Stuff That Matters In Life

I emailed another “great deal” advertised on Craigslist for an Acura to see what would happen.

Below is the response I got back. Beware of different verbage that is being used with these scams. This one took out the ridiculous “free shipping from the military” bit and sounds more convincing.

There are not only selling scams, but many buying scams as well, apparently using fake cashier checks. I naively thought cashier checks were pretty safe, so beware!

Here are a couple of observations I noted while going through this car buying scam experience:

1. Con artists prey on our greed.

I admit, I would love to be able to get a $20,000 Acura for $4,000, wouldn’t you? I don’t really care if the seller of the car is getting a divorce or going through whatever difficult problems. If I can take advantage of his dire circumstances in order to get a good deal, I wouldn’t hesitate.

I think that is a wrong view of life to take. Sure, the seller offered it freely and willing to take the lost. He may be a billionaire and do not need the money. I understand that. But I think my heart of greed in wanting to gain something at someone else’s expense is still wrong.

Don’t misunderstand, I am not saying it’s wrong to buy discounted goods. I am all for finding good deals on sale. But I think greed is a very subtle thing and scammers have a pretty keen insight into the human heart. That’s why God warns about being covetous. I need to examine my own heart.

2. Every good thing can be abused.

Craigslist says “DEAL LOCALLY WITH FOLKS YOU CAN MEET IN PERSON - follow this one simple rule and you will avoid 99% of the scam attempts on craigslist.”

But I buy stuff off internet merchants, eBay, etc. that are not local. Or even catalog sales are never local. In this day and age of global economy, we handle many financial transactions online without ever meeting the person.

I like the ease of buying online - book hotel rooms, refill my prescriptions, buying books without having to find a local bookstore that stocks the book I want, etc.

I am thankful to the smart computer engineers who made all that possible. But some bad guys have to go and spoil it for everyone by using their intelligence for unscrupulous gain.

Don’t you hate those kids at school who can’t win the game, so they don’t follow the rules and mess up the fun for everyone? That’s what this reminds me of. Con artists can’t make money in a legitimate way, so they cheat and steal to get what they want without a care for those who play by the rules and suffer from their tactics.

If you think about it, almost every good thing can be abused. I am looking around my room, and I see the camera. It can be used to capture fun family memories - or used for dirty porn. The pen in my cup for writing poetry of love - or hate mail.

Sometimes, I just detest my own race.

I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised. From the beginning of time, evil existed alongside the good. I suppose that’s why Jesus gave us the instruction to be “as innocent as doves” in our good behavior, but also to be “wise as serpents” when interacting a fallen world.

I want to make sure I am on the side of good and not contributing to the mess of “badness”.

Anyway, here is the last scam email I received. I still want this car!

Hello,

Sorry for the delayed response, but I’m in Glasgow (Scotland) right now and I have been very busy.Anyway,thank you for your interest in buying the car. The car is located in US right now and has US papers.Why is the price so low? I am going trough a divorce, and I had to move out of USA I cannot register the car here, as it is made for USA, according to USA standards. So all that I want to do now is to sell the car at this price, because I need to sell it fast(I already made a deposit here to buy me another).The title is clean and you will have absolutely no problems to register the car in the States.

I will tell you a few words about the car..

My 2005 Acura RL with automatic transmission it is in immaculate condition with 20,343 Miles and have the VIN number: JH4KB16565C002996 , rust free , no scratch and hasn’t been involved in any accident. The motor runs very well(3.5L V6 PFI SOHC 24V).The interior looks great(NO SMOKING).This car needs nothing,the title is clear ,it is not a salvage one.
I want this transaction to go smoothly enough as I am caught in the middle of some very important events and have little time at my disposal. I already have tones of emails so I hope you understand that I need to sort them out. The car is like new, in perfect conditions,accident free, no scratches, no special marks, no need for additional repairs what so ever. a genuine road runner ready to be yours, but only if you shall understand and you won’t make me loose time as it has already happened to me.

Here are all the photos of my car. The pictures are recent, and they were taken right before preparing the car for sale.
The car is exactly as shown in the pictures: http://s232.photobucket.com/albums/ee282/2005Acura/

The price is $4,400.00 USD THIS IS MY LAST PRICE.I will not negotiate the price.I will take in consideration only those buyers who are really interested in buying the car ,to be sure that I don’t waist my time with endless discussions.This way,I shall be assured of the serious intentions .

So if you are interested please email me back for next step.

Regards !!

~ Kevin Walter ~