Craigslist scammers

[elizilla]

I'm trying to sell the NT. Every time I post an ad, a different gmail address replies with the same scam. You know the one. "I'm currently out of town because [fill in the blank]. But I want to buy your item as a surprise for [fill in the blank]. I would like to pay via paypal. I will arrange for shipping."

So I am sitting here wondering about the logistics of this, for them. Are they all the same person, or different people? If they were all different people you'd think I would get more scam mails, but generally it's only one per ad, and no ad is ever missed. Which implies some level of organization. Are they criminal gangs who have staked out their turfs? Is there a scammer that controls this neighborhood on Craigslist, who will break the kneecaps of another scammer who tries to operate on his turf? Do they create a different gmail address for every one of these, or do they use the same address repeatedly? Do they have a database to keep all their phishing lures straight?

Also, you would think with all the trouble they go to to paste in their different excuses, they could take the trouble to paste in the word "bike" instead of "your item".

It seems like the economics of scamming would favor more clever scammers, but they seem to skew for volume rather than cleverness.

Comments

[elizilla]

Thanks for the mail, I'm seriously interested in buying this for my son and am okay with your selling price, I'm a boatswain and currently offshore i really want this as a surprise gift for my son so i won't let him know anything about this until it get delivered to him and I will like to know why you are selling this item and i will like to know the condition of the item. You can mail me back with your PayPal email address so i can make the payment to you right now and if you don't have an account with PayPal you can set up an account today as it's secured and reliable visit their website on www.paypal.com... i will be responsible for the payment fees/charges on this transaction. Do not worry about shipping or picking up as my pick up agent will come and pick it up from you once have made the payment to you and i will also need your full Name,address and phone number.

Looking forward to read back from you asap...

Regards.

[elizilla]

Alright Mate,

I am very keen. How i wish i could come for viewing and inspection as
am currently overseas(Malaysia) at the moment and i want it picked up
before i get back, though i wont back in couple of weeks. Due to my
inability to make a bank deposit,I would be paying via PayPal which is
safer for me. Kindly send me a paypal payment invoice or create an
account at www.paypal.com if you dont have one. I will make a
concrete pick up arrangement with my transport agent who will be
coming over for pick up once you receive full payment into your PayPal
account. Have a nice day. Few more photos will be appreciated as well
and I am pleased with the price.

Andrew

[pi3832.livejournal.com]

but they seem to skew for volume rather than cleverness.

Because it's easier to achieve volume through automation.

I've been learning about the mis-applications of statistics in business research lately. One of main reasons for it, it would seem, is that applying the wrong methods can be done easily, thanks to computers, where-as applying the right methods requires thought. Since the wrong methods are just as likely to lead to getting published as the right ones, it makes more sense to do lots of papers wrong, than to do a smaller number of papers right.

Similarly, you don't need great cleverness to scam the biggest suckers. You just need to find them, and apply a modest amount of cleverness.

And I'd guess the email address keep changing because the addresses keep getting closed, or otherwise filtered. But the scammers automate the production of new email addresses, so they just move onto the next one as each gets closed/filtered. Any given address probably only works for a few hours.