MovingForward
Wellington,#2Consumer Suggestion
Sun, February 20, 2011
When you are using Craigslist - it is for local shopping only where you "cash and carry" the item. In other words, you pay cash for the item you see when you go to the location to check the item out. No one uses paypal or ebay because it is not affliated with craigslist in any way, shape or form. That is actually your first clue that you were dealing with a scammer. Your second clue was you had to Western Union a payment - big red flag.
There is a disclosure about scams and frauds right on the first page of craigslist.
That old adage about 'If it seems to be to good to be true, it probably is' works here. The scammers only win because they are appealing to your greed. If it was such a good deal and only 1-1/2 hrs away, why didn't you see it? Oh that's right, she didn't want you to come look - another huge red flag.
Any of the red flags above should have stopped you from buying it, but you insisted on sending your money per the scammers request via Western Union. This is a lesson learned: don't part with your money so easily. Take the extra time to look at what you are buying. NEVER send money to strangers via Western Union or anything similar.
Next time you use Craigslist, use it for what it was intended for: local shopping only.