check ( that you never deposited in the first place)...they go nuts!! It is worth a laugh.
Also anytime you get a check, you can call the bank the check is written, and verify the account, usually the check number is verification as to if it's real or not. Do that before you go to your bank, it only take a short phone call
I will never understand why people would put their money in a bank...have we not learned from our past? That is more than enough reason not to trust banks, but now with these scams...
My niece almost fell for the same type of ad a few years ago. These scams have been going on for years on craigs list. Every time I posted something for sale a scammer would email me. Those ones were very obvious too.
This is not a new scam. It’s one of the oldest in the book, you can see the scammer’s excitement thinking he reeled in a sucker, because it doesn’t work very often.
I had a friend who fell for this scam... twice. I told him it was a scam and he got mad at me for "not believing in him". He was lucky the banks he went to knew it was a scam and refused to cash the checks. The first one straight up closed his account and possibly banned him from opening one up again, the second one (he claims) the teller ripped up the check and told him it was fake.
Just about any ad you put on CL will bring these scammers out from under their rock. I posted one looking for an apartment, they had one for rent but needed me to also take a job "Processing payments" for them. #4 on your list - they are not stupid enough to put their own banking info out there, they get some schmuck to accept the money and then send it on to them.
I got hit with this one, but it was for dog sitting. They found me, knew the town I live in and such. They were "moving into town" and even gave me a house that was listed for sale in town..
I love the way you made that guy think he was golden and getting some money. You know he was all kinds of happy..... At first. You wasted so much of his time, I love it!
For the record, always accept a cashier's check! a cashier's check is a check that the funds have been verified by the issuing bank, and you're guaranteed to get your money. Don't accept any other type of check!
I got something similar. Only it was someone wanting me to do a graphic design for printing on shirts. After I finished the design (a Hawaiian flower) the 'lady' said her assistant sent me checks that were meant for someone else and asked me to forward the excess, and all that.
I answered a similar job ad. Except it was for me to place their company decals on my vehicle for advertising. When their package arrived, it was a Cashier's Check for $5,000. I discovered it was fake because the idiot had chosen an account that was 1 digit too many. When I spoke to the scammer, I was supposed to deposit it to my account. He was very adamant that I had to deposit it and not to cash it. No reason given. I was to get two money orders for them and the third party. But I blocked them and I reported them to the BBB and the FTC. Btw, I tell everyone to accept their package but report them immediately!! This way we can take them out one scammer at a time.
I'd be more worried that people would actually post babysitting jobs on a site like Craigslist or any site for that matter anyway. Like I'd trust my child with someone I barely know.
This happened to me and I knew immediately something wasn't right . They even had pictures of people , the one kid they had was different in every pic . 🤦♂️
Similar to a couple of attempts to defraud my daughter. When she was a teenager there was an online company that allowed you to sell makeup from their website. They set up a customized page for you and you deal with the ordering and shipping. On two different occasions women made very large orders. Probably to play on your greed. I told my daughter to wait for payment before ordering anything from the company. Like you, a check arrived in the mail for way more than the order. The check looked very real but I showed my daughter how you could buy blanks online for legitimate purposes and then use a laser printer to do the rest. They came complete with the standard stuff to prove it was a real check. Of course we got the song and dance that her assistant accidentally added an extra zero to the amount and could we just send back the additional amount via western union. So I had my daughter send them a message telling then that she would be happy to do so just as soon as the check cleared and to expect about 4 weeks. We never heard back from either one. I assume they knew the gig was up and didn't even try. We didn't deposit the checks since we could see it was BS. I am not sure if there are fees involved with a bad check and we didn't want to have that happen. My daughter only got a few legitimate sales and the entire thing was a waste other than the scam lessons she got. Could have been a lot worse had we not been thinking ahead and questioning things.
If you report the particular bank account data to the FBI; they can arrest the individual. Also, that envelope mailed from within the US means they had domestic assistance. The credit card used to mail the envelope can also be tracked.
This is why businesses, especially small ones don't do checks. Credit/debt card or cash only. Some people don't have the money in their accounts, and the bank charges the depositing person $30 fee on a bounced/failed check.
The very fact that so many people fall for this, makes me scared for the future of humanity. God help us all, because one day in the near future, these same idiots will be elected to positions of authority, serve on juries, and even (GASP!) reproduce!
When I used to sell stuff on eBay many years ago I would get this scam a lot, usually on things that were large and expensive. Just as you mentioned at the end (I'll send you extra for crating, freight, customs fees, blah blah blah). This was before PayPal, which seemed to cut down on that sort of thing.
I hope that you reported the account into to Wells Fargo Security, at the minimum, they can close the account if it was opened by fraudulent party. Best case, local PD can investigate at the origin.
I guess the apartment scams didn’t work anymore so now they’ve moved to the job listings. Wow people will do anything for money but get a damn job. Glad she didn’t fall for this!
Lol same thing happened to my girl. But on indeed instead. Like exactly the same, but different job and situation even sent $3000 check in the same envelop you got.
That account you were to probably to send money to is probably some other victim's account and once that is in their account the scammer will probably have the account holder do the same thing with their half until it finally reaches the scammer's hands.
I got similar job to be a chaffuer for her daughter who is coming to attend some classes in my hometown. But the stupid thing is, the check was for the same amount and didn't have any extra money. I still didn't understand what the scam was. I didn't try to deposit though.
This is very similar to a scam I ran into on craigslist once. The ad was offering a similar amount for a house cleaner, a just fill out a simple resume and send it to this email address kind of deal. So I did. I get an email back saying they are also from out of the state or country, but they will be in town soon. They also have some art that they bought from some dealer, and they had already hired the movers but they hadn't paid them yet. They want to send me a check for my first paycheck and I'm supposed to take like $500 out of it and give the rest to the people moving their art? I immediately had red flags and told them no, I'm not interested in getting paid for work I have not done and would not be comfortable with that. He replies and says it will be fine. I again say no and thank them for the opportunity, but no thanks. A week or so later though, what do you know? I get a check that looks almost identical to the one in this video. I didn't do anything with it for like a day or two, but I suddenly got another message from the scammer asking me if I've received it or cashed it yet as his movers are waiting on it. I sent him a very angry message saying I know this is a scam, I've contacted authorities and to not contact me again. He apologized profusely and said that wouldn't be necessary, and he ended up deleting both the phone number and email address he had contacted me with. I ended up just shredding the check. I'm not stupid enough to fall for a check cashing scheme where I end up being the fall guy. Fuck that. Glad you realized it was a scam before falling victim to it.
I got one of those bogus checks. I kept stalling the guy, just telling him I was really busy and didn't have time to deposit his check yet. After about 3-4 days, he starts sending me threatening texts about how he had called my bank who told him I had deposited his check, so why hadn't I sent the $1600 to the designated agent he had told me to send it to. This was really hilarious, since I had not told him what bank I had an account with in the first place, and secondly, the check was sitting on my dresser. I wound up taking the check to the bank it was supposedly drawn against. They told me that it was a scam and I had certainly been right in suspecting there was something off about the whole transaction. I left it with them, and I hope they tracked him down and sent him to a place where he'll have an institutional diet, and fresh air alternate Wedmesdaus/
They tried to hit me with this scam twice. Once for a room I had for rent in my condo, and the other time was for a job posting. The rent scam letter was hilarious. They were in Africa, working for a charity and wanted to pay for rent for 6 months in advance...
