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Craigslist scammers
Apr. 1st, 2012 11:21 amI'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.
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.
