OT: This scam almost hooked me...

[Brad Kaenel]

After decades of tech and computer immersion, I thought I'd come to the oh-so-cynical place where I could spot obvious scams and phishing ploys from a mile away. Well, pride goes before the fall -- sometimes the bait is presented so simply and reasonably, and is so obviously valuable and desirable, that all your "red flag" sensors just go dark. As mine did on this:

 

Baby Grand Piano (Riverside)

 

A free Steinway baby grand?! Just a few miles away?! How can I *not* follow up on that? I wrote I nice, personable email note, introducing myself and asking about the year/model and how/when I could drive over and play the instrument; I was kind of excited actually. And then, the email reply:

 

=========================

"Good morning,

 

"Since I got no response regarding the piano before I relocated to my new apartment I left the piano with the mover i employed to move the rest of my properties in Dallas, Texas. If you don"t mind I can give you the movers contact so you can reach him that shouldn"t attract you much charges to have the piano delivered to your location. I hope you give the piano a good sanctuary for many more years . The piano was recently tuned early January this year.

 

"The piano is 2007, model - 0"

=========================

 

How come they didn't address me by name? Why did the grammar suddenly get so bad? They got *no response* about from their previous listing of a FREE Steinway? It's a Model "zero"? Since when do movers just hold on to your unwanted stuff?

 

D'oh!!! ARRGGHHHH!!! I am such an IDIOT!!!

 

I didn't swallow the hook, but I sure nibbled the worm. How many times have I said to my kids, "If it sounds too good to be true, trust me, it usually is." I was so mad at myself, I even decided I'd play along for awhile and emailed back a gushing response about excited I was, and yes, please let me know how to contact the movers. And sure enough, I got a text from the "mover": "Hi, this is David the mover"

 

Idolatrous desire can strike so unexpectedly. I have donned the Cone of Shame:

[cedar]

A few years ago, when I was shopping for a grand piano, I think I came across a similar sounding scam. I didn't even take a nibble, I'm proud to say, but I've definitely fallen prey in the past. It's almost a rite of passage nowadays.

[Docbop]

I started in computers around 1979 and saw scam potential early on so my BS filter is always on 11. I only got bit once and it wasn't from internet it was from someone selling some computers. I knew it was a risky deal, but figured it like Las Vegas if I win that's great and if I lose well at least I knew the risks. Like the OP I take the stance of.... if it sounds too good to be true, then it probably is. Or as I learn from another "everything in life has a price tag, nothing is ever free in the long run".

[The Real MC]

F##I#ing scammers everywhere. When I started my job hunt I immediately got job scam emails and phone calls.

[Baldwin Funster]

The worst part is you gave the scammer hope. You're the fish that got away. Imagine if the scammer took the extra time to compose a sincere reply with your name in it and had used good grammar. He might have got you into the boat.

 

I had to chek the spelling on grammar.

[stillearning]

A few years back, I was scanning Craigslist for a used backhoe. and came across a relatively new John Deere way underpriced at $5k. I emailed the guy and got a similar response as yours... "The backhoe is in Utah, But I can arrange to have it shipped..." etc. He said he was in the military and being constantly re-stationed. So I played along for a couple weeks, just to get his hopes up, like he initially did mine. To the point of suggesting I would wire him extra $$ for his trouble, and thanking him for his service.

 

Scammers like that really piss me off. Anymore, when I see a number come up on my phone with my area code and prefix that looks obviously masked, I answer "Consumer Fraud Hotline, can you hold?" and wait for the inevitable click.

[Rodan88]

Hi, Brad -

 

I'm glad you avoided any serious bloodshed!

 

2 points:

 

1) Far be it from me to analyze a scammer's thought processes, but perhaps "Model 0 (the number)" was supposed to have been referring to Steinway's well-known "Model O (the letter)." Of course, that's presuming that the scammer knows the difference between a piano and a sousaphone. Or cares.

 

2) The photos were also a tipoff. Some of them were taken in a home, others appeared to have been taken in an empty space. You'd think that a regular ol' person would just snap a few amateur photos in his living room. It doesn't make sense that there'd be mixed photos from vastly different spaces like that. There are other difference in the photos as well.

 

And yes, I agree that the "too good to be true" rule almost invaiably applies! That always sets off my BS detector.....

[dfcas]

This scam is commonly on Craigslist as his dearly departed wifes precious Yamaha grand. Pay shipping only.

[MathOfInsects]

There are definitely two different pianos in those pictures. Half of them show pegs on the lid, half do not.

 

Still, I never would have noticed that if I weren't looking.

[tunaman]

A few years back, I was scanning Craigslist for a used backhoe. and came across a relatively new John Deere way underpriced at $5k. I emailed the guy and got a similar response as yours... "The backhoe is in Utah, But I can arrange to have it shipped..." etc. He said he was in the military and being constantly re-stationed. So I played along for a couple weeks, just to get his hopes up, like he initially did mine. To the point of suggesting I would wire him extra $$ for his trouble, and thanking him for his service.

 

Yep - seems to be extremely common on CL for all kinds of listings. I"ve ran into this a few times now while looking for golf carts and ATVs.

[KuruPrionz]

Nigerian princes have given me umpty bajillion dollars every day for the rest of my life and all the beautiful Russian women are now my wives.

 

Except, well, uhhh......

 

yeah...

[o0Ampy0o]

It is obviously suspect. The guy is a renter of an apartment. Who cannot sell a well working Steinway baby grand piano in LA? He could get at least a month's rent for it!

 

What is the scam? Does the mover want a few bucks wired to him in advance for gas? :-)

 

 

A sort of alter-universe related experience may reveal the foundation of future scam design. There are enough people out there operating on impulse and with a nut or screw misplaced who just might take the bait: Years ago someone showed up at my door almost certain that my newspaper classified ad must be a scam but worth investigating just in case it wasn't. I had to read the ad out loud illustrating the appropriate emphasis and pause indicated by sentence structure before he could comprehend the description. Maybe he read the ad and felt he had to rush out to seize the great deal over all else. Like he had to be there and couldn't wait and call in advance. This was long before cell phones, car phones or even cordless phones but he could have called using a phone including a pay phone and asked me to confirm the price before driving out to look at it.

[Tom Williams]

when I see a number come up on my phone with my area code and prefix that looks obviously masked, I answer "Consumer Fraud Hotline, can you hold?" and wait for the inevitable click.

That is beautiful. I shall steal it.

[Tom Williams]

This scam is commonly on Craigslist as his dearly departed wifes precious Yamaha grand. Pay shipping only.

I was a bait nibbler on that one last summer. Advertised in the Morgantown WV CL, with the piano presumably in Davis. I texted him "Great, I live 30 miles away in Philippi. I'll go get a truck." He texted back -- very quickly -- "Philippi in LA?" And then I realized the catch -- the piano was (supposedly) in Davis CA instead of Davis WV. The illusion quickly disintegrated, of course, when I realized there was no way to accidentally post 2000 miles away. Only after all that did it occur to me to google "yamaha piano scam cragslist", and there it was....

[stillearning]

This is a long read, but offers some interesting insight into phone scammers.

Inside Look At Scam Call Centers

[Brad Kaenel]

It is obviously suspect. The guy is a renter of an apartment. Who cannot sell a well working Steinway baby grand piano in LA? He could get at least a month's rent for it!

 

What is the scam? Does the mover want a few bucks wired to him in advance for gas? :-)

 

Probably something like that. I went as far as to give him the zip code of a neighboring town, so he could tell me how much it would cost to deliver: $250. Supposedly "David" the mover was on his way through Arizona with the piano in the back of his truck, but he could turn back to California if I called him quickly. I didn't follow through, so I don't know what the payment scam would have been. He did, though, txt me a (fake) photo of the piano strapped to the inside of his (otherwise empty) truck. OK, so you're just driving around Arizona with a piano in the back of your truck, waiting for someone to call you to tell you where to deliver it? Hmm...

[Brad Kaenel]

There are definitely two different pianos in those pictures. Half of them show pegs on the lid, half do not.

 

Still, I never would have noticed that if I weren't looking.

 

Right. Thanks for your, and Rodan88's sharp eyes. Good admonishment to really study the photos.

[Tom Williams]

It must be the season for it.

 

This evening my wife brought her phone to me to talk with a social security guy who was upsetting and confusing her. I noticed that the caller ID number was in both our WV area code and our cellular exchange (used to be called "city code") first three digits. Couple that with an off-continent (okay, Indian subcontinent) accent, and the rat was obvious. On another day I might have played with the culprit to waste his time, but this time I just loudly called him on the inconsistencies -- like why did he say he was in Washington DC with a WV phone number, and could I call him back at this number? He suddenly (and wisely) ended the call.