by notstupid1958
Sun Dec 20, 2015 1:18 pm
I placed an ad in Craigslist/Phoenix/EastValley/Collectibles for a large, very heavy collectible on 11/25/15 at 7:00pm. Ad stated local pick up only. Received texts from 616-228-7398 (Michigan area code) Kelly said I'll pay extra $50 if you pull ad now. Will have my shipper pick up for me. The texts from this number continued for 2 days. Then started receiving texts from 505-750-2842 (New Mexico). Received in USPS mail #9405501699320066150506 on Wednesday 12/2/15 cashier's check for $1950.00 from person in New York. Check from Suntrust in Florida. Called Suntrust to verify funds and whether account was open. Suntrust refused to let me even give the routing number before they disconnected the call. At the time I didn't snap to the change in phone numbers I received texts from. Nor did I connect the return address and name from New York whereas the name and address on the cashier's check were from Florida. The day I received the check I was texted 10 times demanding to know if I had deposited it yet. After I did a deposit using photo deposit the buyer sent a text accusing me of trying to steal the shippers portion of the cashier's check. My husband saw that text and angrily instructed I was to contact our bank, cancel the deposit, and mail the check back because the sale was canceled! I called our bank on 12/2/15. Explained the events to our branch manager. She warned me to not give anything to anyone because the check could come back as stolen 3 months down the road. The branch manager said she was off on 12/3/15 but when she returned on 12/4/15 she would pull the check for me.
This is where we got screwed. Without notification, our bank blocked our account at 12:01am on 12/3/15 preventing our bills online from getting paid. Charged us for a returned check, depisiting a check drawn on a closed account, and later would accuse us of committing fraud. Our automatic bill payments were not blocked or stopped by the bank block. Because my government check was blocked from direct deposit there wasn't any real money in our account. Rent, insurance, cell, DSL, electricity, water, credit card payments were paid by the bank. On 12/7/15 we received an email from our landlord saying our rent was retracted by our bank. Now we owed late fees and could be evicted for nonpayment! While on hold with our bank the water was disconnected. The electricity tech came to our door for the same reason. It was almost 5pm. We had to wait until the next day to call the utility companies. We couldn't call out because our cell was disconnected and so was our DSL. It wasn't until 12/15/15 the fallout stopped and we understood what happened. Not a single creditor believes us! Our pastor thinks their more to this story than we're letting on. Our bank has filed charges against us for fraud. I had been a customer of this bank since 1998. I'm still reeling from the shock. The police refused to take a report because the fraud originated in another state. We're still waiting for a return call from the USPS Postal Inspector to report the use of US mail to commit fraud. The water company closed our account and sent us a final bill. To reconnect we have to pay a $600 deposit. Our insurance policy is terminated and has to be reviewed by the underwriters as to whether we will be able to receive a new policy, if and when we are to pay. Our DSL wants a $275 deposit plus the final bill before they'll turn our internet back on. Our cell is demanded an additional $175 deposit they broke up into 3 payments, the last is due this Friday-we do not have any money left.
This story doesn't end here with no water or food. I still had the ad listed. I received an email from [email protected],
[email protected],
[email protected],
There was another email but I can't locate it at the moment.
The following post is very similar to all the inquiries I've received about this particular collectible.
and this posting:
-------- Original message --------
From: craigslist reply 527d <[email protected]>
Date: 12/07/2015 3:17 PM (GMT-07:00)
To: [email protected]
Subject:
My wife had a baby few hours ago which makes it impossible for me to meet you today because I am extremely busy taking care of things so the earliest would be Tuesday night or wednesday. Do you mind sharing a phone number with me too so we can set up a time to meet? What is your bottom dollar for it, I am off work tomorrow so am free anytime or anytime from 4 pm on wednesday I could meet with you to finalize. Please let me know what would work for you,meeting somewhere of coming to your place is fine by me. Email works best to get a hold of me, [email protected] or you can Call my cell and we can go from there to schedule a time and location to pick it up with cash . Get back to me as soon as possible.
I have several listings in Craigslist but this listing is the only one where I identified the reason for sale was due to huge medical bills. There hasn't been a single legitimate offers to buy.
Although, the way my bank handled this situation is unexcusable I'm really glad we didn't lose the $1900 and my collectible.
This is where we got screwed. Without notification, our bank blocked our account at 12:01am on 12/3/15 preventing our bills online from getting paid. Charged us for a returned check, depisiting a check drawn on a closed account, and later would accuse us of committing fraud. Our automatic bill payments were not blocked or stopped by the bank block. Because my government check was blocked from direct deposit there wasn't any real money in our account. Rent, insurance, cell, DSL, electricity, water, credit card payments were paid by the bank. On 12/7/15 we received an email from our landlord saying our rent was retracted by our bank. Now we owed late fees and could be evicted for nonpayment! While on hold with our bank the water was disconnected. The electricity tech came to our door for the same reason. It was almost 5pm. We had to wait until the next day to call the utility companies. We couldn't call out because our cell was disconnected and so was our DSL. It wasn't until 12/15/15 the fallout stopped and we understood what happened. Not a single creditor believes us! Our pastor thinks their more to this story than we're letting on. Our bank has filed charges against us for fraud. I had been a customer of this bank since 1998. I'm still reeling from the shock. The police refused to take a report because the fraud originated in another state. We're still waiting for a return call from the USPS Postal Inspector to report the use of US mail to commit fraud. The water company closed our account and sent us a final bill. To reconnect we have to pay a $600 deposit. Our insurance policy is terminated and has to be reviewed by the underwriters as to whether we will be able to receive a new policy, if and when we are to pay. Our DSL wants a $275 deposit plus the final bill before they'll turn our internet back on. Our cell is demanded an additional $175 deposit they broke up into 3 payments, the last is due this Friday-we do not have any money left.
This story doesn't end here with no water or food. I still had the ad listed. I received an email from [email protected],
[email protected],
[email protected],
There was another email but I can't locate it at the moment.
The following post is very similar to all the inquiries I've received about this particular collectible.
and this posting:
-------- Original message --------
From: craigslist reply 527d <[email protected]>
Date: 12/07/2015 3:17 PM (GMT-07:00)
To: [email protected]
Subject:
My wife had a baby few hours ago which makes it impossible for me to meet you today because I am extremely busy taking care of things so the earliest would be Tuesday night or wednesday. Do you mind sharing a phone number with me too so we can set up a time to meet? What is your bottom dollar for it, I am off work tomorrow so am free anytime or anytime from 4 pm on wednesday I could meet with you to finalize. Please let me know what would work for you,meeting somewhere of coming to your place is fine by me. Email works best to get a hold of me, [email protected] or you can Call my cell and we can go from there to schedule a time and location to pick it up with cash . Get back to me as soon as possible.
I have several listings in Craigslist but this listing is the only one where I identified the reason for sale was due to huge medical bills. There hasn't been a single legitimate offers to buy.
Although, the way my bank handled this situation is unexcusable I'm really glad we didn't lose the $1900 and my collectible.