Mar 21, 2016
Received this text today (with the exact syntax/formatting included here) from 818-473-5621 regarding $150 in hi-fi audio gear I'm selling on Craigslist, within half an hour of me publishing the post:
"Send me an email on jeaninehg4@gmail.com if your ( Cambridge Audio Azur DacMagic and Pangea P-100 Power Supply - )still available for sales. Looking forward to your email.Thanks"
I should've ignored it from the get-go since everything about the text reeked of some kind of scam/setup, but let my hopes for a sale in record time get the better of me. I emailed her and received this email tonight from "jeanine Colton":
"Thanks for the prompt response to my text and reference to your post am completely satisfied with it, I will be buying this from you, so please kindly withdraw the advert from C.LIST. My husband will be overnight the payment asap but he will be paying with a certified check from his Bank and it will deliver to you via USPS , so I'll need you to provide me with the following information to facilitate the mailing of the check... And am offering additional $50 with the original price to have this asap.
Name to be on the payment:
Your Full Address to mail the Payment:
Cell phone # to contact you :
And the Final Asking price:
I will make the pick up arrangements as soon as you have the check clear. Am not be able to come with the cash and pick it up my self due to my work frame and my Kids, but my husband will mail the check out as soon as i have the information and the payment will be deliver within 24hours..
Thanks and God Bless"
A little Googling returns a ton of similar encounters with "jeanine", using many different phone numbers but the same name and email address, and basically verbatim text messages and emails. Whether the angle is to open up email accounts to spam floods or to attempt something more nefarious with fraudulent payments I don't know, but I would definitely advise everyone else to avoid finding out!