The makings of a Scam

[TOPDOGJIM]

I have a guitar for sale on Reverb. Within two minutes of posting I got a message that she loves the guitar and please contact her at this email to finalize the sale. I replied through Reverb that I would prefer to communicate only through Reverb. I got a message saying that they could not except message at this time.
The next day someone asked if I could email more pictures to an outside email. I just resent what was posted already. Here is the scam setup response.

My daughter just told me about it and I would have loved to come to check it out but just had endoscopic spine surgery.

Picture is great, I believe this could be based on trust. We are actually buying it as a divine gift for my old church to mark 70th birthday anniversary.

Will be sending cashiers check for the sales since my son runs a business account, once check clears, I'll arrange pickup.

Please let me know why you are selling and condition .Please provide the above information

(1)Full mailing address
(2)Name to be on the check
(3)Phone number,
(4)Final price

So we can prepare the payment check immediately. Please make sure you delete the ad. I will be waiting to hear from you. Thanks

[Southern Cross]

It sounds like a CL scam moved over to Reverb. I have not had that problem on Reverb, and I hope I don't. The surgery ruse, and the anniversary at the church sound like they are trying to play on your sympathy, and to let your guard down because of their troubles, or who they are purchasing it for. Thanks for posting.
Clifford

[rgregg48]

Originally Posted by TOPDOGJIM

I have a guitar for sale on Reverb. Within two minutes of posting I got a message that she loves the guitar and

My daughter just told me about it and I would have loved to come to check it out but just had endoscopic spine surgery.

Picture is great, I believe this could

Please let me know why you are selling and condition .Please provide the above information

(1)Full mailing address
(2)Name to be on the check
(3)Phone number,
(4)Final price



So we can prepare the payment check immediately. Please make sure you delete the ad. I will be waiting to hear from you. Thanks

I'm surprised they didn't ask for your social security
Number!

[TOPDOGJIM]

In case it’s not clear, the cashiers check will be fake but good enough to clear. Your guitar will be long gone when the bank calls. That’s why they pick it up and also have you delete the post. No trail.

[Kerbie]

Yep, that's got red flags all over it.

[LuckyLabRat]

In the couple month process of selling my 2019 Fender Mustang on Craigslist and Facebook, I came across this scam with its own iterations 3-4 times. One time I dragged it along for a couple days just for the fun of it. Definitely a pain in the butt when trying to sell and it's a bummer to think they do fool some people...

Sent from my Pixel 2 using Acoustic Guitar Forum mobile app

[gmel555]

Thanks for the reminder. I sell (mostly small stuff) occasionally on Reverb/Ebay. The moment someone wants to go outside "the system" I'm done with them....period.

[jdinco]

Last one I got said they would pay extra for the trouble. LOL Yeah....we all do that.

[Mr. Paul]

Not sure I've ever posted an ad without getting this type of response.

[Rockguy475]

This is a classic check scam.

Here is how it would play out.

They send you a check (which would be fake or a real check with photoshopped info).

The check they send will be MORE then your asking price.

They will ask you to send them the difference of what they sent you back to them, most of the time through Zelle or a similar platform. For example if your asking price was $1,000 they might write you a check for $1,300 and ask you to send them $300 back through Zelle.

The person who falls for the scam would send the money to them and obviously the check they received would NOT clear.

Sad thing is people fall for this stuff, most of the time older people. I used to work for a bank and had to deal with issues like this more then I'd like to admit.

[pagedr]

Originally Posted by jdinaz

Last one I got said they would pay extra for the trouble. LOL Yeah....we all do that.

It's funny because if someone says that sort of thing I agree that it's an instant red flag. But there was one time I found a guitar on Craigslist in another city...messaged the seller to see if they'd considering shipping and they were a bit hesitant, so I offered to pay a little extra for their time/trouble. I'm not a scammer, just was trying to grease their wheels a bit! They did end up shipping to me, but I made sure all of my communication was non-robotic sounding so I didn't sound like someone trying to take their money and run.

[waterlooz]

Sorry to hear of this. Ii can totally sympathize.

I sold a guitar last year on Verb and the buyer tried to get me to work with him outside of Reverb. I declined his suggestion and proceeded to sell the guitar through Reverb. Then, he requested a partial refund (100) because there was a tiny finish scratch I had not disclosed. We had a tense exchange on a few phone calls and I decided for 100 bucks, it was not worth the risk of him sending back the guitar with additional damage so i credited him the 100.

I also had a seller (small music store) sell me a guitar and then waited and waited and waited for the guitar to ship. After 5 days without any returned messages from me, I contacted Reverb and I was refunded.

Because of these transactions, I no longer purchase or sell guitars on Reverb even though I have sold many without issue. That was really uncomfortable and I felt like too much was out of my control. I still would buy pedals and such but guitars, no way jose.

[fazool]

they stopped replying
https://www.acousticguitarforum.com/...d.php?t=606565

[rllink]

I try not to get sucked into playing the game with them for fun. Even if you don't fall for it, they continue to gather up anything they can sell and the more you interact the more they gather. If you get one of those scam calls on your phone and you answer it, the fact that you answered on a particular day at a particular time at that particular number is worth something to someone. It is crazy.

[kdahl100]

This is a common scam, but it’s not the only one out there, and you can just as easily be scammed if the check is for the correct amount. Even if the check you receive is a “cashier’s check” issued by a bank, you could be scammed.

That’s because a check needs to clear two banks before you can be certain you’re going to keep the money - your bank and the issuing bank. Your bank may say it cleared (or give you funds availability, or whatever), and then you ship the guitar, but the issuing bank ultimately gets the check back and says it’s fake. They don’t pay the funds to your bank, your bank reverses the credit to your account, and you get no money.

If you’re going to accept a check for a large amount, call your bank and make sure it has cleared the issuing bank before shipping anything out.

Originally Posted by Rockguy475

This is a classic check scam.

Here is how it would play out.

They send you a check (which would be fake or a real check with photoshopped info).

The check they send will be MORE then your asking price.

They will ask you to send them the difference of what they sent you back to them, most of the time through Zelle or a similar platform. For example if your asking price was $1,000 they might write you a check for $1,300 and ask you to send them $300 back through Zelle.

The person who falls for the scam would send the money to them and obviously the check they received would NOT clear.

Sad thing is people fall for this stuff, most of the time older people. I used to work for a bank and had to deal with issues like this more then I'd like to admit.