am i being scammed?

[Gr00v3]

so maybe you folks saw in the fs forum that i'm trying to sell my sidekick 3, as a result, i posted it on craiglist. the same day i posted it on craiglist, i received a few emails, most of them wanting to pay only around 25-275. i received this one email from a "kaque milan" who was willing to pay 320 to have it shipped to them.

here's the second email i received from them after telling them that the sidekick was still available and i wanted 300 for it:

Hey there, thanks for the fast reply I am fully okay and satisfied with the condition of the item ..i will like to make the payment for this product immediately because i want you to know that i am buying this item for my best customer who needs it in 5 days time so, i will be making the payment via a very secure means of payment which is via
(USPS)..(money order) because is four block from house and is very secure and good for my business. i could have go through paypal but a seller rip me off with paypal payment on the 7th of May,2006 which i will never forget ( www.paypalsucks.com) . I will offer you ($320) the item...Hope my offer is acceptable. So kindly send me your payment address for the payment to betransfered. Get back to me with your full information like your name and your address in full so i can proceed for the payment as soon i got your info ok? only if you interested in selling the product to me...
Immediately after payment went through, you will receive a confirmation mail from (USPS) Customer Service about the payment sent, ...so You dont have to bother about the shipment..i will handle that through my fedex account....Thanks.

so i replied:

everything sounds fine and dandy, but to save us the headache, maybe we could meet up and do a cash transaction instead? i'm located just 25 miles east of downtown la, where are you?

to which she responded:

Hello
Thank for the reply this is due to the fact that, its demand is quite high in my stores and I will like to purchase it, I will like to make the immediate payment of your item so i will be paying through Usps Postal Money Orders and once the payment has been approved i will schedule a pickup myself through my own fedex account which means i will not include the shipping money,so pls get back to me with your full name, phone .. and address where the money should be send to and let me know the total cost for the item
thanks

now, i know about the african money order scams and stuff... could this be one of them?

[SchnellerVert]

Walks like a duck and squacks like a duck so must be a duck. If gut says stay away I suggest you follow it.

[uofom3]

stay away.

[parkerbink]

Walks like a duck and squacks like a duck so must be a duck. If gut says stay away I suggest you follow it.

x infinity +7

Thanks for saving me the typing!

[Rigmaster]

scam fo shizzle.

One of the keys is that he never mentions the item you are selling by name- only "it" or "your item". Also the fact that he says his customer needs it in 5 days. This is a form email that he sends to every FS ad he can find, he doesn't need to change anything, just hit "send".

You could always follow up and tell him to send the "USPS Money order", then see what the USPS says about it when you try to CASH is at the post office- DON'T deposit it in your bank account or cash it at your bank- cash it at the PO. If they cash it, then you're good to go- but my hunch is that they will determine that it's a fake MO and they might even hassle you for trying to cash it.



Bret.

[Jand3rson]

Karlo, turn and run. You're going to get fucked if you go through with this.

[808BMW]

My rule is: If it's incoherent, then its a foreign scammer.

[parkerbink]

I am having a client that is needing your item I will to be mailing you a Russian Naval war bond valued at $97,587.69. Please to be sending the 97,158.87 differance and your item to my client as soon as possible.

It is hard to type in bad/unreadable/weird English.

No not a scam at all.

[AndrewBird]

Just don't send anything until you get hte money in hand (in cash).

[eurostyl e30]

Scam. On Craigslist there is no reason why a legit buyer can't do a face to face cash transaction.

[RobertK]

USPS Money Order with a fake "Confirmation" email is the new Nigerian scam. The terrible engrish alone is enough to tip anyone off.