That's a typical scam. They only have a money order? What about cash for crying out loud!! The deal is they give you this phony money order and they get your goods, you get left with nothing.

DH has gotten a lot of those scam replies to his posts (he posts a lot of his goods he makes on there) and it's always a very generic response, as in "Is it still available" or "I saw your ad and I'm looking for this". They just don't feel right, so he no longer responds to them.

A lot more savvy CL posters now require you to put something specific in the reply title so they can weed out the scammers.

Hi pesky, I just wrote CL with a copy and the email on the scammer. How does the specific title stop a scammer? Sorry I'm not up to scratch.

Yep, scam. Google "craigslist money order scam" for tons of info.

ML

I agree, all the craigslist warnings when you post tell you to not deal with these types of responses.

Here is a link that might be useful: Avoid scams on CL

Well I'm glad I turned the person in. I wish everyone would take the time because some people will fall for it I'm sure. So, as I'm not up on tech's... when you require them to put something specific in the reply title to stop the scammers I guess its becuse the scammers do some sort of mass computerized scam?
There are so many scams out there right now its hard to keep up. One of my friends resently gave her credit card number over the phone to someone collecting for the police department. I couldn't believe she did it. There are lots of scammers using the police department.

The scammers don't give me the creeps - they are just an annoyance.

I'm usually pretty good at identifying the scammers, but one tripped me up recently. I was trying to give away an old computer keyboard via craigslist and got a response that looked legitimate, so I responded about making plans for the person to come to my house to get it. The person wrote back saying she couldn't make it due to car trouble but was I interested in working from home and oh by the way here's a link to a site that would help me make a lot of money. I reported it to craigslist and then got a follow-up e-mail from that person again giving me the link to the site.

I did a freecycle transaction once with a lady who gave me the creeps. She came to get the item I was giving away and her car was filled with stuff. It was apparent the stuff had been in there for a while. I suspect she was a hoarder and I was just giving her more to hoard.

So many people sell this way. I for one would not like strangers coming to my house.

I have always had really nice people through my craigslist sales. Usually I list a few things at the same time and try to schedule the viewings around the same time. The timing doesn't always work out though but now I'm really going to make a point of it.
I forgot all about one CL shopper who was interested in my computer monitor, she said she was a school teacher and desperately needed a monitor that night, she asked if I could bring the $30 monitor to a public meeting place and there she would purchase it. That never took place because I'm not in the delivery business. I'm not sure if she was a scammer or thought I was a CL killer.
This must be my month for weirdo's because I'm even getting nuts from my aunts cancer site, they are emailing me through the site saying he or she wants to get to know me better and wants to exchange pictures. The person even leaves another so called personal email address because they have something "important" to tell me. Shish, that's sick!

The last time that I advertised on Craigslist they had a huge warning against taking money orders because this is such a typical scam.

Here is a link that might be useful: Craigslist warnings

Our area has Swap Shop. It's on our local radio station from 3:00 to 5:00, six days a week. I have sold tons of stuff by calling in items. Picked up a few nice things as well. Never heard of anything bad happening to anyone and Swap Shop has been going strong for years. Always wondered why more communities don't do this.

I haven't had anyone creepy contact me in response to my craigslist ads (I have sold tons of stuff on CL) but I did have one funny sale.

I found two vintage (1950's or 60's) school chairs left out as trash down the street.

I took them home, assigned my kids to go over them with 409, and posted them on Craigslist for $50. Within a couple of hours I had a response and told the responder my address, phone # and when I'd be around so he could pick them up. His reply was brief and casual, "Got U".

A few minutes before he was supposed to arrive, he called to ask for better directions. I guess just hearing my voice made him realize I was a school-marmish type--he promptly began addressing me as "Ms" my first name.

When he got to my house, he was in a giant tricked-out Escalade and he looked like the rapper Rick Ross--dressed fresh and lots of bling. He was very polite, paid for the chairs out of a roll of cash the size of his giant fist, and went on his way.

I had hours of fun trying to figure out what this guy was doing shopping Craigslist for vintage kindergarten chairs. I was happy to have made $50, but really it was worth more to me to just enjoy that puzzle.

Leafy. what a great story! Do you think it was Rick Ross?

I'm starting to think the word "quality" triggers the scam network. We have sold lots on CL and never had all these crooks reply. Five out of six responders have tried the money order thing so far. There must be some trigger words that bring em all in.

Now I'm up to eight responders with seven money order scammers. I took the word quality off. We will see if that makes a difference.

I think it's higher asking prices that bring out the scammers. Why risk legal consequences for a $50 item, when the same risk can be incurred for a $500 item?

I usually include 'Cash only' in my listings.

Hi sweeby, cash only is not working. I really think there might be trigger words involved. I will let you all know if the word "Quality" is a trigger word. I took it out of my listing. If I don't get bombarded with scammers again I'll know for sure.

I make my descriptions as simple as possible and often use Windows Paint program to add details on the picture so no trigger words can be found by scammers. For higher priced items that seem to bring the scammers out in droves I add in red letters "Scammers will be reported". So far those two things work wonderfully.
Here's an example of one of my CL ad photos...

jterrilyn, I don't think it was the real Rick Ross. So far as I know, Rick Ross lives in Florida, and this happened in Philadelphia. But someone in a similar line of work, maybe!

FWIW, I always put "cash only" in my CL posts. I still get a few scam replies but not that many. They are usually easy to spot by the faulty/oddly phrased English.

I must be old, because I don't know who Rick Ross is!!

terriks, here's the song he's best known for (I think). Anyway, it's the one my kids quote:

Can you see him buying vintage kiddie chairs?

Here is a link that might be useful: Rick Ross Video

Justgotabeme, Your advice on a nice display with background was good, although I didn't do my wording on the background.

After I took the word "Quality" out of my ad I had zero money order scammers and I am now convinced there are key word triggers for the scam artists.

My sofa has gone to its new home and I got close to my asking price. I do think the display with nice background brought the real buyers in.

Thank you.
I'm sure you're right about key words for scam artists. I'm happy you sold your sofa for your asking price. Things are moving very slow around here.