Does this sound legit

[Mephistopheles]

Neighbor lady's husband died and I offered to help get rid of his boat. Posted it on Craigslist <broken link removed> , last Sun and this is the first response I have received.
"My name is christopher , will be going home from work soon , if you can reply my email me now ,i can come to your place now before i have some rest or after i wake up , let me know our meeting point so i can set my eyes on what i wanted to buy to check on the condition of it . if not i can come in the evening on my way to work, I still have some cash in my wallet to pay you and take it along with me , hit my my contact address at chriszafico@(i deleted this part) now so i can schedule my movement on coming either way home or evening pls let me know . awaits your email .

Sent from my Sony Xperia™ smartphone"
This was sent at 2:49 AM. Probably middle of the day in Uganda. Has all of the markings of a scam. Looking for input. Thanks

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[Stomper]

Crap.... If I wasn't spending so much on my house remodel right now , I'd buy it.

 

[deadeye]

Yes a scam, anytime I get a reply that asks to contact their "personal" email or their friends, mothers, etc. email I ignore/delete the reply. I get texts saying basically the same thing even though the ad clearly states no texts.

A generic reply also is a give away. Nowhere do they mention what it is that they are wanting to inspect just a generalized "what I wanted to buy/check condition of".

Just fishing for your private email so they can send spam, scams or viruses.

 

[slimmer13]

I always get some guy on an oil rig in the Baltic sea. Man that guy must make alot of money because he is always willing to trade his 2013 king ranch F350 for whatever pos car I'm trying to sell on cl.

 

[transittech]

If you have a number you can risk, have him call you.

Its harder to scam someone when they can tell you off.

 

[jbett98]

Does the boat for sale have a clear title?
If it doesn't, you will have a rather unpleasant time getting one from the Oregon State Marine board, as they are 6 months behind issuing new ones.
Their excuse is a new computer system, but it allows them to cash your check the minute they receive it.

 

[Mephistopheles]

Thanks all for your input. Yes, boat has clear title. Ladies and man's name with, "or survivor" on it. Thanks for the heads up on the Marine board. I'll probably end up buying it from her. Bad time of year for finances, but I'll probably not be thinking of it while trolling this summer.

 

[jbett98]

I have the same Honda trolling motor and the first thing I would do is replace the thermostat.
They have a tendency to get stuck in the closed position after sitting in storage.
It's a little bit of a pain to replace, but it's better then burning up the power head.

 

[Joe13]

CL now uses a proxy email so you can always email back and tell them you will only deal with a telephone number.

My guess is the guy works a graveyard shift and isn't all that tech savvy.



I've had WAY worse that turned out to be legit buyers.

 

[kenr74]

let me know our meeting point so i can set my eyes on what i wanted to buy to check on the condition of it

That screams scam to me. I have gotten to the point that if the potential buyer can't put together a complete sentence that makes sense I don't even respond. Probably missing out on some legitimate buyers but not worth the frustration.

 

[Joe13]

That screams scam to me. I have gotten to the point that if the potential buyer can't put together a complete sentence that makes sense I don't even respond. Probably missing out on some legitimate buyers but not worth the frustration.

The ones that started out like that but ended up ok were always people that spoke English as a second language.

 

[Caveman Jim]

I have many ads on C/L and never had a scam (plenty of lowballers though) until I opened a C/L account last week. Since then I have had 4 scam emails and have tried to contact C/L to talk to a person but to no avail...
Text messages to get you to email them is a giveaway.

 

[Mephistopheles]

I have the same Honda trolling motor and the first thing I would do is replace the thermostat.
They have a tendency to get stuck in the closed position after sitting in storage.
It's a little bit of a pain to replace, but it's better then burning up the power head.

Thanks jbett98, The way it's looking I will probably be the next owner. If that's the case you no doubt saved me money and misery.

 

[jbett98]

I bought a used one from a member here and went ahead and installed a new water pump just to be sure, as I didn't want to be down for repairs during Springer season.
Feel free to PM me if you need more info on these great little outboards.

 

[Riot]

Neighbor lady's husband died and I offered to help get rid of his boat. Posted it on Craigslist <broken link removed> , last Sun and this is the first response I have received.
"My name is christopher , will be going home from work soon , if you can reply my email me now ,i can come to your place now before i have some rest or after i wake up , let me know our meeting point so i can set my eyes on what i wanted to buy to check on the condition of it . if not i can come in the evening on my way to work, I still have some cash in my wallet to pay you and take it along with me , hit my my contact address at chriszafico@(i deleted this part) now so i can schedule my movement on coming either way home or evening pls let me know . awaits your email .

Sent from my Sony Xperia™ smartphone"
This was sent at 2:49 AM. Probably middle of the day in Uganda. Has all of the markings of a scam. Looking for input. Thanks

"what I wanted to buy"
"cash in my wallet to pay you and take it along with me"

Doesn't specify amount, location or even the item...reads like a pre-made message. To test it out, say that "the Truck for $2,300 can be seen between 2pm and 8pm any day" to test if it is a genuine response. If he goes "I was trying to buy a boat" then that is too easy of a fix, just say you have multiple postings and got them confused. If dude replies with a "someone will pick it up and I'll mail you the check" you've got your answer.

 

[teflon6string]

Good question! Frequent CL traders/buyers/sellers are wary of the vague query... "whut is you best price this item!!!" Or they should be.

If you respond to that garbage, you're stepping out from behind a generic filtered CL email address, and giving someone your own personal email address. Next piece of the puzzle they'll want is your phone number. And then set up a time and place to view it - your home address of course.

Looks to me like this player has simply added extra blabber to the initial query in order to make it appear legit. Like there's a real human with a job and a schedule at the other end.

Buffalo dust! Not worth responding to IMHO.

Call me paranoid if you want. I'm a paranoid (careful) guy who buys and sells 10-20 things every year on CL with no issues. If someone can't step up with specific questions about the boat, length, color, horsepower, where they're coming from, etc., they're not getting squat from me. Not even a "fark arf."

 

[mjbskwim]

Neighbor lady's husband died and I offered to help get rid of his boat. Posted it on Craigslist <broken link removed> , last Sun and this is the first response I have received.
"My name is christopher , will be going home from work soon , if you can reply my email me now ,i can come to your place now before i have some rest or after i wake up , let me know our meeting point so i can set my eyes on what i wanted to buy to check on the condition of it . if not i can come in the evening on my way to work, I still have some cash in my wallet to pay you and take it along with me , hit my my contact address at chriszafico@(i deleted this part) now so i can schedule my movement on coming either way home or evening pls let me know . awaits your email .

Sent from my Sony Xperia™ smartphone"
This was sent at 2:49 AM. Probably middle of the day in Uganda. Has all of the markings of a scam. Looking for input. Thanks

Computer generated response
And I could use a boat like that next summer. Could you deliver it?

 

[Mephistopheles]

Computer generated response
And I could use a boat like that next summer. Could you deliver it?

No replies so I bought it from her yesterday, maybe I'll swing up your way someday and you can show me the hot spots. Lots of work to do on it this winter. Beats sitting around the house watching "Laverne and Shirley" reruns. If and when I get it completed I'll post photos. Thanks again to everyone for the input. Thanks jbett98 for your offer of help. I'll be pestering you all winter.

 

[Mikej]

If you've been watching Laverne & Shirley reruns during past, recent, winters I'm not sure you should be working on ANY kind of boat or equipment?

 

[mjbskwim]

Don't need a boat for the popular lake right now,but some ice equipment in a bit!
Williams lake is a pretty darn nice spot over here.If I had a boat,I'd probably circle the lake without bait just to enjoy the scenery