In preparation for the move, Kid 2 decided to get rid of her old clothes. She has American Apparel she hadn’t worn since the beginning of high school, crop tops, etc. She announced that she downloaded an app called Poshmark and was going to sell her belongings online.
Kid 2: I’m going to sell my prom dress.
Me: Really? Please don’t.
Kid 2: It’s my dress, mom.
Me: I know, but prom dress is something you could keep and later show your kids. (I wish I still had my prom dress. It was bought second hand, it cost $30, and it was hideous. That would be hilarious.)
Kid 2: What if I don’t have any girls? Someone else could use this prom dress. They might not be able to afford a really nice one and my prom dress will make someone else happy.
Me, struggling with perfectly sound reasoning: Umm. Ehhh. It is your prom dress, honey. I’m not going to tell you what to do with it.
The next day.
Kid 2, grim faced: I deleted the app.
Me: Why?
Kid 2 throws crumpled check on the table: This is why. This girl contacted me through the app and told me she loved the dress. We agreed on $170, including shipping. I emailed her. We had a conversation about my dress. Then, she sent this.
As soon as saw this, I emailed her and told her to Redacted by Me (in the interests of not cursing on the blog – Ilona.) I told her she was a scammer. She tried to tell me that she wasn’t and that this is her “shipping agent” and if I would sent her the thousand dollars back, I could keep the rest. I reported her to the app and deleted the app and cancelled everything. We talked through the email, mom. She must’ve thought I was a complete idiot. Do I sound like an idiot? I mean, when I write you a professional sounding email, why would you think I would be so stupid that you can scam me?
Kid 2 attempted to do further sleuthing, but the guilty party deleted her app and email accounts.
I am super-proud right now, because Kid 2 was savvy enough to instantly recognize the scam and to act accordingly.
In the interests of public exposure, if you child is using this app or any other app to sell their clothes or collectibles, please talk to them about phony checks. First indicator of the scam is the larger amount of money than agreed upon with some sort of bullshit arrangements which involve the child depositing the check and sending back the balance of the transaction. The check wouldn’t clear and the child would be left responsible for the entire balance.
Other things to look for:
- When we held it up to the light, it was NOT watermarked. It was very clearly printed on regular printer paper.
- The signature was also printed. The name wasn’t signed with a pen.
- The name on the check was different than the name of the seller. This one is tricky, because it could be the parent sending the check, but if that’s the case, would recommend confirming with the parent.
So once again, proud of Kid 2. We hope that this will save someone else from a scam. Kid 2 will be taking the fake check to the bank, because banks use them for training purposes.
This is parenting done right and a very smart & savvy daughter, and yes, I will have this talk with my daughter, even though she’s never shown an interest in anything like this.
Wow I had no idea this is a type of scam. Thanks for telling us!
*looks at 1-year-old*
*has mild panic attack*
Hear hear! Well done and I am sorry she had this learning experience. If she is still worried about sounding less than intelligent via email, please share that scammers scattershot to everyone, in hopes they hit a mark. Now I’ll share this with my teen.
My girls are 6 and 3, and I also had a multi-faceted tech-world parenting panic attack in response to this useful post. Thanks, Ilona.
Yay Kid 2. May you continue in wisdom and the elusive common sense.
You might also want to contact your local newspaper or TV stations or a security blogger, like http://www.krebsonsecurity.com. They’ll pass this along and it’ll make a great story because it not only shows that young adults need to be savvy, but also that they’re targeted.
Tell her kudos from the Horde.
I agree, get this info out there. Most people think its only the elderly that is targeted, they don’t think this could happen to them.
Lol sorry I thought they were asking for a profile picture. Ugg need more coffee.
Well done Helen! There are adults who don’t recognise scams. She’s done brilliantly.
The only thing I’d say is that it mustn’t stop her from trying things in future. She’s proved to herself and to all around that she can recognise a scam, so she mustn’t lose confidence in the system itself.
You are right to be proud.
Good for Kid 2. My kid 1 learned her lesson when she entered a contest on Cracked, won but never actually got paid. She didn’t give them any information, she used a PayPal account, but she was counting on that money for Christmas presents and never got it.
Oh, and I still have my prom dress too, it cost more than $30, but it’s fun to show it around and laugh about it now! Very Scarlett O’Hara!
Good job on Kid 2. I can’t believe how long people have been trying this scam. I had someone try this crap for my horse trailer I sold 12 years ago. Argh. They had this whole story about how they were going to ship the trailer to Germany. I was like, there would be no vehicles to even pull it there. It was a big heavy gooseneck trailer. How stupid.
I’ve had better luck using Craigslist and the Facebook marketplace which allow you to sell to people in your area than Poshmark. Part of the problem with Poshmark is that people sell a lot it knockoff brands there as well so you have to be a very savvy shopper as well as on the lookout for fraudulent buyers. Ebay has similar issues with scamsbuyers in my experience, although I’ve not had any issues as a buyer myself.
Yup, some of them even have safe places to meet up to exchange goods for $. When I lived in Fort Smith, the police station had parking right out front that was for these types of transactions.
Good for kid 2 and good parenting.
As a buyer on Poshmark, I have to ask if she and the girl agreed to another form of payment, i.e. check, in a chat? Poshmark is set up to pay through PayPal, unless you start trading/paying through other communication. Technically the site dissuades people from doing that.
Alot of sellers have been scammed on Poshmark. For example, they will shio the item exactly as described, then the seller will claim something was wrong and fofeit the payment, but not send the item back. Poshmark pretty much takes, “the buyer is always right” to the extreme and doesn’t do anything to help the seller out. Its a cool app, but as a seller, I would stick with eBay.
Agree. Good job kid 2! Poshmark CAN be great — I find their shipping much easier to manage than eBay, for example — but as the app itself notes, transactions should always be carried out via Poshmark/PayPal, not taken outside the org. This kind of scam is endemic on Poshmark — nearly every valuable listing I’ve posted has resulted in a comment requesting an email/contact outside the site.
FYI: Kid 2 Name is showing up unblurred on FaceBook.
Smart kid – nice job!
My daughter tried initially to sell her prom gowns thru Craigslist, but was offered such trifling amounts that she ended up donating them to charities. Good for your daughter to recognize the scam!
Sorry this happened to your daughter but glad she caught it right away. Other scams to be aware of are phone and email ones. My husband almost got taken in by a scam Apple one about Pandora.
I think I’ll stick with local folks, or eBay and Paypal. I can’t believe how many scams there are in this world.
Isn’t it great when your kids show how savvy they can be? Nicely done Kid 2!
There are organizations that accept donations of prom dresses for kids that can’t afford one. Perhaps that is an option? If you Google “donate prom dress Texas” several pop up.
I was going to suggest this too. I worked at a high school for 10 years and saw firsthand how devastating it is for kids that can not afford to go to prom. I helped start one of the prom clothes giveaways at our school…and it was simply amazing the amount of joy that a prom dress or suit brought to those kids.
I’m a photographer and I see this scam all the time. It must still be working for scammer to continue to use it.
Obviously there a lot of red flags here that Kid 2 picked up on (good for her) but another one is that it is allegedly a cashier’s check. No one who is bargain hunting and haggling on an app is going to spend the ~$10 it costs to draw a real cashier’s check, as well as time, inconvenience, etc. unless the seller insists, especially when most services like Paypal or Ebay charge the seller, rather than the buyer, fees to protect against this sort of thing. Most adults have likely used a cashier’s check once or twice for a major transaction, but younger people are vulnerable to thinking that a cashier’s check is as good as cash (since a true one basically is) without being familiar enough with them to recognize a fake one. If she is ever in doubt again (with something less obvious) you can always go to your bank and express your concerns and provide them the check. They can determine whether it is legitimate or not and if not may even be willing to work to identify the individual. In my experience banks take those attempts pretty personally.
I can’t speak to having been scammed but I can testify to PayPal being a beast when it comes to protecting the seller. My PayPal account for hacked years ago and someone in Indonesia took my whole paycheck (it was linked to my bank account) to buy computers or some such nonsense. My actual bank, Citibank, was utterly useless. PayPal, however, sent me a security key random generator overnight and put my money right back into my bank account by that second day. Since then, I haven’t had a single problem using them (and only them).
I’m sorry Kid 2 feels badly but she shouldn’t – she caught on right away when there are grown adults who wouldn’t. Brava for her.
Kid 2 is really smart and savvy ! I wonder where she gets that from ? Good info about PayPal . The thieves are everywhere but don’t despair, just destroy them by winning.
on the facebook picture you can still read the blotched out name assume it’s your daughter’s real name. just wanted to let you know.
I work in banking and we see this scam all the time for work, secret shopping, house rentals, purchasing cars etc. if it too good to be true…….it is, and when in doubt take everything to your bank and ask them. She did a good job spotting the scam, what can end up happening is that the check gets deposited and when the check comes back bad you are out of that money. Scammers love overnighting bad checks to people.
I work in banking too, and the first thing that came to my mind was that it could also be a money laundering scheme, if the check was real…
I have an Etsy store that works really well, including for selling extra craft supplies. I like it because my items are either digital downloads, or shipped and Etsy takes care of all of the payment processing. But I’ve always shied away from using eBay or other platforms to sell random items, partially for these reasons. So frustrating for Kid2, even if she was savvy enough to not fall for the scam.
I have upon occasion had Craigslist ‘garage sales’, where I list a number of items all at the same time, and arrange to have all of the sold items picked up at approximately the same time on the same day. But I’m always a little nervous, because that means I’m giving strangers my home address. For that reason, I always make sure to schedule pickups for a day when I’m not home alone. And I don’t sell anything of significan value. I grew up in a not-so-great section of Los Angeles and don’t think I’ll ever get rid of the caution that environment instilled.
Check to see if your Craigslist has “safe zones” to meet people to carry out your sales in safety. Like a local police station.
My daughter uses Thred Up for selling or exchanging good clothes her daughter has outgrown.
Ugh, I’ve encountered that scam, but not through any apps. I’d been contacted by someone claiming to want to buy a bunch of my art, and doing the whole “just send me back the difference” crap. Uh, no thanks. Really depressing how some people prey on others like this.
I almost got tricked by something similar when trying to sell a car on Craigslist. The scammers are out there.
scammers keep trying things like this for a reason – sometimes it works.
I work in customer care and over the past year it is common to receive phone calls from people asking if we really sent them a text message saying they have a credit on their account and asking them to provide information for us to refund the balance. We always ask our customers to forward these to our fraud team to investigate
I have personally received messages from a bank telling me I need to validate my CC information – from banks that I don’t even deal with. So many scammers are just “fishing” waiting for those hits. They know that the majority of the people they hit up will not reply but as there is little cost in the contact and occasional payouts the scammers keep on going.
While some will say this is a sad result of our society and technology the fact is that scamming is not new. It is not a reflection of our times – it has been around as long as societies have been in existence. The best thing to do is to talk about them – to help other recognize the traps and limit the rewards for this behavior.
I remember how suprised I was that cheks arę still a thing in USA. Of cours we have scams as well but nobody uses cheks for privat transactions only maby betwen banks.
You have a fantastic daughter! I’ve been selling stuff on Craigslist and Autotrader, and have run into similar scams involving certified checks and PayPal.
Way to go, Kid 2!! Very astute of you to catch it.
This type of scam happens so much now. I’m attempting to sell my classic car, and listed it at a well-known and respected website. Every single contact via that site was a scam attempt! At least with my Craig’s List ad, I had a couple of contacts that were local and legitimate.
Keep up your awareness, as the scammers are everywhere!
Smart Girl.
There are lots of places to sell clothing–ebay is one of the best. I shop there and sell there!
Happy Thanksgiving to y’all.
Looks like you and Gordon have raised two smart and kind girls. Congratulations.
Kay
Well done on her part. Better than an adult I know who shipped off the merchandise, only to be finally told by the bank that the check was bogus.
He had been warned but would not listen. I don’t know if he sent the ‘remainder’ of the money the check was for.
This happened to me once. I was like seriously do I look like an idiot. Sure I will cash your check — like never. The person even sent me a nasty email in return.
I dont understand why the child would be out the full amount? Wouldnt you send the remainder after it cashes in? Just in case it bounces?
(If you didnt realise it was a scam)
It’s not a valid check, so if Kid 2 tried to deposit it via an ATM or such and got cash back, then she’d be out the cash she got back. If she went to a teller, they *should* be able to tell it’s fake and not even deposit it. I don’t often go to the teller, but I’m not sure I’ve ever seen them lift a check to the light to look for the watermark, but maybe they can tell by feel, or have another way to tell.
My bank only allows about $100 or maybe it’s $300 to be readily available from an ATM deposit (or mobile app deposit). So for me, I’d just be out that amount because they wouldn’t give me the full amount initially, but that depends on 1) your financial institution, and 2) the amount of the check.
I was hit with the PCH Green dot scam. But after doing some research online at PCH, I found out about the scam and they have a link set up that takes you to a site where you can file a report which is then forwarded to the appropriate law enforcement agency.
Interestingly enough a later scammer tried the exact same thing and got really mad when I kept hanging up on him. His last call was basically to complain about how rude I was in refusing to take his call.
So is she keeping the prom dress?
Good catch! So many people if it’s on the internet, it must be ok. Glad she caught it and thanks for the post to remind us to beware. Especially, this time of year.
Huge scams going on right now.. Your wife has a federal tax warrant .
She’s going to jail unless you get $1000 in iTunes cards and give me the numbers. .. you have missed federal jury dury.. and are going to jail unless you get these prepaid cards. ..give me the numbers
Or much more subtle, the man or women that some lonely single person has been chatting online with for a few weeks all of a sudden gets stranded in some foreign country, had their wallet/purse stolen and needs that person to help them out of a horrible bind. That one is ugly because the poor victims think there is emotional involvement.
Yeh. We’ve had that one except someone hacked the computer system at a hotel we stayed at and got our details. As scams went (visitor stranded in the UK) it was rather obvious but we contacted the hotel and made sure that they knew their security had been breached and that we were not happy the someone had so easily gained access to our information.
I received an email purportedly from a woman who I must have given my business card to at some point. A simple “Does the address work” email. I responded with “yes” thinking that it was a contact regarding business. The next thing you know, I got a return email from the same address only this time it’s a guy going in about how he’s not doing very well after leaving his belongings in a taxi “in the country he’s in”, keep the message to myself because he doesn’t want to worry his friends and family, and is there x or y near “where I live”. X or Y being places you can buy prepaid phone credits.
I’m thinking to myself how weird that was and maybe it was sent to the wrong person. Only the email address it was sent to is not one that you could randomly make a mistake on. So I googled the name and came across a website where women tell their stories (and out with pictures) the fake profiles these scammers have used on them and some of those stories were pretty awful. The pix were often the same guy, different names and had been lifted from some obscure foreign male model or actor’s social media. The name also corresponded to a FB profile of an attractive older man, driving a sports car, or broodingly holding a cigar with a very expensive watch on his wrist with what looks like Hong Kong in the background. Pix are of a Venezuelan actor in fact.
I wish I had the lady’s name that appeared on the first email because I’d warn her. 🙁
You have to laugh at the antics of some of these fraudsters. Some of these scams are so obvious I can’t imagine anyone being taken in. I forget the full details but one ludicrous scam suggested I was in trouble with the FBI over tax issues and had to sign some forms, give them details or be fined, yada yada yada. Firstly, I am not a US citizen and secondly I have never lived in the States so have never paid US taxes. Most people aren’t that gullible but the sad thing is the someone will be frightened enough or unsure enough to respond.
I kept a dress from a junior prom in college. I just loved the deep blue velvet. Fast forward many years and due to changing styles and hemlines, my daughter not only saw and liked the dress, it fit perfectly and she wore it to her college junior prom and was a smash in it. Everyone was happy Well, not quite. Dad/Hubby said it had to be one of the saddest days of his life to see his daughter going to a prom in the dress his date had worn to hers.
This happened to my boss on Craigslist. Her check actually had a signature and perforated edges. But it was marked as fraudulent and now they keep calling her asking about the check.
Oh, yeah, this type of scam recently got really popular in my country -_- usually with cars, more expensive furniture and music instruments. There’s at least one news article every week about how people got (almost) scammed. No one’s trying to do anything about that yet, though.
It used to be really popular for scammers to call older people, tell them that their family member got arrested or got into an accident, and ask for money on behalf of that family member. Then they would dress up as policemen and go take the money. A lot of old ladies got scammed out of their money that way.
Now I usually hear about this type of scam or people renting apartments from fake owners.
I just wanted to say that I have used Poshmark many times and that I love the site. I have never encountered that problem and the few problems I have had were generally people not sending out something they were supposed to send. After a few days past the send due date, the app automatically cancels the sale and refunds your money.
I’ve even had a pair of designer glasses break unexpectedly, less than a week after they were received, and since they were a new inbox but used item, the seller very kindly just credited us for a new item from her store.
You can dispute things through Poshmark and they are very careful to tell you never to go outside the app to make payment arrangements.
Anyway, just wanted to say it is actually a good app but of course people try to be jerks everywhere. The only thing I’ve had to look out for personally is that some people will have obvious ads that are not them but rather clothing that they have gotten from Chinese resellers from eBay or AliExpress for massive markup. I have either posted a comment with a link to the original item for 10th the cost, or have reported them to the platform. That’s the only place I found that they fall short, the platform sees nothing wrong with this and having someone masquerade as someone selling something from their private closet when in fact they are for-profit resellers doesn’t seem to trouble them.
They will usually say it is a new item though, so I’m usually on the lookout for that, or if the picture is obviously a model.
People rate the sellers and will make comments on their received items, so that really helps.
Finally, this is my absolute favorite place to get things I can no longer find IF I already have a brand and size in mind. I have giant calves. The current trend for skinny jeans would leave me pants-less. If I could not go find my favorite old brands in sizes I already know would fit me I would be running (half) naked through the streets. You are all spared this, thanks to Poshmark!
Wow, this a popular scam type. I had the same thing tried on me about a job and about a room rental. Amazing the crap people think of.
Nice work, Kid 2! The Horde salutes you!
Yeah, I would have appreciated more training of this sort through my later teens. The first year I had my credit/debit card was a rollercoaster of a learning experience.
Good job kid 2! My older daughter was caught by a variation of this scam. They used the check, which was only off by a little bit so as to not be too obvious, to drain money from my daughter’s account. The bank helped her to stop it. However, she still lost over 2k. It was all maddening!! She did all the reporting she could get her hands on to try to help others from becoming prey.
Kudos to Kid 2. You should be very proud of her!! She sounds like a very level-headed, intelligent young lady. You and Gordon have obviously done a great job raising her, and she obviously uses her brains. I hope she has great success selling her old things. Maybe she could use the money she makes to get some cool things for the apartment over the garage at the new house. ?
Hope you and your family have a wonderful Thanksgiving! ?
Not everyone has a credit card or Paypal account so may genuinely need to send a cheque. Just thought I’d pop that factoid in there. Surely one way around the scammers is for the seller to insist that a cheque is cleared before they send the goods. If they buyer is genuine they will be prepared to wait a little while for their goods. If they are not prepared to wait or come up with sob stories about needing goods urgently, etc then you are likely being scammed. Many reputable companies who accept credit cards/Paypal will accept cheques but still insist that the cheque clears before sending the goods.
As someone who works in a bank, this is an immensely common and popular scam. I even know a couple of businesses that have been hit – and lost money.
A couple things about the check though:
-it’s a cashiers check, so a printed signature is quite common
-It’s actually a rather plain looking cashiers check – which is a red flag
-Good job for checking for a watermark, but keep in mind that not all checks have this, and a lot of bad checks DO. Scammer printing abilities are now very, very sophisticated
-Most banks, once you explain the circumstances, will tell you it is a scam. If you ever doubt the validity of a check, ask your bank to call the bank the check is drawn off of – banks do this regularly, and some even have dedicated help lines for this purpose. At my bank, we can call to verify customer checks who want funds available quicker than usual. We will also verify whether or not a cashiers check was truly issued from our bank. Though keep in mind, we only do this for other banks. If Joe Schmoe calls, we won’t give any information
-If you still want to try and deposit the check [even though everyone says it will bounce. had this happen before. Customer was still surprised check bounced], ask your bank to place a hold on it. This will give you a legitimate excuse to not send the balance back to the scammer, and you won’t be tempted to spend money you don’t have
Most people will see the amount and think, ‘wow! i’m getting way more money than I thought I would. Better run to the bank!’ Just keep in mind: if it was a real cashiers check, there’s no way a person would make a mistake this big. We ask multiple times whether the amount and payee are correct, so the scammer saying it was a “mistake” to send so much money is utter b.s.
I’m 27 and I use poshmark, It’s been great for selling old clothes, I normally get those comments under my post asking me to email them and I always say something along the lines of “I only conduct business through poshmark if you have questions about the item please let me know right here and if you are interested in buying I’m only selling through the app”
They usually delete their comment or never respond back. So if she wants to give it a try it is a legitimate source to sell clothes
Holy wow! Good catch on Kid 2’s part!
I think someone tried to scam my sister recently by saying they were with the IRS and that she owed back taxes that she had to pay right then and there over the phone.
Good on Kid Two. Sad to know how many scammers are out there. Got scammed through a site last year. Never did get my merch but then again I have had some great customer service with people on Etsy. One company in Turkey was concerned that I did not receive my package on the day it was due to be delivered. They sent me 2 emails offering follow up assistance to locate it. I advised them I simply wasn’t at home that day and would be pciking it up from the post office the next day. Haven’t had a bad experience there. Kid 2 may want to look into program where prom dresses are donated for high school kids that can’t afford them. The Highschools here have one and with the economy the way it is they are always in demand. Still can understand why she wants to make $ too.
My brother is a smart guy, but I once had to spend way too much time explaining to him why a variant of a Nigerian 419 scam wasn’t a good deal. Your daughter is definitely ahead of the game.
Kid 2 was very wise. I’ve been trying to sell my PT Cruiser convertible, and I’ve had people contact me with all kinds of suspicious information – they are deployed, they are working at the Pentagon but want to buy the car for a relative/friend/parent, if only I will ship it…
Auto Trader and Craigslist both have pages delineating scams to watch out for. Checks for more than the purchase price is a popular one, but there are many more. Lots of them could leave me without my car and with a debt for the cost of shipping it! I finally posted that I would only deal with local people, and prefer a cash transaction.
If your daughter still wants to sell her stuff, she should look for a local shop that sells on consignment. I’m sure there must be some in the area. They charge a fee (usually a %age of the sale), but it is worth it to know you aren’t getting scammed. you can check the shop out with BBB or other groups before signing up, too, and only do a few things at first to see how well it works. I’ve never tried it myself, but others have told me it works.
Congrats to her to handling the situation and to you and Gordon for raising a bright child, not afraid to question the world around her! Scamming is definitely not about her intelligence at all, someone tried to scam me like that too regarding a rental property I owned. In that case he used a check from a real bank that had been stolen; even if it’s a real, watermarked check, you can call the bank to validate.
When she asks “Do I sound like an idiot?”, it’s obvious she doesn’t because the scammer was that the scammer was forced to remove her accounts. Go, Kid 2! Thanks for saving other sellers from that particular instance of scamming.
Good catch on kid 2 part. Check has other problems beside the ones you noted. Routing number is bad. There should normally be microprinting as well. This is a common scam. Glad she didn’t get fooled.
Funny story from Joe Lycett, turning the tables on a scammer!
Joe Lycett: Buying a Property – YouTube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ovNHBEfTO_8
Watched the video; it’s hysterical!
Snake oil salespeople never went away, they just changed the way they do business. Now, they don’t even have to leave their home to troll for prey. There are more predators out there than we care to admit. Brava Kid2.
This happened to my 75 year old dad recently. Thank God I found out about it. I told him it was a scam. He took the cashier’s check to the bank and they confirmed that it was fraudulent. They turned it over to their fraud department. Kids aren’t the only ones who can fall prey to this scam. Glad you kid was wise and didn’t fall for it.
Here’s the rule about Poshmark: all transactions must be made through the app. I’ve been using Poshmark for the past 3 years and never had a problem because all payments/purchases are done through the app. Poshmark clearly states not to perform transactions out of the app due to the risk of scams. If your daughter is truly interested in selling her clothes, I’d suggest downloading the app again and reading “your guide to Poshmark” as well as “posh etiquette”. It really is a great place to sell your clothing.