Fraud is something that most people using Craig’s List are probably already aware of, but if I didn’t share my recent experience I would feel like I was doing a disservice to anyone new to using online classifieds to sell their stuff.

Last week, I posted a guitar amplifier I don’t use nearly as often as I should on Craig’s List for $400. Within hours of posting the amp, I had several offers. One of the offers came from a person who said they were interested in the amp; they would send a money order; and they would arrange for Fed Ex to pick the amp up after I received payment.

I was under the impression that money orders would be a safe way to get my cash.

I was wrong!!

There were a lot of red lights flashing with this transaction, mostly because I was very aware of the amount of fraud on the Web.

The first red light came after I gave the person my address to send the money order.

The email read, “I will arrange with Fed-Ex to pick up the package after you have received payment. Payment will get to you under five days. You will have to inform me as soon as you received payment. This is important as to have a pick-up arrangement in place.”

This made sense, but didn’t put me at ease because I didn’t meet the person.

The next day, I received an email that stated, “There is a problem. I was away on a business trip, but asked my assistant to mail you the payment. After looking at my account, I noticed they mailed you the wrong payment- $1,700. You were overpaid. The payment was meant for another transaction. Please deduct your payment and send me the balance back via Western Union. God Bless, Kate.”

I thought who makes a $1,250 mistake. It could happen, but this is a big mistake.

I emailed them back stating I was an honest person and I would return the money upon arrival.

A reply email read, “I appreciate your good heart. My son has been sick, so I must tend to him. God bless.”

On Saturday, I received a UPS envelope from New York City from a man named Javier Garcia. The person I was in correspondence with was named Kate Lymon from Benin.

This was the next big red flag.

So I kept the envelope and inquired through email about the name of the person. I never heard back.

The next day, I received an email stating that I should have received payment, thanking me for my “good heart,” telling me to take an extra $30 for my troubles. The person wrote that they own a record shop in Benin and would like me to send the money Western Union to her account manager named Phinehas Nwanni in Cotonou, Benin.

Because I though things were fishy, I didn’t respond to the email.

I then received a second email stating that the person needed to hear from me. Their child was incredibly sick and asked me to pray for their recovery. “I need all the prayers I can get. He has heart problems similar to the ones I have had and needs to see a specialist.”

As it turned out this person needs all the prayers they can get, not for their son’s heart, but for their own!!

I didn’t check my email over the weekend, so by the time I got around to checking it, the email I had been responding to was cancelled. I assume in fear that I was onto the scheme.

I put all of the things together and realized this was a scam from the beginning. I took the emails, envelope, money orders and names to police, who confirmed the money order was fraudulent.

Had I cashed the money order, I would have been out $1,700 if the banker cashed it and found it to be fraudulent weeks later.

I would have sent the money Western Union to Benin and could have been charged with offering a fraudulent check and wire fraud.

Moral of the story, be a skeptic when selling anything online.

I wish I had a chance to correspond with this fraud one more time as I turned down a couple potential buyers and nearly gave up $1,700.

I have a few things I would like to say to this person, I have thought of reposting the item in hopes that the person attempts to buy it one more time.