Weston Resident Victim of Craig's List Check Scam
The following information was provided by the Weston Police Department. Where arrests or charges are mentioned, it does not indicate a conviction.
Weston Police said that a resident last week was bilked out of $3,800 when that resident fell victim to a Craig's List check scam.
According to the police log, the crime was reported at 2:08 p.m. on Dec. 7, and is logged as "Larceny, forgery, fraud."
Police say that the victim was trying to rent out a property in Hawaii by advertising the property on Craig's List. An interested party contacted the victim and said they wanted to pay for the rental with a check. The rental itself was $4,000, but the person mailed a check for $7,800 and asked the victim to cash the check and return $3,800 to them, keeping the $4,000 for the rental.
The victim cashed the check and sent $3,800 to the scammers, as requested. However, the bank subsequently stopped payment on the check and the victim lost the money that had already been returned.
Tex
8:13 am on Thursday, December 13, 2012
Another scam everyone should be aware of is the Amway Tool Scam. Google stoptheamwaytoolscam for more information.
Larry Shaw
10:55 am on Thursday, December 13, 2012
I don't see the reason for calling this a "Craig's List" check scam. This type of scam has been perpetrated hundreds if thousands of times through hundreds of media including the spoken word, US Mail, etc. No one should feel safe because they're not using Craig's List. And usually Craig's List has a warning about these scams on each of their reply pages.
Brooklyn Lowery
11:54 am on Thursday, December 13, 2012
Thanks for adding your thoughts, Larry. You're certainly correct that this scam pops up all over the place. In this particular case, police said the scam specifically involved Craig's List, which is why it's reported as such.
s brown
7:27 am on Friday, December 14, 2012
Who would even consider doing this since it smacks of scam in the first place, one does not need Craigs List for this.