Craigslist classified listings is a very handy method of selling anything you no longer need. You can reach buyers in your own town and throughout the world. Sellers of items on Craigslist are losing out when buyers who are actually thieves pay for the listed item with an invalid money order. To add insult to injury, you lose your item AND you get stiffed for the payment! Get wise and find out how to identify a phony money order con.



Step 1: Notice people who may be willing to offer a higher price. The responses will start flowing in as soon as you post your merchandise on Craigslist. If someone is offering more than you are asking for your merchandise, chances are that they are scammers or unreliable purchasers. It is a sure sign that the buyer is not on the up and up.

Step 2: Try to contact the purchaser. Get to know the interested buyer through correspondence if you're suspicious of their intentions. Those with fake money orders can be located anyplace in the world. The way a potential buyer talks with you is a good indicator of their credibility. Take note of the grammar and spelling of the other person's written communications - many errors may indicate that someone from another country is trying to scam you.

Step 3: Keep your emotions in check. Remain calm and level headed to avoid being scammed on Craiglist. People out to take advantage of you will employ fake money orders and other tactics to dupe you out of your merchandise. Don't get taken in by sob stories or happy endings like “I'm so excited that after all this time I have found that last piece to complete my collection”. Your Craigslist sale should be treated like a business transaction.

Step 4: Maintain the privacy of your personal details. Don't give out your personal information such as phone number or address. The best advice you can follow is to stay anonymous, do not let them know who you are. If you are able to, ask them to pay by using Paypal, a safe online payment site. Giving the buyer your PayPal email address is all you have to do. To make sure that your personal monetary information is safeguarded, you must activate an account for this site. Invalid money orders are not accepted!

Step 5: Take safety measures. In the event that you have no choice but accepting a money order for what you've sold Craigslist, don't take it at face value. Examine it. The odds of its authenticity are greater if it has been sent by a big financial institution like a bank or credit union. Counterfeit financial instruments are usually the ones issued by unknown companies. After you have examined the money order, you should then take it to your local bank so they can inspect it as well. Have your bank ensure that the money order is genuine. Next, check your account to make sure the money has cleared before you forward the merchandise to the buyer. You should be overly cautious in regards to money orders. You have to be on your guard when selling items on because of the rise in fraudulent use of counterfeit money orders as payment.