It seems I may have been scammed
October 4th, 2006
As much as I don’t like to admit it, it is definitely starting to look like yours truly has been the target of a craigslist scam. I can’t say for sure just yet since my bank has yet to report back to me on where my money is from the failed furniture sale. This is particularly distressing news for me because I work online and I should know better.
Introducing Mark J. Morgan
Before I commit my mind to the negative side of this let’s talk about the facts. Shortly after posting my desk and filing cabinet on craigslist.org I was contacted by a man calling himself Mark J. Morgan (slowrolling89@aim.com). He explained that he was interested in the furniture and wanted to know the the exact condition of the items. After reassuring him that both items were in excellent condition — which they were — and asking where he planned to ship them, Mark Morgan mentioned that he is “a full deaf and from NewBrunswick [sic] …but right now i am in California”. Mr. Morgan even offered to pay for the shipping costs — which was a good thing at that time because I wasn’t about to pay for shipping them that far.
In the next series of emails Mark Morgan mentioned that he would be sending me a cheque for $1,000 and “as soonas [sic] the cheque clears..wire the outstanding balance to my shipper in California via western union”. Mark Morgan was then to make arrangements with this ‘shipping company’ to pick up the furniture on July 30th. I was told that the shippers would arrive on the scheduled day and I would just need to show them the items and they would pack and haul them away.
The slightly odd thing about this transaction — at the time — was that Mark Morgan was sending me the money to cover the shipping instead of sending payment to them himself. After asking him about it, Mr. Morgan told me “i only want to make one check for this transaction”. Everything seemed to be going smoothly and I received the cheque a few days later.
Introducing Tranex Shipping Agency and Leona Cross
During the time I was waiting for the cheque from Mr. Morgan, I was contacted by someone supposedly representing the Tranex Shipping Agency calling themselves Leona Cross (tranex_shipping_agen@myway.com). This Leona Cross wanted me to “confirm the aunthencity [sic] of this order so that we can come over as soon as possible”. She mentioned that I would need to send the funds a week before pickup so they can “put necessary things in place”.
Once I received the cheque I deposited the funds in my account. There were no holds placed on the cheque and as such the funds were immediately deposited into my account. Thinking, as most people would, that the cheque had cleared I contacted Leona Cross again asking for the shipping cost and method of payment. I was told the cost would be $650US and the payment method would have to be Western Union — to which they provided me the following details for the transfer:
NAME: LEONA CROSS
ADDRESS: 2008 N TUCKER RD. APT D
CITY: FARMINGTON
STATE: NEW MEXICO
ZIP CODE: 87401
Because the Western Union form asked me for a phone number I contacted Leona Cross again asking for one. She replied with “heres [sic] a number with which you will use and thats my direct phone number (213-239-3339)”. After some checking later on it seems that the 213 area code is for Los Angeles, further confusing why a Farmington, New Mexico address was given.
Sending the money
Since it seemed that the cheque had cleared I sent $650US via Western Union to Leona Cross C/O Tranex Shipping Agency. I informed the very impatient Leona Cross that the funds had been sent later that afternoon and she seemed to forget how much was to be sent because she asked “how much exactly in US DOLLARS are we getting here.” After reassuring her that the amount she requested was the amount being sent her response was a calm “OKay, we will get back to you as soon as the money is picked up.”
My next step was to let Mark Morgan know that the funds had been sent to the shipper. Mark seemed happy and excited to get the new furniture. He also let me know that if I had any other items for sale I should let him know. At this point I wasn’t about to tell him about the TV I was selling. If he wants something else I’m selling he can find it on craigslist himself, it’s a pretty easy system to use.
Losing contact
After everything had been settled and the shipping company was given the time periods to pick up the furniture they failed to show up. This is also the time that I noticed the money missing from my account.
Since I hadn’t heard from either Leona Cross or Mark Morgan I emailed them both asking them for more information on what’s happening. The furniture was still at my house, the money was now missing and I hadn’t even heard if they received their money from Western Union yet. It was quickly becoming a very stressful week for me.
A few days after sending my frantic emails I received a response from Mark Morgan saying the he had been very sick and forgotten to fill out some forms for the shipping company which is why they didn’t pick up the furniture. That is also the very last time I heard from Mark Morgan.
Two weeks and some change past before I heard from Leona Cross again. The email I sent that seemed to bring about the right result — which, in this case, was any type of response — merely said, “What the hell is going on here!? Why am I not getting any emails back from you!?” The response, which I will admit, caught me off guard. Leona said:
MR Mark is not feeling too strong and does not need the furniture anymore. He has contacted us to tell you to put up the furniture for sale and he sincerely apologises for this inconvenience. And he also demands a refund of money so that he can clear his hospital bills. Hope to hear from you soon.
He demands a full refund does he. Well, if he wants a full refund I wish him luck, I won’t be sending out any refunds to anyone involved in this transaction. My response was very quick to the point and I simply told Leona that I also demanded a full refund from her for the shipping fees paid to her via Western Union. That would be the last time I heard from Leona Cross.
The bank’s side
Over two months have passed now and I’m simply pursuing the only available option to me, the bank. I’ve contacted several people in regards to the cheque that was first accepted and deposited into my account and subsequently removed. While I’ve received several varied responses about timelines as to when I can expect the money back in my account, the last figure was sometime in early October.
A manager at my home branch has taken a look at all paperwork involved on the bank’s side — including the actual cheque — and seems to think that the cheque is actually legitimate. This bit of news is reassuring to say the least but at the same time it could also be false hope.
Final thoughts
At this point I’m not relying on this money for anything since I’ve been without it for so long already. The main reason I’m pursuing this is simply based on principle and, to a small degree, spite. I’m not a very gracious person when it comes to people attempting to scam or cheat me out of my money.
Also, if anyone has any information on Mark Morgan, Leona Cross or the Tranex Shipping Agency, feel free to either post it in the comments or email me directly. If this is a scam there’s no sense in letting these people get away with it again.
October 4th, 2006 at 10:40 am
Oh hell, that blows. If it is indeed a scam, it’s a very well planned one.
October 4th, 2006 at 11:26 am
It does blow. I’ve heard of scams that have some similarities to what happened to me but it’s usually for more money. On the grand scheme of things, $650 isn’t that much.
October 4th, 2006 at 11:40 am
Someone needs a brick through their front window.
October 5th, 2006 at 8:15 am
Sounds like a scam to me as well. I’ve been contacted a number of times by people regarding items that I had for sale on eBay. The most of them came when I posted my Powerbook for sale.
I’ve always been a bit leary of transactions that require me to wire money via Western Union, etc. so I’ve reserved myself to only selling items on Craigslist locally. It’s meant that I haven’t yet sold my Powerbook, but it makes me feel a little more comfortable making person-to-person transactions.
October 5th, 2006 at 8:54 am
Good advice and practice Jeff. After this experience I wouldn’t suggest any long distance transactions via craigslist. At least with eBay there is some type of fraud protection and prevention measures with Paypal and eBay itself.
I’m also never sending money via Western Union again no matter who it’s to or for.
October 5th, 2006 at 9:27 am
Speaking of these emails, I just got one this morning (see below). Note: another sign of a scam is when the ‘purchaser’ offers you more than you’re asking for your item.
Thanks For Your Reply.. Requring my payment method, I will be sending you the payment through via (AlertPay Intertional Money Order). And before the payment can be commenced, I will require for your full name and address, for the payment to be proceed. And i am willing offering you ($1,200.00).
Note: Once (AlertPay) has confirmed that i have a valid account and the money has been issued then the payment will be approved and the confirmation will be sent to you from (AlertPay Intertional Money Order) via email.Shipping is going to be arranged with my personal Fedex account. Waiting to hear from you as soon as possible so payment can be Ordered and we can have a fast transaction between ourselves.
October 11th, 2006 at 9:04 am
Awww Mike, I’m sorry that happened to you.
I can’t believe people like that exist!
I’m with Colin. He nees a brick thrown through his front window.
Bastard!
He’s got his coming though. I’m sure of it.
I really believe what goes around, comes around. Even if it isn’t coming from us. He’ll pay for it.
October 11th, 2006 at 9:23 am
Thanks Ana. I’m somewhat put off by it but I’ve definitely learned the lesson. I’m sure it will all come around as well, karma is an interesting creature.
October 12th, 2006 at 9:22 pm
Mike,
My mom is a branch manager at a bank in New Mexico and she had a customer have the same thing happen to him. The amounts were a lot higher though. I don’t remember the exact amounts at this time. I will contact her to see what she was able to do for her customer, and forward this information if anything seems beneficial to you.
Sorry to hear about your luck…
October 13th, 2006 at 6:08 am
Thanks Shaun, any advice or information you can provide would be great.
October 13th, 2006 at 6:41 pm
Mike,
I spoke with my mom, and she informed me that she has been to court for a few cases similar to yours in the past months. The bad news is that any checks cashed against your account, you assume full responsibilty for. I’m sure that you’ve already found this out from talking to your bank though. Luckily it was not too high of an amount. Although $1000 is a lot, the customers that my mom has dealt with have on average been in an upwards of $20,000. I hope that you were able to cover the amount so that the bank does not come after you. From this point there is nothing that you can do except report your misfortune to your bank and hopefully they can try and get to the bottom of it.
Sorry I did not bring any positive light your way, but if you have any questions please feel free to shoot me a message.
October 16th, 2006 at 6:43 am
Shaun: The bank basically took the money out of my account. I still had some cash left over after all was said and done but like you said, $1,000 isn’t really that much compaired to what it could have been.
My bank won’t come after me and from what I’ve heard from them is that they’re investigating the cheque that was sent. I’ve yet to hear back from them but I’ll be giving them a call in the next week or so to see what’s going on.
Thanks for talking to your mom though, I’m sure this will help someone out somewhere.
October 19th, 2006 at 6:04 pm
Dude I appreciate you so much!!! I just got an email from a very persistent customer seeking big girl illustrations. The asking price from me was $150, after the price quote, I asked for shipping information, I get this note:
[Thanks alot for the response and am really happy to read from you,So
now am from netherlands and regarding the payment am sending you the
payment through cashire check which am going to send to you in your
name.So am sending you $1,000 for the payment of (Pastel 21x25cm) which is $150.The reason why the payment is so high like that is due to, i have
a shipping company who is going to come for the pick up at your
location, and the shipper instructed me that they want their shippment
fees to be send to them through the saler so there wont be any problem
regarding the pickup thats why they bring out this policy and i do hope
you understand it.After you would have recieve the check form me, I
will want you to transfer the remaining funds back to the shipping
company through MONEY GRAM SECURITY OFFICE NEAR TO YOU or WESTERN UNION MONEY TRANSFER.]
So I hit Google, copy and paste the key sentence into the search window…BINGO!!!! your blog gives me the play by play on this scam. Thank God for Google and for your good sense to post this and expose this trickery. Many thanks!!!
JNESS
October 20th, 2006 at 6:22 am
JNESS: Glad this post helped you out. Almost makes me feel a little bit better about getting fooled myself ;^)
All in all I’m glad you googled first and didn’t accept the check.
January 6th, 2007 at 11:09 am
I work at a dealership (Ford) and got a call today requesting pricing on tires. After all was said and done, customer wants 20 goodyear tires. Contact name is Mark Morgan. Wants to pay by credit card and have tires picked up by UPS. Seemed a bit odd, so I did an internet search and found your info. Will do LOTS of checking before I sell 20 tires by phone & credit card. Email me if you would like any of the info I have and/or come up with. Perhaps we can compare notes.
Jerry
April 4th, 2007 at 1:24 pm
Mike,
I had a very similar experience on Craigslist, except I dealt with a buyer by the name of Kelly Rowland (who covered her tracks via email and only calling me using IPRelay, a phone program for the deaf) and a shipper by the name of Jennifer Frisch. I never had any contact with Frisch, but she picked up $2600 I sent via Western Union to Fullerton, CA. I have just learned today of the scam, hoping previously that the little issues were just that and noting more. I have filed a police report and am starting to talk to attorneys. My bank seems like it won’t be able to help much, though I will be going in there soon to talk to someone face-to-face. I’m a grad student, so $2600 is a huge sum of money - I’m going to try as hard as I can to get this back.
April 4th, 2007 at 3:07 pm
I’m sorry to hear how that turned out Salman. Hopefully your bank has someone that is willing to help you out of this jam. I’d think that this might fall under some sort of fraud protection, depending on the bank.
Glad to hear you’re not taking it lying down though. Let me know how it turns out.
September 4th, 2008 at 7:45 am
Is that Mark Morgan from Fullerton the same one that was on the People’s Court back in the early to mid 80’s? That was quite a case if I remember.
September 4th, 2008 at 1:52 pm
Not sure if it’s the same one. I hope not.
August 20th, 2009 at 9:54 am
U can always talk to FBI online.. I am sure they will be ready to help u guy out as they helped me in the past,,,, I still have email… jone_fbi@yahoo.com
Good luck guys