I Think

Yeah, screw that guy. I'd tell him to show up with a pickup truck and cash or stop bothering me.

He originally told me I would have the money in my pocket before shipping the merchandise. To me that means having the check clear before all else.

The area code for the phone number given in the message is for New York.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Area_code_518

I put my item back on Craig's list five minutes after I got his email. Another irritation, the bogus check appeared at my post office and the USPS tracking told me I would receive it today, but, for about the fifth time in a row the letter carrier did not try to deliver it and did not put a notice in my box to pick it up. When I complain about him I get treated like a trouble maker.

Contact your local police or FBI office and ask if they'd be interested in your reporting this to them.

And the post office says the check was sent from Colorado.

I tried to report this guy to Craig's List, but the report form said I needed a case number and they never provided me one, so the report could not go through.

Skip reporting to Craig's List and go straight to the authorities. Reporting to Craig's list doesn't do much other than get the ad pulled or account deleted.

I don't know if he can be found. New York phone, Colorado mail origin, send the delivery service money to Tennessee. He might be in Australia or Canada.

Just give the info to the authorities and let them take it from there. No need for you to know if he can be found. That's what the authorities will determine based on the info you give them.

I am going to try on Monday to get somebody to check it out. I am not optimistic they will be interested.

When the check came to my post office, the law seized it. So, they have been tracking this organization already.

Good news.

This con artist wasted lots of my time, so I am wasting his now. The guy emailed me today to ask if I have gotten the check. Yesterday I told him it was not delivered on Saturday. Today I told him the bank reluctantly accepted the check for deposit and that if it clears, I likely can get at the money this Monday. No reply yet. Apparently he is deep within some network and may never be caught.

My son listed his car on auto trader (I think thats the name), out of the blue a check arrived for far more money than he was asking. The letter with the check explained the extra money was to cover shipping costs to ship the car to New York. Son was suspicious so he had his bank examine the check and they determined it was counterfeit. After about a week, a man with a heavy accent called to check on the shipping schedule, Son told him he was not shipping anything because the check was a phony. Apparently the scammers forgot to check his car off the list, because they called again a week later still asking about shipping the car.


These scammers are very persistent and go to great pains to look and sound legit.
I only accept cash or a cashiers check when I sell things to strangers. We've sold about 4 cars over the years thru newspaper ads. Everybody usually wants a lower price, and I've negotiated the price down on 2 occasions. But both potential car buyers showed up with less than he price we negotiated, one guy came with $400 less, saying that was all they could get at the time. Don't fall for this because they never return with the rest of the cash, unless you hang on to the title.

I put on the ads that my prices are firm, cash only. But I don't mind a check in special circumstances. This guy started out with a reasonable premise and did not show his colors until at the end. I have been reading about scams so many years, it would be hard to fool me all the way through. Years ago, I accepted checks for merchandise, but a lady took me for $300 that way. So, mostly, cash only.

I have been revising my manuscript before moving further with it. I had hit a snag and needed time to think. Now it's resolved, but the rewrite is more extensive than expected.

Rocky killed a mole, yesterday. He moved it when I showed an interest in it. Several times. Today I discovered he saved it by putting it on the outer lip of the porch deck, under a decoration I made. Didn't see it until I smelled it. Hundred degree weather and a dead animal. Toxic combination.

The moringa tree is essentially two trees growing off a single tap root. This year I let one side grow wild but kept the other short. The tall one is about fourteen feet, now. I am experimenting with it. Does it become more hardy if it grows like that? Will I finally get blossoms and seeds, next spring?

We have been in growing drought conditions, despite having far too much rain a few months ago. Yesterday a burn ban was instituted. The temperature today was 106, a record. A few hours ago I heard the crack and rumble of thunder. A nice rain broke the heat, somewhat, and now I don't have to water any plants tomorrow. In fact, I hear distant thunder again, this very minute. I would love to have a second drenching, tonight.

Send some of that thunder and rain to Northern California; we are desperate in need.