You have a story about someone in Africa who stole a laptop, so you pick a photo of some random black man (stock photography, I assume) holding a box and consider this story ready to go.

Are you sure that's a wise art choice?

When I was preparing to sell my ThinkPad 600x, I was hearing these stories left and right. I finally decided that eBay was the way to go, that I'd only accept PayPal, and I would not ship outside the Continental 48 states.

Personally I think the best resolution would be to send a followup email to the scammer saying you forgot to send the powercord, or laptop case and pretend you have noticed nothing wrong...get some more info that way which could be usable

@LoganAdams: I was just thinking the same thing.

@chris101d: And then what? The Nigerian Fraud Squad will team up with the Wonder Twins to track down the hucksters? Wonder Twin Power Activate!

"If it sounds too good to be true..."

- Old Craigslist proverb.

[www.zug.com]

So Africa = theft?

Hmm, interesting...

@William Mize: Checking email headers is also a useful skill.

@LoganAdams: I hadn't noticed that at first, but you have a point.

Remember the ppppower book prank here:
[www.zug.com]

While I agree, most of these scams originate from various countries in Africa, those are some stereotypical words to deem an entire continent a scam...

Posting items on Craigslist, I've had just as many people try to scam me into sending the item to the UK or even the US. Perhaps you should have acknowledged that you should not mail anything period and expect to get money back.

@LoganAdams: yikes, ditto

My alarms went off when they said they would pay more than the amount.

Remember this next time:

Craigslist = meet me with cash

So, did the OP send the package before the funds arrived? Did she ship it just so she could get a tracking # to give to "Paypal"?

You should spend more money... Get on an airplane and track them down. Then when you find them beat them to a pulp. Then get your laptop and fly back. When you get here, I will be happy to drive over and beat you to a pulp because you make BAD DECISIONS.

If you have ever watched Judge Judy you would know that making bad decisions won't get you rewarded.

@William Mize: There are 49 Continental United States. There are 48 Contiguous United States

Also, craigslist is LOCAL. If someone responds to your craigslist post from out of the area, Just Say No.

If you have the address go visit them at their house and beat the shit out of them. Well maybe not since most of these scams are run by people that are in gangs and heavily armed...

Sorry, another thing to remember is call PayPal to verify and not just believe the person that wants the item.

@William Mize: By the way, isn't the 600x a great machine? I've had mine for what seems like forever, and and the old man just keeps chugging along....

@testsicles: No, then they will get more information for whatever reports they have filed. There is no need for sarcastic derogatory replies on this site.

More information can only help...not to mention these scammers are usually gullible enough to give more. In the long run if there is a report with the FTC or a fraud report to the bank then it can only help...

Use Fedex or UPS next time, you can cut a tracking number/label online before you even ship the product. provide the tracking number and get payment before you actually ship the product.

Granted, ANYTHING going to or coming from Nigeria should be considered a scam.

You can get a shipping number before shipping... You can even do that with USPS.

Is it illegal to send dog poop overseas? Yes, it would be more money, but you do have an address.......

@LoganAdams: If you have a problem with it, email me. Comments area is not for backseat post-editing.

Ebay seller rule number 1: Never ship until you have the money.

Ouch. :(

@Segador:
without sharing your assumption that the consumerist editors just plucked a picture of any random black person, rather than entering the term "Nigerian" into the search field of their stock-art library...

so what if this person isn't nigerian. consumerist uses stock art all the time. what if they did a story about some white criminal in maine but somehow ended up using a nondescript picture of a white person that was taken in Sweden? is that an outrage?

@EBounding: really. Who ships stuff before monies have been collected?

I'll gladly pay you tuesday for a laptop today...

Can't you get a tracking number prior to actually shipping the item? I believe with USPS you can do that. Not that it matters, but the thought just came to mind. That way she could have sent the tracking number, and awaited the payment.

@pete7919: Actually in at least one instance recently it was "Craigslist = Meet me with gun/knife, and I will rob the item from you"

@Atticka USPS.com offers the ability to print labels/obtain tracking numbers just like FedEx and UPS. You don't have to just pop your valuables in the mail on the spot. A tracking number could have been generated and held until the money cleared

Craigslist has warnings when you submit your item for exactly what is described here.

Good advice to follow. But amend to say: don't mail anything to anywhere until you've been paid. If Amazon doesn't ship until payment, why should you be different?

Oh yeah, more negative publicity for Nigeria.

@EBounding: She thought PayPal had the funds but wouldn't release them without a tracking number. So she believed that she had confirmation that the "customer" had sent the funds, but that PayPal was hanging onto them until she provided confirmation of shipment.

Though it's true that she could have sent a tracking number without actually shipping the laptop, I suspect she would then have been scammed by a forged "PayPal" email that said her money had been released to her anyway.

@LoganAdams: Oh please, Africans are black, and the scam is about Africa. Please learn what racism is before you complain about it. It's not like they spelled Nigeria with two g's or something.

So she's smart enough to know about the consumerist, but still thinks it's ok to send ANYTHING to Nigeria?

I know it was kind of posted above, but it cannot be repeated enough: Unless it's a family member or someone you personally know, do not conduct ANY business with ANYONE in Nigeria.

@Ben Popken: I find nothing offensive about the choice in picture whatsoever. It's a guy holding a box...who gives a crap, what difference does it make if he's black or white or yellow (like me). It always strikes me as ironic that people who want to be politically correct or sensitive are the first ones to point out color, race, religion, etc.

Almost every single time I sell something worth more than $200 or $300 on eBay or Craigslist I get these emails. They offer way more than the price if I'll send it to a relative in Africa. They're so frequent that I just laugh and delete them.

Ben, please remove this post if it's improper. I apologize in advance.

This is the what I got out of job hunting on craigslist.

Micneal Mollen to me

show details Oct 27 (3 days ago) Reply

Good day ..........,hope you doing great right there,got your response regarding the driving job

Am mike mollen,My Boss(Mr James Walker) will be visiting the state next month on an assignment in your area,he's very new to your area in the state and am in position to arrange a good driver that will take him around the places where those assignment are to be carried out

He will be staying for two week, and you are required to take him around the places where those assignment be carried out

You service needed from Wednesday to Friday (10:30am to 3:30pm) for the first and second week.

You are offered $1200,($500 per week,$100 for gas)an advance payment of $600 will be send to you as soon you agreed on this contract.

Also I've arrange for a hired Mercedes Benz to be used for this process , the first payment to be sent to you will include your advance payment and the payment fro the vehicle.you will have to forward this fund to the Agent in care of the car ,so he can deliver the car to your place before Mr James arrival.All other info will be supply as needed,such as the date and the hotel for accommodation

My Boss will be paying you the balance after satisfactory completion of your service.if you are OK and satisfy with this,do get back asap and include this detail.

First Name:

Last Name:

Gender:

DOB:

Marital Status;

CDL Serial #/group/type

Address:

City:

State;.

Zip Code:

Cell phone;

best time to call;

present work at hand;

Work ID #

Education Status;

I inquire for this information to secure this deal,i hope you agree with me that there are some unreal people out there,be rest assure that any personal information receive are reserved.

I will appreciate a prompt response from you as the payment will only be sent out to you after i receive this info,so you can work things out this week asap

ALL INFORMATION YOU WILL NEED REGARDING THE CAR HIRED AGENT WILL BE FORWARD TO YOU WITH THE TRACKING # OF THE CHECK

A paycheck will be forwarded to you as soon as possible so once you get the payment,you remove $600 as agreed and send remain part to the car hire representative,so he can deliver the vehicle at your place.

NOTE,they will also come for the pick up of the car after the completion of the contract.

@LoganAdams: Would you outrage manufacturers prefer something like this??

What an Idiot. If she can't read the warnings on Craigs list and is "smart" enough to ship before receiving payment then she did not deserve to have the laptop in the first place.

These scams did not just pop up yesterday.

@Mr. Guy: I see no problem with it.

When there is an article about a corrupt DEO (and their actuall pic is not used), I've seen generic "old fat white guy in a shirt and tie".

Then again, we could avoid all this if pics of cats were used (such as a cat with a laptop).

@William Mize: my roommate sold a paid of shoes on ebay. Buyer recieveds the shoes and left a positive feedback.

4 months later the buyer filed for a claim through paypal and took the money back. Paypal asked my roommate to provide proof of shipping, which she had, but the tracking number no longer work when you enter it in the usps website. She went to USPS and they said the number lasts 1 month.

Paypal wouldn't do anything and the jackass took the money and the shoes.

@LoganAdams:
He's right. Clearly you should have a picture of a Korean. The scammer MIGHT BE KOREAN for all you know, YOU RACIST PIG.

Good grief, people. A story about a Nigerian stealing a laptop illustrated with a black guy holding a box is "racist"? Ugh. I can't even see how it is (no pun intended) off color. What next?

Maybe we should just not have stories about anything but white men, to avoid all controversy.

Two things about Craig's List:

a) Never, ever use your daily use e-mail address. (Let alone your work e-mail address) It is so nice having a service like akapost around that I can just shut off an account when the spam gets to be too much.

b) I got a little peeved off at a guy for sticking his two cents about my "conditions of sale" tag that I attached at the end of my paltry $35 listing. I didn't want to deal with any bullcrap. Lately, CL (at least in St. Louis) has just become a haven of those seeking "something for nothing". I want within 75% of my asking price if I'm forced to haggle - which is already a decent drop from the retail price I paid.

If someone offers to pay more than your listing = fraud.

If someone offers methods of payment other than cash = fraud.

Cash only, local only, meet in public places.

@TheFuzz53: Nigeria has a law against scams like this, it's where we get the term "419 scammers". However, it's enforced very little because officials within the Nigerian government believes that if people are gullible enough to fall for this stuff, then they deserve it.

If that is there position, then my position is, Nigeria = theft, and they can go pound sand as far as I am concerned. Yeah, I hope they feel bad about being generalized that way. Good for them, they deserve it.

On the other hand, I do see your point about correlating theft to the entire continent.

Is "The Consumerist" on the way down the tubes?

I've always gritted my teeth and remained silent when I see your misleading headlines e.g., "Man Jailed After Letting His Girlfriend Eat Off Of His Plate" that SHOULD have read "Man Jailed After Stealing (Even Though He Was Given the Opportunity To Pay Up Before The Cops Were Called")

Now, I'm seeing race-baiting (You assume the scammer is a black man since Africa is part of the story?)

And now, the editor (I assume Mr Popkin is the author of the sage advice following the post?) is flinging the f-word as part of The Consumerist's reply

Classy!

Time to go back and review the Journalism 101 textbooks!