Received the exact same email with the attached name and phone number

same exact message and phone number

i got the same email requesting pictures of the automobile im trying to sell. is this a scam or for real? i dont want to pursue this if im walking into something, can anyone help?

Response to Craigs list ad I posted

I appreciate your prompt response, i'm delighted that it's still available for sale and i'm willing to pay your asking price. I'm currently out of town on rotations, so i will not be able to come and look at it and the payment will be made through Certified business check. About the pickup: I will hire a private shipping company that will come for the pickup at your location, you don't have to worry about that and i will wait for the check to clear at your bank before we proceed with the pickup. Did you have a recent picture of it for me to see the maintenance? I will need your payee name, contact address and your phone number to contact you, for me to mail the check to you.
Best Regards,
Michael josh.
Stockton, CA
(209) 589-3066

I got the exact same response to my add for a set of drums.

A SCAM for sure.

Same thing here for a bass I had for sale on Craigslist.

I got an email.
"
Thanks for your prompt response, i'm delighted that it's still available for sale and i'm willing to pay your asking price. I'm currently out of town on rotations, so i will not be able to come and look at it and the payment will be made through Certified business check. About the pickup: I will hire a private shipping company that will come for the pickup at your location, you don't have to worry about that and i will wait for the check to clear at your bank before we proceed with the pickup. Did you have a recent picture of it for me to see the maintenance? I will need your payee name, contact address and your phone number to contact you, for me to mail the check to you.

Best Regards,
Michael josh.
Stockton, CA
(209) 589-3066"

I too sensed something wasn't right....perhaps his language or the questions he asked as the answers were all in the ad I posted on Craigslist.
First he e-mails...is it still available?  When I answer yes he replies with the following:

Sounds Good,
I am ready to purchase it asap.Is it in great condition ? I anticipate that I'll have a Certified Check issued out to you from my bank.I'm in no rush with you till fund's are cleared in your bank. You do not have to bother yourself about the pick up.  I'll instruct a Shipping Co. Agent to come for pickup at your door when you must have gotten your cash at hand. Kindly e-mail me back with your address such as Name,Address (NOT P.o.box) City, State, Zip-code, Phone Number. I will be sending the payment via Fedex 2nd day delivery. You can proceed to take off the ad on craigslist because I don't want any other interruption by another buyer, so get back to me with your full name and address with your phone number to mail out the check to you tomorrow.
Thanks.

What sounds good!!!  all I answered was yes!!!...then re-read the reply...sound fishy?  He calls himself Steve Wilson with an e-mail address of  stevewil_247@msn.com

Watch out for this guy...someone should tell msn.com about him!!!

Carol

He sent me the exact same letter.  Became a little suspicous so I googled his phone number and this site popped up.  Does anyone know if this has been reported to the police?

This duchebag tried to do the same thing to me. He wrote,
Sounds Good
I am ready to purchase it asap.Is it in great condition ? I anticipate that I'll have a Certified Check issued out to you from my bank.I'm in no rush with you till fund's are cleared in your bank. You do not have to bother yourself about the pick up.  I'll instruct a Shipping Co. Agent to come for pickup at your door when you must have gotten your cash at hand. Kindly e-mail me back with your address such as Name,Address (NOT P.o.box) City, State, Zip-code, Phone Number. I will be sending the payment via Fedex 2nd day delivery. You can proceed to take off the ad on craigslist because I don't want any other interruption by another buyer, so get back to me with your full name and address with your phone number to mail out the check to you tomorrow.
So I found this site and now Ill wait for my check!!!

OMG!!! i am soooo glad i found this site and didn't trust this guy! Steven Wilson...same emails sent to me as everyone else about my piano! This is my first experience with cl and im disgusted!!!

THIS IS A SCAM. This is a version of the advance-fee-for-something scam where something is a grant, loan, lottery winnings, interest rate reduction, tax reduction, gift card, refund, doggie, cruise, vacation, free gas, etc., and the advance-fee is for tax, shipping, registration, insurance, secure handling, processing, etc. They may send you a fake check, may want your credit/debit card or bank account number,  or tell you to wire cash via Western Union, Moneygram, etc. They can put recurrent difficult-to-cancel monthly charges or a 1-time charge on your card or bank account, and sell account info to other criminals and you'll have to replace accounts altogether. Wired-cash is irretrievable - once it's picked up at the other end, it's untraceable and gone. If they want you to call them up for instructions, they may tell you not to discuss the wire with Western Union desk clerks but the real reason is WU clerks are familiar with these scams and will warn you not to wire the money. Report to US Postal Service Inspectors https://postalinspectors.uspis.gov/forms/MailFraudComplaint.aspx , the Federal Communications Commission http://esupport.fcc.gov/complaints.htm , the Federal Trade Commission https://www.ftccomplaintassistant.gov/ and your state AG, as appropriate.

I got one from this same steve wilson guy too. I aas trying to sell a set of rims for $700 and he sent me a check for $2300 in the mail and then i figured something was up since he sent me a ridiculous check.  Thats when i found this site and realized everyone else was having the same problem.  I'm glad i didn't try cashing the check.

I got this guy calling me as well and he sent me a check with no signature, mailed from bryan OH, the check is from phila,pa .. he called me from a texas number as well. guy didnt speak english very well and he said his name was Ryan feasel

He just tried scamming me, and he used the email address: stevewil_247@msn.com
called himself: steven wilson

Todays Date: March 2, 2011

Excellent post - Thx to everyone who added details here. I almost got scammed by this "Steve Wilson" too (209-589-3066). I even got phone calls from him (which I didn't pick up). Replied to his mail stating I don't want to sell my stuff to him. Don't know whether he will still send his check to me.

Any other precaution I should take ? What should I do if he still sends me a check ?

I received the same letter from "Steve Wilson", wanting to buy my guitar off craigslist.  Total scammer.  When he called me he had a thick mexican accent and I could barely understand him.   Here is the letter sent from "Steve Wilson"  IP Address [83.170.116.31]  stevewil_247@live.com

Sounds Great,

I'm glad it's still available for sale and satisfied with the price and condition . i'm currently out of town on rotations so i will not be able to come and look at it, my mode of payment will be via certified check drawn on my Bank which is generally accepted at any bank, don't worry about the shipment-fees, I will arrange for a pickup. the check will be deliver to your location within 1-3 business days. you will cash the check and have your cash at hand before i arrange for it to be picked up. provide me your full name which the check will be payable-to and your contact address where the check will be delivered and your valid phone number. kindly remove the Ad if you are interested in selling to me. Thanks...

Best Regards,
Steven

-----------------------------------

I did not fall for it, something didn't seem right, too easy and he simply "told" me how it would go down. Not a good sign, and why not consider Paypal, or discuss payment.  Total scammer, somebody needs to throw this turd in jail and throw away the key.

It sure pays to google search a phone # you suspect might be a scam. He has now changed his name to Steven Wilson , same phone # in CA
same messages as above.  So he is still trying to scam on CL for sure. my ad is in the Seattle CL musical instruments.
He is out of town on rotations, will send a certified check from his bank, you will have cash in hand before his private shipping company even comes to pick up your item.
I talked to him on the phone a little bit even.
sounded pretty legit until the phone call. This may sound prejudice, but I'm always a little leary when the person cannot speak english very well and hardly at all , kinda pushy too. Sounds like he's from Saudi Arabia or something like that.
Almost scammed!!!!!   thanks for all the above post.   Beware!!!
This probably happens all the time I suppose.

I have got the same as all the above from my Craigslist add, I even got a $2,000 check From BNSF Railway which I gave to the Sheriff

Same thing happened to us over a classical musical instrument.  His first email asked us if it was still available, and his 2nd email wanted our address/phone number so that he could mail us a check.  We called him, and he said that he trusted our add (based on the photos of the instrument) and that he would send his private pickup company to get it.

Suspecting a scam, I called him to get his address and he just hung up on me.  Good riddance.

i got the same thing down to the cash the check and mail him the balance in cash.BIG SCAM DONT GO THERE.

this person almost got me! i was doing everything he was asking for! he sent me a check and i deposited it in the bank. had to wait a while to wiithdraw the money. but he kept on calling me telling me that i should do things fast. he said that his private shipping company would come and pick up my car. then i went to the bank they said that the check was bad and that they were trying to scam me. they said that it was a fraud and that they will have to close my account once the check bounces. they said that people do this and once you take out the money you will end up paying everything. right after this happened at the bank he calls me. i tell him that i knew that he was trying to scam me and that the check bounced once i said that he just hangs up. do not fall for this!!
(209)589-3066 he said his name was Barry James. dont fall for this!!

<<<<<<<<<<SCAM>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>.
I would have loved to give you a call or come over to view it up but
am very busy i have alot of consignment this time, The easiest way for
me to pay is probably bank certified check..I will ask myclient to
send you the payment so that you can have the payment before the end
of the week please get back with your contact address,phone number the
Payment will be mail out to you this week and i The check will get to
you in 1-2 days time and when you recived the check you can then get
the check cashed at your Bank i will wait you cash the check before my
shipper come for the pickup.So in view of the above,Here are of the
details I will need for final assurance of the payment to you below:

(1) Full Name
(2) Mailing address, no p.o.box please
(3) Your Cell and home telephone number
(4) What is the final buy it now price


Regarding the shipping, I have a shipping company that would take care
of the pick up of my consignment for me and ship to my destination and
all arrangement about the Sales Documentation and the pick up(pickup
and shipping to the final destination).as well as the money to be paid
to the company that will take care of the pickup and the documentation
with you.Once you back to me with all the above, The payment will be i
ssued out immediately and it will be sent to you.Hope to hear from you
immediately.

    
bjame00@googlemail.com<<<<<SCAM

Typical Craigslist scam  

Here is the email I got from this person.

Thanks for your prompt response, i'm delighted that it's still available for sale and i'm willing to pay your asking price. I'm currently out of town on rotations, so i will not be able to come and look at it and the payment will be made through Certified business check. About the pickup: I will hire a private shipping company that will come for the pickup at your location, you don't have to worry about that and i will wait for the check to clear at your bank before we proceed with the pickup. Did you have a recent picture of it for me to see the maintenance? I will need your payee name, contact address and your phone number to contact you, for me to mail the check to you.

Best Regards,
Michael josh.
Stockton, CA
(209) 589-3066

Here's what he sent me:

Thanks for your response,

I would have love to come in person and look at it but right now i'm out of the town with my job and i can't meet you. so,what is the present condition of it ? and I want you to provide me more pictures of it.
I will securely make the payment through a certified check and i will wait for the check to clear your bank before proceeding with shipment. You don't need to worry yourself for the shipment, My private shipping company will come for the pickup ,when you must have got your cash. Hope to hear from you soon.
Best Regards,
Michael Josh.
(209) 589-3066

Notice how he doesn't mention any specifics about the item I have for sale. He sends hundreds or thousands of these emails and since he doesn't mention any specifics he can send it to many people and hopes to foll a few.

Hi:
This Michael Josh responded to me on a craigslist ad and told me he was out of town on business but really wanted my item. He wants to mail me a check and have his "Private" shipping company pick it up at no cost to me. I am not responding to him anymore, an obvious scam. I suggest you don't transact with him. I'll be he is really anxious to buy your item too?

I got a email from this person with this phone number listed as a contact. He wants to buy my item on craigslist in WA state, I told him a US Postal MO only. I will let you know if he is for real. His name is Michael Josh, seemed okay but we will see. Money talks and the rest can walk.

It is one of those 'mail you a money order' scams.  This person is all over craigslist trying to hook people in on selling items to him but he used money orders and bank checks etc.  It is a scam.  His number is a landline in Modesto, cal and you can reverse address it by using www.411.com.