It looks like the dudes still active same MO and everything, I screwed with him for a few days and had him try to USPS mail me a check to turn him in to authorities for mail fraud and check scams but he some how got the address wrong to my P.O. Box so it got routed back. He started calling from (912) 376-2275 wanting to know why I stopped emailing and where the money was.

Here is all the info I have on it.

Now going by Ryan Brown
From: ryan brown <brown.ryan638@gmail.com>

Shipping came from PHOENIX, AZ 85043 according to USPS tracking number

Return info in email was listed as
Shipper Info
NAME       Ericander Stevenson.
ADDRESS 33 Vesey St # 1005
CITY    New York
STATE   NY
ZIP     10007


Number: (912) 376-2275
Line Type: Landline
Search Date: August 23, 2011, 11:18 am
Preliminary Location:    Savannah, GA    
Served By: YMAX COMMUNICATIONS CORP. - GA    
(I'm not going to wast the $15 or $35 to get their real address or names but you can if you want)

Phone Number Data for 912-376-xxxx Numbers
The 912-376 exchange is serviced by the following companies within the SAVANNAH ratecenter.
YMAX COMMUNICATIONS CORP. - GA
Calls are routed via OCN 321E on a Stromberg Carlson DCO RLS switch located in the Savannah, Georgia area.

The dude(s) really should take some English classes and learn to write correctly, just as others said spelling and wording is wrong in all the emails, I managed to tease him on for about 5 or 6 emails before igot board by constantly raising the prices.

This number comes from a scammer.  His current scam is to offer you a job repairing 7 laptops, then he sends a check on a stolen account for over the amount of the job, then tells you to send the remaining amount through Western Union to the 'shipper'.  Thing is, the check will clear originally, then it will be returned a few days later after you have already sent the Western Union.

I have been having fun messing with the guy over the past few days, but it appears that is over now.

Got 3 calls from the number.

yep he finally gets nasty after a few days - it has been pretty fun - wonder if it has ever occurred to him to use spell check - what a moron

No.  Do NOTHING.  Do not contact the scammer.

It wouldn't hurt to notify Craigslist so they can drop the listing.  But the scammer will just pop up again using a different name, a different e-mail address, and a different phone number.

The FBI already knows about these scammers, but they are slippery.  They move and change phone numbers and e-mail addresses often.  They started in Nigeria, but they are now operating from many countries, many of them with weak anti-fraud laws and a culture that encourages scamming dumb rich Americans.  The home companies often won't cooperate with US law enforcement.  The chance of any scammer getting caught is slim to none.

Same deal. Only the name was Michael Wilson. Unforunatly I fell for it.

I mean without a contract being signed.

Thanks for the reply and information. Do these Nigerians think everyone is stupid? Several things who would ship laptops for anyone to fix with a contract being signed; who would accept a check and then send shipping "excess" money to the sender without the check clearing the bank first?

Should I have them send the check and then contact Craigslist and FBI about the scam?

Its the Nigerian Overpayment scam.  

Whatever service you are selling, he agrees to buy it.  He sends you a cashier's check for a lot more than the cost of your service.  You send the excess to him or to his friend.

The cashier's check is drawn on a foreign bank.  It takes weeks to go through the system,  Under US bank regulations your account has to be credited with the amount in, I think, a week.  Eventually the check bounces and your bank takes the full amount out of your account.

But by this time your check for the excess has already cleared,  The guy and his friend have vanished.  Your money is gone.  Thats the scam.

I like to know what is the scam? What can they do with name, address and phone number? That is, are they trying to make you pay for shipping?

I received similar emails from John Goldman via my post on Craigslist.  He asked me for full name, address, and phone number so that he can send me his laptops and check.

Just got the same one, 7 laptops. This came from otibaalima03@gmail.com

Same for me.. I was contacted by a Surabranson@gmail.com, from my craigslist posting about repairing 7 dell laptops, software included.  The same rigamorale about cashier's check, shipper, typical Nigerian type scam.  My advice to everyone hit by this scam is pretend like you're falling for it, have them send the check, lead them on for a while and this guy will call all angry sounding like "I send you money, where is my western union?"  I told him that I thought it was fishy that the shipping would cost more than the actual service and asked where the laptops would be coming from.. "georgia, he says"  I asked, "Georgia like in Russia"  He said "No, Georgia in United State"  Jeez... when will these ragheads and nigerians realize that we're wise to their scam?  Anyway, I got the check, which was for $2500 and I only quoted $700 for repairs.  Getting greedy, I guess.  So, all the information, the emails, the phone number and these comments have been turned over to the FBI for investigation.  This guy will get caught eventually.

I got the same exact thing seemed just too fishy to me and did a search.

Why would you send laptops from Where ever he is to have them repaired. Also whats the point of all it anyway if he sends laptops with a check. I don't get it. Is he trying to get pricing? Or is he trying to get your information. Even if he sends the laptops with a check what kind of scam is he up to.

I had the same thing from someone who calls himself Mark Branson,Asking me if I could handle computers in volume.I replied that I got an e-mail from someone that claimed to be someone else.I said is this a joke,I will not be taken & accept a certified check.I said a certified check can be phony cause I have one in my drawer,Cash Only !!! The other one who is running the same statement is Matt Robinson expect he is going for 10 laptops to be repaired.

Same deal...CL ad asking for repair on 7 laptops. I sent him an outrageous figure just to test it and yep, apparently the going rate is $300 per laptop! Peter Babs this time.

Same thing here. 7 laptops from a Mark Branson.  Just enough reply to be a little believable without enough details. Then to want to pay by check and have the laptops shipped? Not even going to take that chance. This was in response to a CL ad as well. Same phone number landed me here though.

and he payed me..... yeah right he did.
for the fix is computer
heh

i got a job for him and he payed me.....yeah and i fix is computer and i ship it back to him

thanks

Many thanks for you guys posting about this, you saved us the scam too. Sounded fishy to us about why he wouldn't work with someone locally rather than ship them, so we googled the name and number. I think we should send him a scorching reply, including a link to this thread.

Contacted by by surebranson@gmail.com.

"Hello let me know if you are capable of repairing computers in volumes."

I got a reply to a Craigslist post with no phone, no name, just "Hello let me know if you are capable of repairing computers in volumes." So I googled the surebranson@gmail.com and ended up here.  Hmmm.

got a reply from CL from "Mark Branson" fix 7 laptops software included...I don't know why it struck me as fishy, but I'm glad I looked it up...it was probably the part about a cashier's check and the fact that he had a trusted shipper... why pay to have something shipped when you can probably deal locally for much cheaper?

Got a reply from CL also, this time new name and email. Email used was surebranson@gmail.com and his name was supposibly Mark Branson. The terms and wording of the emails were just off which got my attention. The same gig though fix 7 laptops.

Well, It was an email (jbgald124@gmail.com) not a call. Same guy, replied to ad on craigslist.org. (Computer repair) Luckily I was ahead of the game and shot this guy down before he had a chance. He immediately gave me his phone number and I matched it here.  Thanks a lot!

I also was contacted by the same person via email through a Craigslist post. The email address he used is jbgald124@gmail.com. He used the name Johnson Goldman and wanted me to do work on 7 laptops just like Chuck posted. He asked for my phone number and address so he could send me a check and the laptops. Something seemed funny so I asked him for his phone number so I could talk to him first. A quick search of the number led me here, thank God. Beware this guy, and his number.

This was supposedly a gentleman named Michael Wilson.  His English was terrible although I cannot identify the origin of his accent.  The connection was awful even when I called this number back on my land line.  Mr Wilson had supposedly contracted for repair of seven laptops and he was confirming delivery of an 1850 dollar check which the bank identified as total fake.  I would recommend being extremely skeptical of this number.