I was scammed over craigslist and no i didn't lose no $50 or 100 bucks i lost $4000 dollars, about 20 weeks of work, 640 long hours of dealing with people’s crap and pain from standing for hours and this is how it happened.
On January 22nd i went to see this car that was on sale on craigslist ( i’ve been saving up for a car for a long time!) originally i wanted to get a toyota prius, since i’m aware the environment is slowly decaying due to pollution and to throw in a little bit of selfishness, the rising gas prices are also of my concern. So yeah, i was all up for the prius until i saw the one thats coming out in 2012 and i fell in love <3 Seriously the prius thats been out right now isnt very popular with my generation, lets face it if your around my age group and you have seen the prius you have though eeekk that’s an old people car.
2011 or 2010 (not really sure, but the previous years concept kind of looks like this one)
2012 (coming out early 2012. I love the whole futuristic look, the wheels or i shall say the rims looks so cool kind of like a toy car from the future :p)
Back to the story now, so went to check out a toyota yaris because thats the car my mom has and i thought id get something that’s affordable and leaves me with some left over money so i could start saving up for the super cool prius (Did i mention the 2012 one is supposed to be even more gas efficient than the one thats out right now better than 51/48 mpg, the savings from gas basically pay for the car in the long run) So i met the lady who was selling the yaris and it was in a horrible condition. Then there was a honda fit for $8,000 and i thought let me research this car and see if i can find a better price so i did, and i came upon a 2007 honda fit on craigslist for $4000! Wow i was ecstatic, i couldn't believe i had found such a great deal that would leave me with money left over, so my bank account wouldn't feel so empty i went ahead and contacted the seller and these were the emails we both exchanged:
From: Me
To: williammtorres@live.com
Date: Sat, 22 Jan 2011 17:30:37 +0000
Hi my name is Julieth and im VERY interested in purchasing your honda fit, do you still have it and where are you located?
From: "William M. Torres" <williammtorres@live.com>
Date: Sat, 22 Jan 2011 20:45:22
To: Me
Subject: RE:
Hey,
I am selling this car because my unit will be sent back to Iraq and don't want it getting old in my garage. The price is low because I need to sell it before the end of January. This car is running in excellent condition, with no mechanical problems at all. It has never been in accident and the title is clear. It is still available for sale if interested, price as stated in the ad US $4000. The car is in New Orleans, Louisiana and in case it gets sold I will take care of the shipping charges.
Let me know if you are interested; email me back.
Regards.
William M. Torres
williammtorres@live.com
913 Felicity Street
New Orleans
LA 70130
From: Me
To: williammtorres@live.comDate: Sat, 22 Jan 2011 21:01:40 +0000
Subject: Re: Wow that is really interesting the reason why I'm looking for a cheap car right now I because I need transportation for this year, since next year I plan on enlisting so I don't wanna splurge on something that I won't be able to really enjoy. Can you send me more pictures and such?
Note : i had edited almost all the emails like i did above but it all got deleted, not sure how so this time i wont remove the little lines. (never mind ill take the time to re edit)
From: williammtorres@live.com
To: Me
Subject: RE:
Date: Sat, 22 Jan 2011 21:42:26 +0000
Hey,
I attached some pictures.
I am in a military base now Davis-Monthan Air Force Base. We are training, getting ready for Iraq. Being in the army has some advantages. I can ship it very cheap. I will ship it with DAS. I will take care of the shipping charges, like I said in my email. I think I can have it there in 5-7 working days. I am a member of the eBay buyer protection program and using this service you will get a 3 days testing period after delivery. During that 3 days testing period I will not be getting any money. I need to know if you are interested in buying it so I can ask eBay to send you the details on how this works. If interested please include in your next email your contact info for eBay (name, address and #),then i will contact ebay to send all the details and you can make your decision.
Thanks
From: Me
To: williammtorres@live.com
Subject: RE:
Date: Sun, 23 Jan 2011 04:41:06 +0000
The answer is definitely yes and we can get started on the payment as soon as possible. my ebay name is julistar15
(Insert my full name, address and phone number)
From: "William M. Torres" <williammtorres@live.com>
Date: Sun, 23 Jan 2011 22:30:29
To: Me
Subject: RE:
Hi Julieth,
Total price with shipping included is $4000. I asked eBay to send you all the details on this transaction. Let me know if you agree with their terms and conditions. Check all the messages, inbox, junk.
Thanks
William M. Torres
williammtorres@live.com
913 Felicity Street
New Orleans
LA 70130
United States
From: Me
To: williammtorres@live.com
Date: Sun, 23 Jan 2011 23:41:51 +0000
Subject: Re:
Yea I got it and read it.
What's the next step from here?
So we can get things in motion.
(this is the payment instructions screen shot)
(This is the invoice)
From: "William M. Torres" <williammtorres@live.com>
Date: Sun, 23 Jan 2011 23:47:28
To: Me
Subject: RE:
Julieth,
Have you received the payment instructions email?
Thanks
William M. Torres
williammtorres@live.com
913 Felicity Street
New Orleans
LA 70130
United States
From: julistar15@hotmail.com
To: williammtorres@live.com
Date: Sun, 23 Jan 2011 23:48:33 +0000
Subject: Re:
Nope I only received the ebuyer protection email unless that's that one your referring to then I haven’t.
From: "William M. Torres" <williammtorres@live.com>
Date: Sun, 23 Jan 2011 23:56:00
To: <julistar15@hotmail.com>
Subject: RE:
Also check your inbox, junk, bulk folders.
Thanks
William M. Torres
williammtorres@live.com
913 Felicity Street
New Orleans
LA 70130
United States
From: Me
To: williammtorres@live.com
Date: Mon, 24 Jan 2011 00:15:33 +0000
Subject: Re:
Yesir I checked all of them and I don't see the message or confirmation.
From: "William M. Torres" <williammtorres@live.com>
Date: Mon, 24 Jan 2011 00:55:16
To: Me
Subject: RE:
I asked ebay to send you the details again.
Thanks
William M. Torres
williammtorres@live.com
913 Felicity Street
New Orleans
LA 70130
United States
From: Me
To: williammtorres@live.com
Date: Mon, 24 Jan 2011 02:29:28 +0000
Subject: Re:
Do you have skype or any messenger so we can talk faster, I still haven't gotten it.
From: "William M. Torres" <williammtorres@live.com>
Date: Mon, 24 Jan 2011 11:55:39
To: Me
Subject: RE:
I don't have skype, only msn messenger.
Let me know if you received the details.
From: Me
Date: Mon, 24 Jan 2011 12:33:35 +0000
Subject: Re:
Still haven't received the email, I even checked the ebay inbox.
My msn is this email address, let's set up a time to chat.
From: "William M. Torres" <williammtorres@live.com>
Date: Mon, 24 Jan 2011 13:15:16
To: Me
Subject: RE:
I am online now.
From: Me
To: williammtorres@live.com
Date: Mon, 24 Jan 2011 17:38:59 +0000
Subject: Re:
I got some questions about the car.
Have you purchased any protection plan and what type of insurance do you pay for your car?
Does the ac work?
How often do you change the oil?
Have you changed the oil recently?
Do you know how much or how to change the property title?
Have you changed the tires?
* His last message:
Yes, A/C work.
I've taken good care of it with regular oil changes and maintenance. The car is clean and looks great!
new brakes, tires, and has been recently serviced. this is a real nice car
After 3 days of testing pass the agent will contact you to see if you keep it and if he will forward you the title and the sales contract or if you will want to send it back and he will get the car from you, and you will receive your money back.
Regards
This is the email i got after i sent the unique code which is used to claim the money at western union:
Dear Me,
We confirm the payment.
Our member William M. Torres has requested to start the shipping process for "2007 Honda Fit Sport".
We inform you that the shipping process will start in maximum 24 hours. The product will be in “My street address" between 27th-29th of January.
If you have any questions regarding your transaction please reply to this email.
We confirm the payment.
Our member William M. Torres has requested to start the shipping process for "2007 Honda Fit Sport".
We inform you that the shipping process will start in maximum 24 hours. The product will be in “My street address" between 27th-29th of January.
If you have any questions regarding your transaction please reply to this email.
Sincerely,
On January 24th i went to my local western union and wired 2 transfers of $2000 dollars each one cost an additional $260 to send. (i was warned not to do it by my coworker but go figure, i didn't listen)
On january 28th in the afternoon i wondered even more why i hadn’t gotten the car yet, so i googled the shipping company and found out that they give out tracking numbers (DUH) and i hadn’t gotten one, then i quickly googled craigslist car scam (i don't know why that was my first instinct) I also google earthed both addresses given in the emails and they were in the middle of a street. That was when my heart sank to the floor, i’ve felt hurt before but there isn't enough words to describe how i felt when i saw the warnings and the exact same messages i had gotten in different sites warning people. I couldn't believe it had happened to me, i thought i was queen of internet shopping, i thought i knew it all but i was wrong. So many things running through my head, as i tried to fight the tears running down my face, i had screwed up and even though it was MY money i had no idea how i was going to tell my mom. I felt angry, betrayed, hopeless and most importantly hungry for revenge. I wanted to find these guys and hurt them just like they had hurt me. I sat in front of the computer viciously trying to find clues as to how i would find my scammers or scammer. First i called western union and asked them to disclose exactly where the money was picked up, so i could hope there was a camera in the store and they would have footage of the scumbag who stole my money, but apparently western union isnt allowed to disclose that information, the guy just told me to file a police report. I sat for hours trying to put pieces together i printed out a map and a list of western union locations around “Jack Grahams address” tried to write down email patters and tried to find someone who had fallen for this like me, every comment i saw said “you will never get your money back nor will anybody catch these guys they are out of the country”
At around 8 my mom came into the room and i had to tell her, “Mami the car isn't coming it was a scam" and i broke into tears, my mom asked several questions among them “what?” “what are you talking about” “why didn't you tell me earlier” “i thought you had seen the person through the webcam” She told me to get dressed and we headed to the local police station, where we waited for about 2 hours to have an officer tell us “Sorry but the crime happened where the money was picked up and that isn’t within our jurisdiction, call western union and demand the information then contact the St louis, MO police dpt. Sorry for the long wait” On the way home i called western union once again and they told me that they would disclose the information to law enforcement, so back to the police station so the cop could get the information, they told him something about them faxing the information to the police dpt but then surprise! western union hung up on law enforcement, they couldn't deliver what they said they would. I went home and called the St louis police dpt and the lady said “Sounds like a civil case take the person to court” “lady i cant take the person to court I DONT KNOW WHO IT IS” well that is not my problem call this number and see if they can help you. I call the number and it goes to voice mail, i leave one with my name and phone number and to this day they haven't contacted me.
Yesterday i called western union again and a guy told me to fax them a copy of the receipt and they would fax me the detailed report, that night after i faxed the report they told me that they wouldn't sent me anything unless it was law enforcement and that they would call me back to help solve the problem in 24 hours, This call never happened. In between this whole conversation keep in mind the lady said “ this service is to send money to friends and family” (Remember this because i will need to make a point about this on my next blog)
^ Those are the facts of how i got scammed, i tried not to leave much out but i’m sure a few things must have slipped my mind.
Xoxo Julieth
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